Welcome to wheels Salwa. It is wonderful to see an Emirati lady with an interest in classic cars — but how did this passion begin?
Thank you for featuring me in wheels magazine! Well, I was raised by the late Sheikha Moza Bint Saeed Al Maktoum — the sister of the late Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Founder of Dubai — and therefore I had the luxury of getting rides in many antique and classic cars. This is how my passion for these cars began. I remember vividly rides to school and weekend drives to our farmhouse in several classics, it brings back so many nostalgic memories today.
They are wonderful memories, you must always cherish them. Let’s talk about your 1979 Buick Electra, a model which was downsized thanks to the 1973 energy crisis but is still big and comfy — how long have you had this?
This one is rather new to my collection, I was able to source it locally. It was in decent condition and had been maintained well by the previous owner. These fifth-generation luxury saloons came fully loaded back in the day. It is also well known that back then, General Motors did lots of mixing-and-matching with engines from its various divisions. You could buy an Oldsmobile 88 with a Chevy 350 V8, a Chevy Monza with a Buick 231 V6 and in this case a Buick Electra with an Oldsmobile 350 V8. It made 155bhp and ran buttery smooth. In fact even today, you can hardly tell the motor is idling! Once I bought it I had it fully wrapped with the metallic sky blue colour you see now...
