An Ayrton Senna Formula 1 car is currently on display at the McLaren showroom in Kuwait. The McLaren showroom was just recently launched in Kuwait and the video below is of one of the cars being driven into the showroom. They’re located at the BMW and Range Rover dealership in Shuwaikh.

[YouTube]

Thanks K

The video above is from Redbull’s event yesterday. The Subaru is being driven by Lebanese champion rally driver, Abdo Feghali. [YouTube]

The winner of the event was Mubarak Al-Rumaidhi, the co-founder of Slide N’ Glide. He’ll now be going to Lebanon this summer representing Kuwait against other competitors from the region. You can watch one of his runs from yesterday in the video below.

[YouTube]

Update: Here are some photos taken by Hassan Raza [Link]

I’ve managed to get more information regarding the 2012 Concours d’Elegance that is going to be held in Kuwait next week.

- Leonardo Fioravanti the designer behind some legendary Ferrari’s including the 365 GTB 4 “Daytona”, 365 GT4 Berlinetta Boxer, the 308 GTB and GTS as well as the 288 GTO and the F40 will be giving a lecture at the Concours. His lecture will be on the Ferrari F40 since it’s the F40′s 25th anniversary. The F40 is the last Ferrari he designed and a car many believe to be one of the greatest super cars ever made. Obviously there will also be a Ferrari F40 on display.

- The F40′s nemesis, the Porsche 959 will also be on display at the Concours.

- The first day of the event they’ll be displaying old government vehicles like the old police cars and ambulances etc..

- The last day of the Concours on the occasion of Enzo Ferrari’s birthday, over 150 Ferrari’s will get together at Marina Crescent and then drive towards the Kuwait Towers.

- The Alfa Romeo Bat 11 will be on display.

- The first production model of the new Aston Martin Zagato will be launched worldwide at the Concours. In addition there will be an original 1960′s Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato on display right next to it.

This is basically all I have for now. For more information on this years Concours check out my previous post [Here]

I’ve seen electric cars before but this was the first time I spotted one being charged. In Mayfair they have few parking spots that have electric charging points. Very cool.

Can anyone guess when this will be completed? [YouTube]

Thanks Talal

Here are two videos taken from the Chasing Classic Cars Discovery show when they visited Kuwait during last year’s Concours.

[YouTube]

As you can see, the Concours d’Elegance attracts some of the biggest names in the automotive industry and really puts Kuwait in the limelight.

The luxurious car show Concours d’Elegance is going to be held for the third time in Kuwait next month. Like the previous years, it going to be an important and prestigious event that will attract people from both inside and outside Kuwait.

What is the Concours d’Elegance?
Concours is a French word meaning competition. The concept of Concours originates in 17th C. France when aristocrats used to choose their best horse carriages to parade around parks of Paris during the summer week ends and holidays. Later these traditions changed to automobiles from the 20th C. Concours today have strict regulations and cars are inspected by qualified judges. Trophy winners are carefully chosen. Each year there are numerous events which take place across the world, many of which are world famous, including Villa d’Este in Italy, Goodwood in UK, and Pebble Beach in USA. The Kuwait Concours d’Elegance is rapidly becoming a fixture in this international program, able to attract some of the world’s rarest and exotic motorcars.

Date: February 15th to the 18th
Time: 10:00AM – 10:00PM
Location: Marina Mall interior, Marina Crescent and Marina Lawn

Tidbits
There are going to be some very interesting cars this year at the show including the Zagato, Jaguar F-Type, the McLaren and other surprises which they wouldn’t tell me about except that they’re “Concours Special Editions”. Valentino Balboni the former chief test driver for Lamborghini is going to back this year. Bruce Meyers the inventor of the Dune Buggy will also be at the event.

The new Supercar De Macross GT1 is going to be officially launched at our Concours. The GT1 has an 800hp Rouch engine and incoporates technologies currently used in F1… including some that are banned.

The Concours categories
Vintage: Class-A 1900 – 1930
Classic: Class-B 1931 – 1945
Post war Classic: Class-C 1946 – 1965
Modern Classic: Class-D 1966 – 1975

Muscle Cars Section
69 Dodge Daytona
70 Plymouth Superbird
71 Plymouth ‘Cuda 340 Convertible
67 Mustang Shelby GT500
74 Trans-Am SD
69 Shelby GT500 owned by Carroll Shelby him self!
and many many more.

Hollywood Cars
This year they’re bringing real life sized Pixar/Disney cars including Lighting McQueen, Finn and Mater.

Daily Events
15th – Muscle & Classic
16th – Supercars
17th – Kuwait Bike Show
18th – Enzo Ferrari Birthday

Once I find out more information I’ll add it to this post.
Here are some related links:
kuwaitconcours.com.kw
@KuwaitConcours
Facebook.com/Kuwait.Concours

I was contacted by Ford recently to test drive their all-new 2012 Ford Explorer. The last time I had driven an Explorer was ages ago and it was on a road trip from Montreal to New York and all I remember was how comfortable it was. Their new car looks a lot better and more exciting compared to their previous model which is why I was looking forward to trying it out.

The first thing I noticed when I started the car was the combination of an analogue and digital dashboard. The speedometer was analogue while the information on both its sides were digital which I thought looked very cool. The second thing I noticed was the large screen in the center console which turned out to be touch sensitive and featured something called SYNC which I’ll go into detail in a bit. So first impressions wasn’t bad at all.

Since I had the car with me all weekend I drove it down to Bnaider and as expected the ride was very comfortable. The Ford is pretty big and spacious with three row of seating with the last row of seats having ample leg room. When the last row is folded down you also end up with a pretty large and spacious boot which I like to call IKEA friendly. The model I had (XLT) came with a rear view camera which was practical although I wish it also came with a front cam or at least front sensors since the front of the car is pretty long and high. While we’re on the subject of wishes there are two things I really disliked in the Explorer. The first is the touch buttons on the center console. For some reason Ford decided to have all the physical buttons touch sensitive but I have something against touch buttons because I can’t tell if I’ve pressed them or not specially when my eyes are on the road. Although you hear an audible alert when you touch a button I always prefer to actually feel a button being pushed in which doesn’t happen with these buttons. The second thing I disliked about the car was that it was front wheel drive. I thought that was odd for an SUV especially since it was full time front wheel drive and didn’t have an option to flip into four wheel drive. That turns out is an extra option which the car I drove wasn’t equipped with.

Other than those two quirks I didn’t have any other major issues. The SYNC feature which I mentioned earlier is very cool although I wasn’t able to fully take advantage of it. Right below the center console is a small compartment which can easily hold an ipod or iphone with accessories. In that same compartment is an SD card slot, two USB ports and RCA (video and audio) inputs. The car also has built in bluetooth and Wifi. I’m not sure why all the cars don’t come fitted with Wifi, it should really be a standard feature nowadays. I was also able to connect the car to my phones 3G connection using bluetooth but the car can also connect to internet using USB 3G modems and Wifi. You could also have the car connect to your phones internet via bluetooth and the car can then share the connection over wifi for other passengers to use. My problem is once the car connected to my internet I didn’t know what I could do with it. I’m guessing I need to download apps or widgets but since it wasn’t my car I didn’t spend too much time experimenting.

The car I drove had a pearl white exterior with a beige interior. If I was getting this car I would definitely go for a gray or black interior since it would make the car interior look a lot trendier but I’m not sure if they carry those colors locally. The starting price for the new Ford Explorer is KD9,999 and goes up to KD14,000 depending on the features and model. For more information on the Explorer click [Here]

Ford if you’re reading this.. I WANT TO TEST DRIVE THE RAPTOR!

This is one very cool off-road vehicle. I shot the video above earlier today in Bnaider with the Contour+. It’s a great handling buggy that glides over the terrain. Oh and it’s super fast. [YouTube]

There is a parking lot I pass through every so often where all the cars park behind each other so no car can leave with a bunch of cars having to be moved first. What I found interesting is the unspoken understanding among those drivers. Even though everyone parks on closes on everyone else they all leave their phone numbers on top of the dash board. Some are scribbled on paper, other are typed out nicely and maybe even laminated while others are made into stickers and stuck on the front windshield. This parking lot which could only hold a certain number of cars comfortably can now hold a lot more and best of all it’s community driven.

The Gulf Run 7 car show is going to take place this weekend. This year there will be around 60 cars taking place at Gulf Run and you’ll be able to check out most of them at 360 Mall where they will be on display for everyone to see. So make sure you pass by this weekend, they’re going to be there for two days, Friday the 13th and Saturday the 14th. For more information on the event and Gulf Run click [Here]

To check out the full list of cars participating this year follow the link below.

2011 Ariel Atom
2009 Audi R8
2012 Audi R8 GT
2010 Audi R8 v10
2010 Audi R8 v10
2006 Back Draft A C Cobra
2008 BMW M3
2006 BMW M6
2007 Catarham G7
2007 Caterham G7
2010 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
2007 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
2007 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
2008 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
2009 Chevy Corvette ZR1
2012 Ferrari 458
2010 Ferrari 599 GTB
2006 Ford GT
2002 Honda S2000
2007 Lamborghini LP640
2010 Lamborghini LP670-SV
2008 Lexus IS-F
2000 Lotus 340R
1997 Lotus Exige S
2009 Mercedes C 63
2009 Mercedes C 63
2012 Mercedes C 63 coupe
2011 Mercedes E 63
2009 Mercedes SLR 722s
2009 Mercedes SLS 63
2011 Mercedes SLS 63
2005 Mitsubishi Evo VIII
2006 Mitsubishi Evo VIII
2006 Mitsubishi Evo VIII
2008 Mitsubishi Evo VIII
2009 Mitsubishi Evo X
2009 Mitsubishi Evo X
2009 Mitsubishi Evo X
2004 Mitsubishi Evo X
2005 Nissan 350Z TT
2004 Nissan 350Z TT
2009 Nissan GTR R35
2010 Nissan GTR R35
2010 Nissan GTR R35
2010 Nissan GTR R35
2006 Porsche Carrera S
2011 Porsche cayman r
1995 Porsche Gemballa GTR 600
2008 Porsche GT2 (997)
2008 Porsche GT3RS (997.1)
2011 Porsche Panamera Turbo
2008 Porsche Turbo (997.2)
2010 Porsche Turbo (997.2)
2008 Porsche Turbo 911
- Radical SR8
2009 Westfield Aerorace
2009 Westfield Aerorace
2009 Westfield Aerorace
2009 Westfield Aerorace
2009 Westfield Aerorace

I heard a lot of complaints about traffic at the end of the 1st Ring Road since it ends at a traffic light but honestly I’ve been taking it every morning to work and I have yet to face any traffic issues. The new extension has actually cut down my morning trip by 5 to 10 minutes so I guess people who’ve been complaining about major traffic are facing it at a different timing than mine. [YouTube]