At least 14 monster supercars to debut at Dubai motor show

Dubai: Like children freaking out in toy stores, kicking their feet and pointing at the latest G.I Joe hysterically until mother gives in, people swarming through the gates of the Dubai World Trade Centre on Wednesday will be transfixed on their own automotive G.I .Joes.

Sure, the Chevrolet Volts, BMW and Lexus hybrids and Luxgen electric vans might prolong the life of our six-billion-year-old planet by a couple of decades, but what really stirs our nuts and bolts are impractical, uneconomical, uncomfortable and unattainable dreams of supercars. Think they're on the way out? That they're the Tyrannosaurus Rexes of the 21st century?

Not by a long shot, as the Dubai International Motor Show prepares to welcome the unveiling of at least 14 full-bred supercars next week. The environmentally-unfriendly supercar may be the bad guy, but in the Arabian Gulf, buyers tend to overlook fuel economy and ride comfort in favour of a mega-decibel exhaust system and more cylinders than in a geometry exam. And anyway, when we're all flying around in our zero-emissions future, people will only reminisce about the bad guys, not the Corollas.

Think about it, you can't recall any of Luke Skywalker's Star Wars lines, but you can certainly remember "Luke, I am your father." Baddies rule. Supercars are forbidden fruit. We need them.

The Dubai International Motor Show, opening its doors to the public on Dec-ember 16, will play host to almost 40 manufacturers, about a third of them posing with supercars.

If we start in an orderly manner, alphabetically, we get to the Arash AF-10 first. It's a highly exclusive (limited to 25) UK-built vehicle, featuring a carbon and aluminium monocoque (racing derived bath tub-like chassis), with an all-aluminium GM V8 dep-ending on 7.0-litres of displacement, 550 horses and dry-sump lubrication, so that the vital components never get starved of oil during hard acceleration, braking and cornering. It's low weight, 1,260 kilograms, means the powerplant propels the AF-10 to 100 km/h from rest in 3.4 seconds and onto a 330 km/h top speed. If you want one, you'll need to set aside Dh2.1 million when it arrives in the Middle East early next year.

World debuts

Brabus, the hardcore tuner of Mercedes-Benz cars, has bestowed Dubai with the honour of welcoming two world debuts. Judging by Brabus' previous Dubai appearance at the 2007 show, where the German company unveiled the fastest saloon on the planet, the 366 kilometre per hour, 740 British horsepower CLS Rocket, these two should be another blast.

Bugatti, not to be outdone, is bringing along three special Veyrons dubbed Nocturne, Soleil de Nuit and Sang d'Argent, so past experiences point at special paint jobs, unique interiors and fresh wheel designs.

Moving along, film buffs will immediately recognise a Transformers II star on GM's stand. No, not Megan Fox, but the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray concept, otherwise known as Sideswipe if you're more of an Autobot fan than a petrolhead.

The Italians are headed by Ferrari's latest interpretation of the 599 GTB Fiorano, which gets yet another acronym added, and more acronyms of course mean more speed.

The HGTE 599 GTB has been launched elsewhere already, but this is its first time in the region and it's already available to order for Dh1.42 million.

FAB Design and Hamann are two more German tuners who couldn't have resisted the lure of Dubai's love of customs, with the former giving the brand new Porsche Panamera a makeover barely a couple of months since its release, as well as the now out-of-production McLaren Roadster being seen to and transformed into something FAB calls Desire, while their interpretation of the Mercedes SL is dubbed the Ultimate. BMW specialist Hamann focused on the UAE's love of SUVs, redressing the freshly launched X5 M and X6 M both half-a-million-dirham supercars on stilts with glitzier body mods and even higher performance. Because the standard twin-turbo V8 good for 555 British horsepower just wasn't enough, apparently.

Speed records

Another newly-welcomed supercar manufacturer, Kepler, is keeping its cards close. But, what we can safely say now is that the company's founder, Russ Wicks, is the only living person to hold land and water world speed records over 320 kilometres per hour, so he built his car properly fast but also surprisingly efficient, though we can't say how he achieved that goal yet.

The Kepler Motion is strictly limited to 50 pieces, and the first will reach its customer in a year's time, due to the complexity and unique specifications of each model.

Then there is Ferrari's sister brand, Maserati, which is showcasing the exclusive GranTurismo MC Sport Line, while Mercedes-Benz will attempt to steal BMW's limelight (being the stunning 2007 M1 Hommage concept) with its modern interpretation of the Fifties gullwing, the new SLS AMG.

Arguably the most extreme attraction at the 10th Dubai International Motor Show will be Shelby Sup-ercars' Dh2.7 million 2010 Ultimate Aero TT, claimed to be the fastest car in the world by its makers.

Don't doubt them before you glance at the specs, which shout about almost 1,300 horsepower, 0-100 km/h in well under three seconds and a top speed nudging 440 km/h.

To date, only 14 Ultimate Aeros have been produced and there are currently three in the Middle East. The company expects to sell another three or four units of the 2010 model in the Middle East.

UK minimalists Westfield will also be there, unveiling their bare-to-the-bone road-racers for the first time in the region, as will Danish-based Zenvo when they take the wraps off their ST-1, also hitting the scales with over a thousand horses and going on sale soon after the show.

Oh, but there may be a slight issue with getting a loan to cover its Dh4.6 million price tag.

But with a 375 km/h top speed, you won't have a problem with dodging the repo men.