The top launches
Rolls Royce Dawn
Brought back to life after over six decades since production stopped in the post-war era in 1949 after just 28 models were built, this four-seat convertible made her regional debut at the show this week after a global launch at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt earlier in September.
Fitted with a direct-injection twin-turbo 6.6-litre V12 engine with power of 563 bhp, the car accelerates from 0 to 100 kmph in 4.9 seconds and has been rightly described as a new dawn in open top luxury super car segment.
Starts from: Dh1.6m
Top Speed: 250 km/hr
0-100 in: 4.9 secs
Mercedes Maybach
Mercedes unveiled four top of the line cars on Tuesday: the G500 4x4, the Mercedes-AMG S 63 4MATIC Cabriolet, the Mercedes-AMG 63 Class and the Mercedes-Maybach Pullman. It’s the last one though that will win you over. Brought back by Mercedes after more than three years and in its 50th year since the original Pullman limousine was first rolled out, the top end of this iconic 6.1m stretch sedan – fit for heads of states - is fully armoured for a $1m price tag. The non-armoured ones though come at about half the price. The eye-catching bit is her stunning fully leathered face-to-face seating.
Price: Starting from Dh2.6 m
Top Speed: 250 km/hr
0-100 km/hr in: 7 secs (est.)
Bentley Bentayga
A four-seat, five-door luxury SUV built with unibody construction, the Bentayga – named after the world’s largest transcontinental snow forest Taiga – is the British super luxury carmaker’s first production SUV. Packed with a 6.0-litre W12 engine, the full-time all-wheel drive can do the 0-100 km/h in about 4 seconds and fittingly stakes its claim to being the fastest SUV on earth.
Price: starting from just under Dh1m
Top Speed: 301 km/hr
0-100 km/hr in: 4 secs (est.)
Fenyr
From the stable of W Motors, the Arab world’s first supercar company and makers of Vin Diesel’s Skyscraper-Jumping $3.4 million Lykan Hypersport in Furious 7 now comes the alleged 900 horsepower beast – the Fenyr SuperSport. Apparently only 25 Fenyrs will ever be made – a far cry from the seven Lykans built previously – and production will reportedly start in Dubai next year.
Price: Undisclosed
Top Speed: 402 km/hr
0-100 km/hr in: 2.8 secs
Dazzling debutants
Panoz Esperante GTR-1
Priced at $1.75m or roughly Dh6.5m, this stunning 600-plus horsepower beast was the most expensive car XPRESS came across at this edition of Dubai Motor Show. Originally built more than two decades ago, the GTR-1 with a carbon fiber and nomex honeycomb composite body combines the looks of an UFO, an armoured tank and even a batmobile. Only one such car has ever been built.
Alvis Lancefield
With coachwork specifically designed for the 1938 London Motor Show, the 4.3L Lancefield Concealed Hood from the house of Alvis (founded in 1919 in Coventry) is all about nostalgia and history. Production of the ‘modern’ edition of this vintage classic is limited to 25 and at a little over £300,000 or Dh1.6m, the cream coloured Lancefield is arguably the jewel amongst Alvis’ fleet of four cars on display at their maiden Dubai motor show this year.
Equus Bass 770
Built by Equus, the Detroit-based boutique car manufacturer that lays claim to being the only company that makes completely handbuilt luxury muscle car, the look of Bass 770 is inspired from the iconic style of the 60’s and 70’s American muscle car era. Set to make her screen debut t the Cannes film festival next year, production of the Bass 770 is limited to only 15 cars, 5 of which have been sold for at least a quarter of a million dollars each or just above Dh1m.
Noble M600
Touch the Noble M600 to feel it. The carbon sport model offers the car in completely exposed carbon fibre, coated in either a clear or coloured lacquer, making it appear painted yet up close the intricate weave of the carbon fibre is there for all to see. Hailed by even Jeremy Clarkson, this super car from Leicestershire can be yours for upwards of Dh1.35m.
Pic caption: Two Dubai police staff pose with a Porsche Panamera, the latest luxury sedan to be added to their fleet.
Motoring Nostalgia
You can’t leave this year’s Dubai International Motor Show without a visit to the all-new Motoring Nostalgia pop up museum in Zabeel Hall 1. From a 1954-Bentley R type continental – once the world’s most expensive production car to a 1974 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS – one of the most iconic sports cars of the 70s, you will find the rarest of rare classic cars and ageless beauties that have left an indelible mark not just on the automobile history but also on generations of car lovers.
If you are a history buff, this is the place to be to follow the timeline of the great eras of automotive design through the 50s, 60s and 70s to 80s. The collection is priceless but if you insist, it’s worth over Dh300m.
