Category: Automotive

Thanks Henrik!

Someone forgot to pull the handbrakes… [YouTube]

Two weeks back I posted pictures of the GulfRun guys getting their cars washed and stickers applied and now Negative Effect just released a video of that event. I’m looking forward for the video of the actual races since he had a whole bunch of FlipHD cameras setup around all the cars capturing footage from every angle. For now though you can watch this. [YouTube]

I spent most of the day today walking from one track corner to another trying to find the best to take pictures from. I finally found a spot that had green grass and some green painted pavement which I thought added some much needed color to the shots and so I ended up taking most of my shots there. I took around 400 shots today but here are some of my favorites right now. Like yesterday these are just a sample of shots, once I am done going through all my shots I will upload them all to flickr.

I took a bunch of pictures today and the ones below are my favorite at the moment. I might find some more interesting ones later but have some things I need to do now. Tomorrow is the second day of GulfRun5 and they will be racing on a different track which I think looks visually more interesting so I should get better shots tomorrow.

GulfRun5 starts tomorrow so I am at the airport now waiting for my flight to Bahrain. I think a few bloggers are going to be there as well since Blushberry posted that he’s already there and p0ach posted that he is driving there. It’s going to be a lot of fun.

GulfRun 5 is approaching very fast. I’m taking Thursday off so I can fly over Wednesday night to Bahrain so I could be there on Thursday and Friday for GulfRun. I missed out on GulfRun 4 but was there for GulfRun 3 and posted about it and all my pictures which I took [Here]

I will have Internet in Bahrain so will most probably be posting a daily update while there. In any case below is the list of cars that will be participating this year:

I passed by the Concours d’Elegance today at Marina Mall to check it out. Since it was Friday it was pretty packed with people but since there was lots of room and lots of cars to check out, it didn’t feel too crowded. If you haven’t passed by do so since today (Saturday) is the last day of the event.

On a similar subject, I’ve been invited to the Shiro Nakamura event which is also today. Shiro Nakamura is the Senior VP of Nissan and Infiniti worldwide. More importantly (for me at least) he is also the Chief Creative Director for Nissan and Infiniti and the guy behind the design of the Nissan GTR. Will take pictures and post about it once I get back from that event. Maybe if I’m lucky I will get to meet him.

I got an email yesterday from someone at Aston Martin and one thing led to another and I was invited to test drive one of their cars. So, after work I passed by the dealership which is located in the same place where Auto City used to be before they closed down. When I walked in I was completely surprised at how big the dealership was. According to them its actually the largest Aston Martin dealership in the world which I thought was pretty cool. The dealership is divided into three floors. On the top floor they have a collection of vintage Aston Martins including a very rare station wagon and an Aston Martin DB5 similar to the one from the James Bond movie Goldfinger. One the ground floor they have a large display of new cars and also a small Aston Martin boutique while the basement contained some pre-owned vehicles. After the tour I was finally led to my test vehicle, the Aston Martin Vantage. Sigh… what a beautiful car.

After a quick tour of how everything works I took off for a drive. The first thing I needed to get used to was the speedometer. With my Wrangler, when the speedometer needle is up in the middle it means I am going 100KM/h. In my Z4 when the speedometer is up in the middle it means I am going around 140KM/h. In the Aston Martin when the needle is pointing straight up you’re going 300KM/h. So I was driving thinking I was going maybe 60 or 80KM/h because the needle was still very low but then I took a look at the number next to the needle and I wish I could say how fast I was going but I don’t think I can without getting into trouble. It was very cool. Another thing I liked about the car is that it’s pretty quiet and comfortable when driving normally but as soon as you hit 4000RPM it turns into a beast like a werewolf under a full moon. Actually I think that’s what I liked most about the car, its a very comfortable day to day car when you want it to be and then step on it and you’re suddenly in a loud and aggressive sports car. I now totally understand why Jeremy Clarkson loves the Aston Martins so much.

Just before I took the car back to the dealership I decided to pass by the Avenues parking lot to take some pictures. I wish I had the car for at least a day or even a weekend but I am not going to be too greedy. They did promise me that I would get to test drive their other cars as well. So maybe the DB9 next and then a DBS after that.

Anyway if you want to check out their cars they will be on display at the Concours d’Elegance which I posted about 2 weeks back. The Concours d’Elegance is going to be held at Marina Mall and Crescent from the 20th to the 23rd. The Aston Martins will be on display near Le Notre. It’s the first time the Concours d’Elegance is being held in Kuwait so don’t miss out.

Update: Forgot to mention but the One-77 was in Kuwait 2 weeks ago!

I spotted an Alfa Romeo 8C on the Gulf Road today and it looked stunning. Usually some cars look really sexy in pictures but then when you see them in person they’re so so but in this case the 8C looks gorgeous in the pictures and even better in person. I know the Alfa Romeo dealership shutdown in Kuwait so I am guessing the guy imported the car so I wonder where it gets serviced? Then again, if you can afford to import a $230,000 car you probably fly in a mechanic.

Just a reminder, today (Saturday) is the last day of the Gulf Run car show at 360 Mall. All the Gulf Run cars are displayed around 360 Mall on the outside with a few inside. The raffle for the Vespas will also be held tonight at 8PM. It’s a great chance to check out the cars up close plus the weather is great so see you there.

After my session at Core Fitness I passed by the Al Falah car wash in Kuwait City where the Gulf Run cars were getting all nice and shiny and having their sponsors decals stuck. I took a few pictures which you can check out below and a video which I will post later be.

[YouTube]

Just a reminder since some of you were asking in my previous GulfRun post. Tomorrow and after tomorrow (Friday and Saturday) the Gulf Run cars will be on display at 360 Mall from 10AM to 10PM. In addition to that there will be a GulfRun stand selling gear and raffle tickets to a Vespa. The money from the raffle tickets will be going to the Hayat Cancer Foundation. In addition some of the profits from the female gear will also being going to the Hayat Cancer Foundation.

They will be selling long and short sleeve polos and sweatshirts and hoodies in both white and black. I have the long sleeve white polo (pictured above) but will also be getting the black short sleeve polo.

Tonight starting at 5:30PM onwards all the cars participating in this years Gulf Run 5 will be getting a wash and sponsorship decals placed at the Al Falah Car Wash in Kuwait City. If it’s anything like the previous years it should be a fun gathering. Tomorrow the cars will be going on display at 360 Mall so if you can’t make it tonight you’ll still be able to check out all the cars this weekend.

[YouTube]

The GulfRun car show will be taking place next this week at the 360 Mall with a variety of race cars and super cars on display. The event will be taking place over a two day period which is January 15th and 16th.

There will also be a raffle on January 16th at 8pm for two special edition GulfRun Vespas, a GulfRun pearl white Vespa and a special edition black Vespa. All proceeds of the raffle will be donated to the Hayat Cancer Foundation.

So pass by, enjoy the cars and please make sure you buy raffle tickets from the GulfRun booth at 360 Mall.