Motoring Middle East: Car news, Reviews and Buying guides

Top 10 favourite drives, press launches, stories, prettiest cars, classics and forgettable motors

By Shahzad Sheikh

2012 was an epic year, the first full year of Motoring Middle East following on the transition from the closure of CAR Middle East magazine. Thanks to our loyal readers for staying with us, and a big welcome to the many, many more of you that we picked up along the way.

We weren’t about to leave you all disappointed by churning out a tepid stream of regurgitated press releases and same-again coverage. We’ve spent the year bouncing off the rev limiter endeavouring to bury you under an avalanche of action-packed motoring content whether it be words, pictures, videos and even live events and tons of direct interaction through our highly active Facebook page.

We’ve already looked at the stats and revealed our most popular stories and our most viewed videos of the year. Now it’s time to get a little introspective and think about the cars and experiences that really left an impression on me.

My Top Ten Drives

We’re blessed. We truly are, and sometimes we need to sit back, recognise and acknowledge that fact. By my best guestimate, I’ve driven over 60 new cars this year, and well over half of those are probably cars that most mere mortals (like yours truly) might never really ever get an opportunity to sample otherwise.

Yet, admittedly many motors do start to meld into one another, and each time I curse myself for not engaging in more note-taking, as memories of the drive start to fade rapidly.

However there are cars that leave a lasting impression, the ones that I can, at will, recall driving, because the experience has burned itself into my memory banks. These are the cars that made me gawp like a kid given the keys to a sweet shop; they transcended test driving and plateaued onto motoring nirvana; they are the ones I didn’t want to give back.

1. Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
It’s what the Camaro should have been to start with, a ripsnorting mental hoon-machine that put the muscle back into muscle-car. This 580bhp sideways sensation looks the part, sounds the biz and I would have happily kept it floored till the world’s fuel ran out. If I could’ve sold the kids, I wouldn’t have returned the car, but just sent GM a cheque instead.

2. Toyota 86
As I said in my definitive review of this car, it’s just not possible to overstate the importance and significance of this little sportscar. It’s not just a shot-in-the-arm for Toyota, but a game-changer for the segment, taking enthusiasts’ cars back to their core values of driver entertainment. Its back-to-basics feel (particularly in manual guise) reminded me of some of my favourite cars from the 1980s – driving an 86 is to ride a wave of nostalgia onto a beach of modernity. It really is perfection.

Dodge Charger SRT8

3. Charger SRT8
In our sensational triple test against the BMW M5 and the Jaguar XFR, it won on bang-for-bucks. Or at least that was the logical conclusion. But there was more to it. There’s an honest likeability that the whole car exudes, and which becomes particularly apparent from behind the wheel. It’s a car that lets you in on the joke and never takes itself too seriously, it’s your favourite drinking buddy, and good mate to have in a tough spot.

4. BMW 335i
After the BMW 1-Series M (1M as it’s popularly known) this all-new Three is the car that’s done the most to restore my faith in BMW and holds true to BeeEm’s original dictum ‘The Ultimate Driving Machine.’ It’s impeccably presented in a sombre suit, but from the pilot’s pew it feels as playful as a puppy with ball of wool. If it wasn’t so expensive…

5. Rolls-Royce Phantom Series II
It’s the height of opulence and the ultimate in motive majesty. If you’re filthy rich, and I mean obscene, then why bother with anything else? Some of the finest craftsmen in England are whipped and beaten and forced to work untold hours for a loaf of a stale bread and cold broth, in order to surround you with lavish luxury (they’re not really but if you’re going to be decadent, you might as well imagine so). There is no other car that elevates your perception of self-worth as this does, and it’s an amazingly good steer too for such a big beast.

6. McLaren MP4-12C
I chose it as my weapon of choice in a grudge match against the fabled Nissan GT-R, and I was right to do so. Not because I won (duh, obviously!), but because carving up my favourite local mountain road, I was able to relish the precision feel, the unerring response and the F1-bred performance. Even having to stick my hand out the window to hold down a piece of errant window trim that kept dislodging itself, didn’t dampen the Macca’s appeal.

7. Mini Roadster Cooper Manual
Personally I’ve always been a fan of the ‘new’ Mini. My favourite remains the regular hatchback, ideally in John Cooper Works flavour, though a Cooper S would do. But most important requirement would be that it’s a manual. Well on this launch we got to drive the manual versions of the new Roadster Cooper S on tight and twisty, bumpy and challenging Portuguese roads. The sun was out the roof was down and the iconic handling shone through.

8. Cadillac ATS
Yes I’d read the reviews claiming this new Cadillac could go tread-to-tread with a BMW 3 series (the best in the business when it comes to dynamic saloons), but being they were all in American media, I could not shake the scepticism – surely some jingoism was at play here? Then I drove it myself. On road and on track. As fast I dare go in fact. And it was a revelation. Can’t wait to take it out on the road again.

Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8

9. Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8
As you blitz all-comers at the lights, barge into a corner and soak up the soundtrack of the HEMI, your world seems a little surreal and warped – it just should not be possible to go this fast in something this gargantuan. Actually there are and have been other SUVs that will go as quick, but none that put as bigger grin on your face as this one. You feel silly and smug at the same time. And the ride is so much more comfortable than the old GC SRT8.

10. Range Rover
I’m not for a moment going to claim that this is a great driver’s car and that it will embarrass supercars, it just won’t. But like the Rolls-Royce, this car is all about ‘feel-good’, and there is no other luxury SUV that will match it for making you feel like the master of all you survey from your high-mounted throne-like driver’s seat. And of course it’s remarkably quick, and astonishingly able on the road with better body control than ever before, but perhaps even more surprising is that it will still conquer, with elegant ease, any terrain you care to throw at it. This is ‘go-anywhere’ in style.

Top 5 car launch events

Another perk of this job is getting to attend regional and international car launches where we get to stay in some of the best hotels, drive the most exciting roads and push the cars hard until the wheel nuts fall off. Personally I like to focus on regional launches as I believe this puts the cars in a relevant context, but the first one in this list just had to be done. 😉

1. Rolls-Royce Phantom
Would I like to go to Cote d’Azur and stay at a hotel the Beetles favoured, drive through Nice and Cannes, dine in Monaco, get driven around the legendary GP track in a Rolls just a day before the Historic GP is to take place, allowed to run-riot in a very expensive power boat and of course waft around this most glamorous of locales in the poshest of possible automobiles, taking in sensational scenery in glorious weather? Yeah I think so. This was not only the most luxurious press event, but one of the best organised I’ve ever attended.

2. Range Rover
Again the credit has to go to the organises of this superbly run major international launch event that took in virtually every kind of terrain and environment that stunning Morocco had to offer, including the famed Atlas Mountains. Very slick indeed.

3. Cadillac ATS
Well the road route was never going to be great – it’s Abu Dhabi – and mostly involved straight roads and roundabouts, but when we moved to the Yas Marina circuit, GM showed its utmost faith in its newest product by demonstrating some considerable bravery in the form of letting journos loose on the Marina section of the F1 track. To me this is the most daunting section – lots of sharp blind corners, forbidding walls and seemingly not much run-off. First three car convoys were with no helmets – which is so much more comfortable – and then we were given the opportunity to go flat out with an instructor guiding us along the way. I conquered my fear of the track and came away mega-impressed with the ATS. It was also great to meet film director and racer Jeff Swart who created the promotional campaign for the ATS in the States (ATS Against the World) and gave us some fascinating insights into how it was put together.

4. Toyota 86
I guess I got lucky on this one. Whilst others complained of not enough time with the car, and the launch event at Yas Marina did seem to focus on activities rather than actual driving, my group happened to be the last to get the on-track session, and with some extended time available to us, we managed to pound in lap-after-lap of the north loop of the GP track and I got a valuable insight into just how benign and satisfying the 86 was to drive hard on a circuit. There’s few time’s that I’ve been as happy on track.

5. Porsche 911
Like the ATS, this involved rather dull on-road driving (same route in fact) followed by some high-speed on track action using my much-preferred north loop of Yas Marina circuit and including the ‘corkscrew’ middle section – where I had a bit of a moment in the 911, but then that’s what the fabled Porsche is all about isn’t it? Respect it, or it will bite.

Top 10 stories

1. 2012 Dodge Ram: Highway to Hell
It reads like a really bad synopsis for a new Blair Witch style movie, but I promise you this all really happened – the spookiest drive we’ve ever done!

2. MME Exclusive – 2013 Dodge Dart
We talked Chrysler engineers into lending us one of only two Dodge Darts in the region, and we made off with their precious development car for a blast around the Emirates.

3. Review: Monster Meet 12 at Dubai Festival City
Our little ‘Meets’ ballooned into a mega car show and overwhelmed us and Festival City. It’s now the stuff of legend. Fear not – we will be back!

4. Middle East Motor Awards – our verdicts
I was on the jury for the only awards that mattered this year – but that didn’t mean I had to agree with them. Here I set the record straight.

5. Toyota 86 ‘launches’ at MME Meet No.10
A month before its official launch in the UAE, the sports car of the moment was shown off at our meet, and the pictures of punters with the lovely Toyota girls went viral!

6. Tribute: Carroll Shelby (1923-2012)
We lost another legend from the world of cars and motor sports this year, but his name will surely live on. We miss you.

7. Ford Mustang Boss 302 on sale in Dubai
We love bringing you exclusives, and here we were the first to reveal that one of only a handful of Boss 302 Mustangs were officially on sale in the UAE.

8. Farewell to the Range Rover
The last Range Rover is, in my opinion, best of breed. And whilst the looks of the new car will take a little getting used to, there is no doubting the appeal of its predecessor. It’s my favourite of its era, so one last drive was a must.

9. Bond’s Top Ten Best Rides
Bond was back and he’d reverted to his old favourite the DB5, a good opportunity then for us to list what we think have been his best drives over the years.

10. Top 5 best Indian cars ever made, and one that wasn’t
Did you know that several cars on sale in the UAE are now made in India? Time, then, to look at what we reckon are the most significant Indian-made cars ever.

Hindustan Ambassador

Top 10 best looking cars

Okay, so beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and a pretty car is not necessarily a great car, but here are the cars that really had me salivating this year, on looks alone.

1. Lamborghini Aventador Roadster
How supercars should really look – outrageous, jaw-dropping and awesome.

2. Fisker Karma
It’s by the guy that gave us the modern Aston Martin template and the most beautiful modern BMW, the Z8, so of course it’s gorgeous.

3. BMW Gran Coupe
It reminds of the taut, slim, fuselage style of mid-90s E38 7 Series (my favourite 7) but it is sexier, sleeker and sure to turn heads.

4. Ferrari 458 Italia Spider
Well a beautiful red head gets even more stunning with its top off – need I say more?

5. Toyota 86

Strip away all the hype and the kudos over its dynamic abilities, and this is a genuinely pretty little car. It’s got a bit of mini-Maserati Gran Turismo coupe going on. I even like the flat pistons badge on the flanks!

6. Dodge Charger SRT8
I always liked the brutish old Dodge Charger, but just as the 2010 revisions to the Ford Mustang kept all the best bits and somehow enhanced the car even further, Dodge has pulled off the same trick with the Charger. The slab-sidedness has gone, and those heroic rear full-width LEDs are rock and roll!

7. Jaguar F-Type
Admittedly I haven’t seen this in the metal yet, so this comes with a proviso, but I’ve been salivating over the pictures, so hopes are high.

8. Rolls-Royce Phantom Series II
Funnily enough, I never really liked the Phantom when it was first introduced in 2003, until I saw it in person and became awestruck by the sheer magnitude and presence of this thing – all done with such panache. The oh-so-subtle revisions, just make it even better.

9. McLaren MP4-12C Spider
Another admission, I don’t think the Macca is the prettier supercar out there, but it remains a head-turner. The Spider, however, seems to somehow intensify the allure of the template mid-engine styling and suddenly I want one.

10. Chrysler 300C
Another one I thought was going to fail to follow on from its predecessor’s iconic Gansta-Bentley cool, but it’s not only pulled off the transition, but is a genuinely butch and handsome saloon – particularly in SRT8 guise.

Top 5 classic car moments

Here at MME, we love classics, particularly modern classics dating from the 1960s onwards, and we just can’t get enough of them. Fortunately there are lots out there and more are coming out of the woodwork. If you’ve got a nice old car, get in touch at MME@MotoringME.com and it could be featured right here!

1. Kuwait Concours d’Elegance
Sadly this year’s edition has been postponed to 2014, but this is a truly world class Concours d’Elegance with a glittering line-up of coveted classics and storied stars of the automotive world. If you’re into cars and car culture this is the region’s best event.

2. Driving a 1969 Camaro SS
Before I’d finished shooting this old-meets-new Camaro feature, I’d fallen in love with Khaled Bin Hadher’s restored 1969 Camaro SS. So I begged the car’s caretaker for a go and to my surprise he tossed me the keys. It was only a short drive, but it felt like coming home – you know what I mean?

3. Driving Mazda a 1985 RX-7 
Similarly at the end of shooting Jassem Al Janahi’s beautiful first-generation Mazda RX-7 he was not only kind enough to let me have a drive, but was positively insistent that I should tick off another of my childhood favourites.

4. Classic Car Registration now available in Dubai
You can now get your classic car inspected and registered in Dubai with special Dubai Classic car number plates. A great move that will hopefully see more old motors out and about.

5. Fiction: ’Stang Struck
Regular readers know of my oft professed desire to own a ’68 Fastback Mustang, but the next best thing is to imagine it. Combine that with my love of science-fiction, and despite not having written stories for years, I had to get the old creative juices flowing again for this one.

Top 5 most forgettable cars

Er… I forgot them.

You’re not paying attention are you? I wrote at the end of the third paragraph at the top of this feature that I was going to talk about the stuff that left a lasting impression on me – obviously this sub-head’s a contradiction in terms.

Instead why don’t you tell us what were your best and worst cars for 2012 below?