Motoring Middle East: Car news, Reviews and Buying guides

New look, great info-graphics, classic hunks and one dedicated researcher

By Shahzad Sheikh

If you’ve tried to get into the Sharjah Classic Car Museum on the Al Dhaid road next to the Sharjah Airport lately, you would have found it closed.

Which would have been a shame as it’s a nice facility with some interesting cars held within. They’re not the best cars you could find, or the most emotive, but certainly some fascinating metal.

Well you’ll be pleased to know that the Museum reopened yesterday and whether you’ve been there before or not, it’s well worth popping over for a dekho. See our full gallery of images here

The interior has now been refurbished and features extensive information points and placards liberally placed all around the building.

And rather than just sticking all the cars they could find into the museum without much rhyme or reason, the number of cars on display has been trimmed and there are new themed segments.

The main entrance now features a children’s activity area and a large museum information board. Head off to the right of the board and you find yourself amongst the real vintage stuff, with an entire platform dedicated to the achievements of Henry Ford.

Move anti-clockwise around the perimeter and the vehicles get newer – post war Americana rules here.

Continue around and you’ll come to the trucks and vans and a display of the cars that represent UAE culture.

The fourth section is one where the cars on display are voted for by popular demand and could be any popular classic or replica cars.

You can enter your own car for the chance to go on display. I was told you can enter your car through the website www.sharjahmuseums.ae, though you might need to call them up for information – 0097165580222.

Around the central hub is an area showcasing ‘new heights of innovation’ and right in the middle is circular display gallery which will host different themed exhibitions on a regular basis.

In front of that you’ll find Sharjah Classic Plate 1, which is on the Sheikh’s old Mercedes limousine.

Behind that is a car converted to seating for dining, and now there’s even a place to purchase some drinks and snacks in the form of a converted food truck.

They’ve picked 85 cars and two motorbikes to go on semi-permanent display. These were the best presented or most historically notable cars. Even so, 22 of them underwent some restoration work over the five month period during which the museum was closed.

So who chose the cars and planned and arranged the new information displays? Well it was the work of a remarkable young researcher named Samah Alkaff from the Sharjah Museums Department. In order for her to work on this project she had to gen up on motoring history and at one point was reading up to six books a day, she told me.

‘I’m almost a car geek now,’ she said cheerily before embarking on a discourse about Andre Citroen’s marketing genius, whilst we stood besides a rather sorry, but still sensational looking Citroen DS.

Alkaff is moving onto her next project, but hopefully she’ll keep some of the newfound passion for motoring with her. ‘I may borrow my brother’s classic Stingray sometimes,’ she admitted. We hope to see her at the next Car Meet.

The Sharjah Classic Car Museum is now open with an entry price of AED5 per person. It’s open 8am-8pm Saturday to Thursday and 4-8pm on Friday but closed on Sundays. Guided tours are free of charged on request. Group and school bookings can be pre-arranged.