Dubai

It’s not often that we get invited to Bentley’s events, but this was probably the most interesting one yet. We were given a tour of Bentley’s service workshop in Dubai, run by Al Habtoor Motors, the UAE dealer for the British brand. This 189,000 square-feet site in the middle of nowhere also happens to be the largest Bentley workshop in the world. They also opened a new dealership in Abu Dhabi, displaying the one-off Bentley EXP-9F 4×4 concept there as well.

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In a move that no one expected, the Fisker Karma just became the first plug-in electric car to officially go on sale in the Middle East. Mitsubishi briefly thought about making an entry here with the i-MiEV, while Chevrolet has a couple of Volts running around Dubai since last year for so-called tests that never seem to end. But the upstart brand Fisker managed to come to market first, with a launch event held in the UAE.

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The Big Boys Toys exhibition, a premier luxury lifestyle event for the big boys out there with big pockets and a craving for the big toys which only big money can buy, is going to have its fourth iteration held at Atlantis, The Palm, Dubai, from January 31, 2013 through February 2, 2013. For this year, the show is destined to become the debut arena for a few names unheard of, in the region, such as Soleil Motors, ZNUG Design and Ostoure Bikes.

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That’s right. In association with DriveArabia.com, Dubai-based Farba Guard is giving away their Premier Detailing Package exclusively to FIVE lucky readers. The package, worth Dhs 900, includes full exterior detailing, interior detailing, headlight polish, engine-bay detailing and wheels. All you have to do to take part is finish a couple of easy steps. Update: The winners have been announced.

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This here is a Fiat Bravo. We wouldn’t have given it a second look when we spotted it a month ago, except that it had all these weird wires taped onto the exterior. Indeed, it’s possibly a GCC-spec prototype of the 2013 model.

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The most anticipated cars in this region are always the cars that are near the top of the sales charts, and the Nissan Altima happens to be one of those. As the second-best-selling midsize sedan in the Gulf, the 2013 Nissan Altima is going to be all over the streets of Dubai by the end of this year, and with good reason. The new car has improved in all the right ways.

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Within just one week, the Dubai Police impounded 80 vehicles for violating traffic rules, apparently all within the Bur Dubai area. More than half of these cars were confiscated for expired registrations, while another car owner who bagged fines worth Dhs 154,415 also had his car taken away. Surprisingly, the latter vehicle owner never showed up to address his hefty fine issue.

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When we got the call to come drive the “new” Rolls-Royce Phantom models in Dubai, I had to think hard to remember why they were calling them new models. Then it hit me that Rolls-Royce did launch “new” models of their Phantoms, if only with minor changes. The Phantom Series II may just be a facelift, but the new tech added brings the flagship up to modern standards.

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The 2013 Infiniti JX 35 was just launched in the city of Abu Dhabi by Al Masaood Automobiles, the Nissan-Infiniti in Abu Dhabi.

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