2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003
Last week I transferred one of my cars from my friend’s name to my name using Sahel. The process was super easy, like I can’t believe it was that easy. From start to finish it took less than 5 minutes using the guide in the video below.
But, now I need to get a physical copy of the car registration since I need to send my car abroad. Does anyone know what the process is?
A couple of weeks ago the Ministry of Interior announced that expats are now able to get a physical driving license printed for a KD 10 fee. A lot of people were asking what the process was, and thanks to the Reddit user InsecureInflux, there are now instructions. Here are the steps he took to get his physical driving license:
This isn’t a rumor, but rather an interesting observation from one of my readers. Tesla recently updated their careers page to include Kuwait as a location. According to the reader who regularly checks the Tesla careers page to see which new countries get added, Saudi Arabia appeared on the list around this time last year, and Tesla opened its first dealership there just this past month.
Now they’ve added Kuwait, so it could mean we’ll see a Tesla dealership opening here around this time next year.
To double-check his info, I used web.archive.org to pull up a snapshot of the careers page from two weeks ago. He was right, Kuwait wasn’t listed then which confirms it was just recently added.
Although Tesla is currently going through a rough patch in the US and Europe, the brand remains popular in our region, most likely because it’s always been desirable, yet unavailable here.
If you want to check the above yourself, head to tesla.com/careers/search
update: I’m being told this is actually happening, Tesla will be opening their first store in Kuwait by first quarter of 2026. They will be sharing details after August. This is going to be a direct investment by Tesla and the Kuwait government, so I’m assuming through KDIPA.
Expats will now be able to get a physical copy of their driving license. Sounds weird that this is something new but until recently the Ministry of Interior had stopped printing driving licenses for expats, we only had access to a digital copy. Not a big deal if you just drive in Kuwait but the digital copy wouldn’t be accepted anywhere else in the world. This means if you traveled you wouldn’t be able to rent a car which sucks.
Thankfully the MOI has now changed their mind and allowing us to get printed driving licenses again. Mine expires next month which is perfect timing. The only caveat is that we now have to pay 10KD to get a physical copy which I don’t think is an issue. Source
Yesterday, the Ministry of Interior deployed new mobile speed cameras across Kuwait. These battery-powered cameras will pop up in various locations and are really easy to miss!
I’ve come across similar cameras in Saudi on my road trips, and because they’re painted the same color as sand, they’re easy to miss until the very last minute. Also, depending on the road, it’s sometimes hard to tell if the camera is pointed at your lane or the opposite one.
These new cameras are being introduced ahead of the new traffic laws, which go into effect on April 22. The new laws include increased speeding fines, ranging from KD70 to KD150.
The Ministry of Interior has recently revised the fines for traffic violations, which will take effect in April. With so many updates, it’s hard to cover them all, so I’ve highlighted the ones I think are most important. You can check them out on my instagram account here.
I’ve reworded some of the violations to make them easier to understand, but if you’d like to see the full list in its original terminology, you can find it here.
One thing I found interesting is on the last page of the fines list on the MOI account where it says:
A Fine of 1000-2000KD
Anyone who, by using a device or means of communication or otherwise, captures one or more pictures, or a video or audio clip, or publishes any of them during the commission of any of the crimes stipulated in this law.
They are basically criminalizing the act of documenting or sharing media related to a crime in progress. I’m assuming its meant for the guys who post videos on tiktok of them racing or performing stunts. But it’s not clear if this also applies to bystanders capturing a crime. For example, if I see a car parked on a curb and I post a tiktok video showing it and complaining about it. Will I be fined?
@dr_diecast_models is a Kuwait-based diorama artist I’ve admired for years. He specializes in driveway dioramas, with my favorites being his incredibly realistic recreations of deserted driveways with abandoned cars. Last week, I reached out to him to learn more about his story and see how he brings these dioramas to life.
Dr. Diecast (he wants to stay anonymous) has loved models and cars since he was young. One day, he built a diorama set for one of his models, and when his friend saw it he was impressed. That friend also happened to run a popular auction account and offered to help sell the dioramas if he could make two sets a week. The dioramas became popular, and his hobby quickly turned into something bigger.
The dioramas are 1:18 scale, meaning everything is 18 times smaller than its real-life counterpart. He builds all his sets in a small room tucked away in the corner of his house. I watched him work on a wall for one of his sets, and the level of detail and weathering he painstakingly applies with a paintbrush is mind-blowing. From the size of newspaper boxes to the dimensions of each brick, everything is accurately measured to stay true to scale.
His most popular sets are those depicting cars parked outside old homes, untouched for years, or cars that have been abandoned near electrical substations in neighborhoods.
The cars are a whole other story. He has his own ‘car bank’ you can choose from, but if he doesn’t have the car you want, he can help you source it. From there, it’s up to you whether the car stays as is or gets customized to look a certain way. My favorite is the red car covered in dust, with its protective cover ripped, the driver’s window smashed, and the typical white sticker with a red ‘X’ on the windshield. It’s such a mundane yet familiar real-life scene, and I love it.
Depending on the diorama, he charges around 65 KD, excluding the car. His customers are mostly in Kuwait but he also gets a lot of orders from around the GCC. If you want to check his work out more of his work head over to his account @dr_diecast_models
Not sure if the website is new or not but @q8nitro has been posting about it recently so I just found out about it. It’s a much better site than Q8Car thats for sure, and the cars on it are more interesting. Only weird thing is that I don’t think they remove cars after they’ve sold. There are cars there listed back in 2019, not sure why they’re just leaving them since it makes the overall website less useful and misleading. Link
BYD are launching a new car electric sports car called the Yangwang U9 that can jump over potholes. That sounds like the perfect car for Kuwait.
A couple of weeks ago I posted how there were going to be no track days at Kuwait Motor Town this season because the contract with the company running the place had expired and wasn’t renewed. Well it’s been renewed now so track days are back again and the racetrack will be open this season. @kmtkw
This is pretty disappointing news but it doesn’t look like there will be track days this year at Kuwait Motor Town. Supposedly the contract with the company that was running KMT expired and it wasn’t renewed and neither does anyone else seem to want to run it. So all events that were scheduled to take place at the race track were canceled and there won’t be any open track days until a new company takes over. Sucks.
I thought I posted about @q8knight79 before on the blog but I just checked and don’t think I have. He’s a guy I follow on my cars account and he’s got a super 80s vibe.
Last year he flew to the US, bought a 96 Corvette, then did an epic road trip with the car before shipping it to Kuwait. He uploaded the video a couple of weeks ago to YouTube and I thought it was pretty entertaining.
I kinda need to do the same thing now, fly to the US, buy a first generation Viper, do an epic road trip, crash it, and then fly back.
According to the MOI, a new law will soon be implemented where expatriates in Kuwait will no longer be allowed to own more than one vehicle (source). Thats so ridiculous! I’m trying to understand what issue they’re trying to solve by doing that. It can’t be reducing traffic since even though I own 7 cars I can only drive 1 of them at a time. The only thing I can think of is solving the parking situation in densely populated areas.
I live in Salmiya and I’m lucky my building has plenty of underground parking, but most of the other tall residential towers have like 6 or 8 parking spots under the building and thats it. A lot of the buildings which have underground parking had them converted to storage which they rent out commercially. Instead of disallowing that, or requiring buildings to have enough parking for every resident, the easiest solution is just ban expats from owning more than a car. How many expats own multiple cars anyway? I’d assume most are probably just dad’s the have their wives and kids cars registered under their own name.
Thanks Del
Video is in Arabic but shows you the step by step guide on how to do it. They don’t seem to mention how to get a printed copy of the registration though, only that once you update it you can then refresh the registration in your Kuwait Mobile ID app and it will be updated there. YouTube
If you’ve renewed your car this way, I’d be interested to hear about the experience or if you ran into any issues.
If you’re a fan of cars you’re going to appreciate this video. It was shot in 1982 and is of a car meetup in Blajat Street, Salmiya. YouTube
