Dubai

The Nissan Patrol is probably the first proper car in the history of the world to be designed specifically for the Gulf, right from the design stage. How else would you explain its massive size, its V8-only engine choices, its ample space and its overkill of a/c vents all the way to the third-row seats. We’ve already reviewed the regular Nissan Patrol, so we’ll jump straight into what makes this latest version unique — the Nissan Patrol Desert Edition, brought to you by local rally legend Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

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Our Jaguar XK went in for its annual service the other day. We generally take our car in only once a year because we do maybe 4,000 km per year with this car, and modern synthetic oils can last that long without any ill effects, despite what your dealer or your great-granddad told you. Here’s an idea of what the regular cost of running a Jaguar XK looks like.

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On his visit down to the UAE for the Dubai Motor Show, British serial-entrepreneur David Brown told us during a private dinner that he once went on a classic car road rally using a borrowed 1960s Ferrari Daytona. While that car was stunning to look at, he came to realise how uncomfortable and unreliable cars that old can be, and actually enjoyed driving a new Peugeot rental car more because of its modern conveniences. We tend to agree with his line of thinking. Classic-car ownership is not as glamourous as the media makes it out to be, although what David came up with as an alternative is much more agreeable in all but one aspect —

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The Bentley Bentayga is the British uber-luxury carmaker’s first official 4×4, and when it was unveiled, reactions were mixed at best, if only because of its exterior styling. One thing is for sure though — it’s going to sell well, and it is likely to become the brand’s most popular model, if Porsche’s history tells us anything. Bentley also claims that the Bentayga will be the world’s fastest SUV, although we found a single item on the options list to be more fascinating than that — the optional Breitling clock on the dash costs almost as much as the base Bentayga.

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Everyone in the DriveArabia family likes Alfa Romeos until sarcasm kicks in. So, when our buddy was planning to leave the country for good, all we cared about was his car — a 2003 Alfa Romeo 156 V6 with 250,000 km on the clock. As mentioned by him, we knew the car had some “minor” ongoing issues and our plan was to keep the car for a while before we sell it off. It was registered under the Editor-in-Chief’s name, as he wanted a taste of Alfa ownership as well. On the day he was leaving, I dropped him off at the airport and took over this car.

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We’ve been hearing good things about the all-new Volvo XC90 from the international media, so we didn’t hesitate to try it out when the call came.

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The Dubai Motor Show, held every two years at the Dubai World Trade Centre, is back for 2015 larger than ever, with a whole host of regional debuts for new models. Some of the more interesting launches included the Ford GT and Ford Mustang GT350R, VW Golf GTI Clubsport and Passat, Peugeot 308 GTI, W Motors Fenyr Supersport, Lamborghini Huracan Spyder and Aventador SV, Toyota Prius, Lexus RX, Bentley Bentayga, Chrysler 200, Audi RS3 Sportback and Lotus Evora 400. The Chinese contingent is larger than ever, mainly catering to the entry-level segment, while smaller sections have been dedicated to bikes,

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The 2015 Middle East Car Of the Year (MECOTY) concluded recently with the results being announced at a gala dinner held at the Raffles Hotel in Dubai. The final winners were decided by totalling the scores of a jury panel from 12 different publications around the Middle East, including DriveArabia.com. Individual awards were given to cars according to their categories, with the main 2015 Middle East Car Of The Year award going to the Ford Mustang.

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