So the Jeep has been running reasonably for the past year. I was also happy that I had a lifted vehicle with full-time all-wheel-drive during the recent rainy weather when many cars crashed and drowned. We have more or less kept up with maintenance, as we will list below. And then a problem started cropping up, with warning signs that we ignored until it was too late.
A record number of nine Aston Martins have entered the Dunlop 24 Hours of Dubai which takes place on 15/16 January 2010.
A former winner of the 24 Heures du Mans will take part in Dubai’s premier endurance race this weekend as part of a three-car Ginetta team.
It just so happened that when we secured the new-for-2009 Honda Jazz for a test drive, we also got a call from BMW’s rep offering us a Mini Cooper S Cabrio. We kept both, if only for a novelty comparo article later on. However, unfortunately or fortunately, we only got to keep the 118 hp Jazz for a less than a day-and-a-half, while we had the 172 hp Mini for three whole days. So we parked the Cabrio and trundled around Dubai exclusively in the Jazz for a day.
BMW North America have announced that the new BMW Alpina B7 will join its U.S. line-up as a 2011 model and is due to be officially launched at the Chicago Auto Show in February. For those keeping tabs, the B7 first went on sale in Abu Dhabi through the local BMW dealer.
SMS Supercars, who are known in the U.S. for pimping up Mustangs and Challengers, have decided to do the same with the Chevrolet Camaro. Along with exterior and interior upgrades, SMS beefs up the power in these muscle cars. They have released photos of its upcoming Chevrolet Camaro model, the SMS 620 Camaro.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem, FIA Vice President and President of the Automobile & Touring Club of the UAE (ATCUAE), has announced his support for the 2010 Gulf Bike Expo. Following the success of the inaugural bike exhibition and festival earlier in 2009, of which he was also a patron, Mohammed Ben Sulayem will resume his role for next year’s show.
The Gulf Bike Festival is the Middle East’s only dedicated Bike Festival, running over three days from February 4th – February 6th 2010. Tickets start at Dhs 40 for a day pass.
Unlike the Chevy Camaro and the Ford Mustang, the Dodge Challenger never caught on in the UAE, thanks largely to high prices and lacklustre advertising. To ramp up sales, Chrysler has unveiled a new ‘performance appearance’ package for the 2010 Dodge Challenger in the American market, but only for the SE and R/T models, both of which are not offered in the GCC.
The Toyota Yaris has received a minor facelift for 2010, and can already be seen around the streets of the UAE. It is odd that the dealer is focusing on offloading leftover 2009 models before truly marketing the new version, but then again, the changes seem to be limited to new bumpers and not much else.