Category: Automotive

My Alfa Romeos’s car registration expired a couple of days back and because of the pandemic, I’m not required to have the car physically checked when issuing a new car registration. Instead, there are now companies that can renew the insurance for you and get your car registration issued without you having to go or do anything.

There are a number of companies but I ended up using Beep because it was the only one me and my friends could remember. The cost is KD32 for the insurance and car registration issuance. You contact them over WhatsApp, send them a picture of your expired car registration and the back and front of your Civil ID, in return they send you a payment link, and then the next day drop off your new car registration for you. They also take the old one back so you need to make sure you have that with you.

KD32 sounded a bit steep but I usually pay KD16 for my insurance and then KD5 for the car registration stamp so they’re basically charging around KD10 to do all this for you which isn’t that bad. This service is only applicable for cars whose registration expired March 12, 2020 onwards. If your car expired before that date you still need to get the car registration done in person.

Here is the link to the Beep Instagram account @beep_kw

I found the picture above on @molowey’s (AbuJack) account on Twitter and it reminded me of when the Fahaheel Expressway first opened up. I was a kid but I remember it being like a very cool and big thing and I think I fairly remember my dad taking the family onto the expressway after a Friday lunch to check it out. At one point in time, the top speed was 140KM/h before being brought down to the current 120KM/h. If you want to see more old photos of Kuwait, AbuJack has been posting old photos he’s taken practically on a daily basis. Link

I think there are only two electric cars you can officially buy in Kuwait at the moment, the Chevrolet Bolt EV and the Porsche Taycan in addition to the various Teslas that were imported so it makes sense that malls and other places start introducing charging stations. Al Shaheed, Arraya and Hamra Tower all have electric charging stations and The Avenues is now joining the party.

For anyone that works in Hamra or Arraya, I’m curious, are random cars parking in the electric charging spots, or are the spots properly being enforced and only electric cars can park there?

Thanks Mohamed

Late last week the most popular car upholsterer Ehsan burned down. Ehsan was considered one of the best if not the best upholsterers in Kuwait and there were customer cars that were parked inside being worked on that all sadly burned. One of the cars that was confirmed to have burned in the fire was a beautiful white 1990s Honda NSX that belonged to the owner of B-Tune Performance.

I heard the fire supposedly started at around 3AM and when I passed by in the afternoon (picture on top) there was still smoke coming out of the building and fire trucks parked in the back still putting off the fire. I passed by again the following day and there were still fire trucks there and I saw that the whole building had collapsed into itself. I feel really bad for everyone that lost their car and I hope they get insurance money although I know that won’t bring their cars back.

Someone must have realized that the current rule for the left shoulder emergency lane was complicated and dangerous because the MOI has now canceled the left emergency lane completely. This whole you can drive on the emergency lane between certain hours only didn’t make any sense and nobody was following it anyway.

At least now its clear, if you’ve got car problems don’t stop on the left. Source

Don’t think I’ve ever posted the video above even though it’s been on YouTube since 2012, but I saw it the other day on @classic_kw_ and looks like it was shot in the early 90s. It got me thinking about all the classic cars we have in Kuwait but are falling apart because they’re just parked outside homes in the harsh environment and aren’t being driven. Sometimes I feel like rescuing cars in the same way people rescue stray animals.

Speaking of cars that aren’t being driven, there is a guy with a purple Diablo parked in Shaab that hasn’t been driven in probably a decade. If anyone knows the owner, please connect us!

There are loads of car clubs in Kuwait but all the ones I’ve seen are male dominant which can be intimidating for women to join. This is why I like the idea of Kuwait Motorsports, an all-female car club.

The aim of Kuwait Motorsports is to give women a safe environment where they can meet up, show off cars, hold drag races, and even take part in different workshops. It’s similar in idea to RoadRush, except instead of just being a female-only racing event, it’s a community with all-year-round activities. Joining the club is 100% free and there are perks which include discounts from various brands. The club just recently opened so the more members they get, the more perks and offers they’ll get from brands.

I do wish they had a less generic name than Kuwait Motorsports, but generic name aside, if you’re female and over 18 years of age and want to sign up, visit their website kuwaitmotorsports.com

ROVE is a local car booking app similar to Uber. It’s a lot more upscale than the street cabs and more in line with the likes of Draewil. Before the pandemic, I was flip-flopping between ROVE and Draewil depending on which had a cab closer to me but Draewil hasn’t reopened yet (I think they’ve closed down for good they’re going to be back September) so currently ROVE is the only car booking service I’d use.

Like I mentioned in my Draewil review, I don’t use cabs a lot, usually only when dropping one of my cars off to the garage so I don’t mind spending the extra amount of money for comfort and right now, safety. I actually don’t think ROVE is even that expensive compared to the experience you’re getting in return. A trip from my garage in Kuwait City to Salmiya cost me KD4.5, but I was picked up in a brand new Range Rover, there was a bottle of hand sanitizer in the rear cupholder alongside a water bottle, I had a charging cable, lots of legroom, the driver wore a face mask the whole time and the whole service is very professional.

I’m actually not sure if ROVE have other cars since every time I’ve used them I’ve been picked up in a Range Rover. Depending on where you are the time it takes for their car to reach you will vary, yesterday it took 8 minutes for the car to arrive after I requested one. For payment, you can either set up your credit card in the app, pay by cash or pay by KNET. If you’re looking for a premium cab service, I’d highly recommend ROVE right now. Here is a link to their website with the app download links. [Link]

They’re also on Instagram @rideroveapp

I think I might turn this into a series of posts on interesting Kuwait related items that I lost bidding on. The previous ones I’ve posted about were the “Andy Warhol Signed Catalog from Kuwait Exhibit” and “Ahmadi Desert Motoring Club Car Badge“. Adding to those two, I just lost a bidding war on another car badge, this time one belonging to the Kuwait International Touring and Automobile Club. Not a lot of info on the badge but I’m guessing its dating back to the 60s which would make it a nice addition on my Alfa Romeo. I hope whoever bought it isn’t going to hide it in a drawer somewhere, I was actually planning to mount this on my car’s front grill for everyone to see and enjoy.

On the bright side, I did find a copy of “The Kuwait International Touring and Automobile Club – Tourist Guidebook to Middle East Countries” dating back to 1966. You can download the PDF by clicking here.

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A post shared by قطاع شئون المرور والعمليات (@traffic_kw) on Jul 12, 2020 at 2:33am PDT

Back in January, I posted about how the Traffic Department set up a Whatsapp account (99324092) where residents can report violations. I tried them once and got no response so really didn’t bother contacting them again. But, they’ve recently been reminding people about this service and they even posted the video above with some examples of violations that were reported.

I think I’m going to give them another shot, maybe starting with something easy like reporting people who park in handicapped parking spots. Oh and those guys who drive up and down the Gulf Road going 10km/h trying to chat up girls. Yup, I’m going to be a snitch. If it works then maybe I’ll have a reason to upgrade my now 6-year old dashcam with a 4K version.

Has anyone tried this Whatsapp service recently? Did they respond?

The 2020 Formula 1 season finally kicked off last week after being delayed due to the Corona pandemic. The second race of the season is taking place later today but like last year, you’re pretty limited to how you can watch it here in Kuwait. The only network in our region that broadcasts the races is MBC Action but it’s in Arabic and I couldn’t find a way to stream it online. The other (and better) option is watching it directly on F1 TV.

I’ve posted about F1 TV before but I mentioned you needed a U.S. credit card to sign up since live broadcasts aren’t available for Kuwait. But, my U.S. credit card expired and I still haven’t gotten my replacement card so I was worried I wouldn’t be able to subscribe again this season. Turns out you don’t need a U.S. credit card!

If you’re on an Apple device and have a US Apple Store account, then you can subscribe to F1 TV from inside the app and pay for the subscription using your Apple Store account. It’s a neat loophole that should make Formula 1 broadcasts easily accessible to more people.

So if you’re an F1 fan and want to watch the races, download the F1 TV app.

The new Land Rover Defender is finally in Kuwait, around a month late from it’s original scheduled arrival. The Defender has been completely redesigned and although I wasn’t sure about the design in the photos, in person it does look really great.

From my understanding, the first shipment is all sold out but the dealer has one model on display and I think they have another white one for test drives.

It’s definitely a car I’m considering swapping out my FJ for. Prices start at around KD16,000 but can nearly double in price depending on the specs. The one in the photo is priced at 25,000 but you can also build your own and price it out yourself on the local Land Rover website.

One of my favorite local apps is the PASS App. Pre-Corona the cashless parking app was extremely practical and I used it all the time but now during the pandemic, the app makes even more sense. The way the app works is you top it off with credit, and then add your cars to it. Once you get to a parking lot that supports PASS like the 360 Mall parking lot, the parking gate will recognize your car and automatically open to let you in. On the way out you don’t have to interact with the cashier either, once you approach the exit gate it just opens up and the PASS app charges you. All the payments are handled digitally through the app which during this pandemic makes the app a must-have.

But, if that wasn’t enough they’ve recently added another new and cool feature, pre-booking your parking spot. This Friday when I passed by the Avenues I wasn’t sure if it would be busy or not so I pre-booked a parking spot with the app. When I got to Avenues I headed to the Phase 4 PASS Prebook lot and the gate automatically opened to let me in where I found plenty of parking (it was actually empty except for one other car).

The Prebooking parking fees at Avenues is 500fils per hour from the moment you book your spot (not from the moment you enter the parking) and you’re charged per hour till you leave or cancel your booking. This makes sense since they don’t want people to book spots but then not show up. Although Avenues parking is free, booking a parking spot makes the Avenues experience a lot less stressful when you know you’re guaranteed to have a parking spot waiting for you.

I don’t recommend a lot of local apps on this blog nor do I like installing a lot of apps, but, I highly recommend this one. You can download it by clicking here.

Kuwait had one of the first Karting tracks in the region and was a pretty popular sport before the 1990 invasion. Back in the 80s the Gulf Championship, the Middle East Championship and the World Championship were all held in Kuwait at the karting track in Ahmadi. One of the former racers Graham Hobson sent me the video above featuring his team back then called GH Karting. Graham used to work for KOC between 1983 and 1986 but now lives in Australia.

The video is an hour-long so you can skim through it if you want. He’s got one more video he’ll be sending me and I’ll upload that as well once I get it.

Update: Just uploaded a better version of the video with better sound
Update2: Below is the second video of the Middle East Karting Cup that was held in Kuwait back in 1986.

Recently there have been photos circulating of what looks like new cop cars. Usually, this happens when the Ministry of Interior are looking for new cars for their fleet and different dealers provide them with test units. So far the two models I’ve seen are the Volvos (above) and the new Nissan Patrols (below). Not that crazy about the Patrols but the Volvos look hot.

Update: Here are better shots of the Patrol