This year the Middle East International Motor Show gathered a most impressive group of participants. World premieres may have been not so numerous but the sales of premium-brand automobiles exceeded all expectations.
The Middle East International Motor Show 2007 was one of the largest motor shows in the region, and it certainly isn't at the bottom of international automobile industry forums' rating - not by a long shot. Which is hardly surprising: where else would the world premium brands find that many solvent customers if not in the oil-rich Middle East?
Accordingly, Maybach who present new models to everyone’s pleasure not so often, has chosen the Dubai car show for a debut of its exotic concept: a convertible landaulet with the roof which folds back only over the passenger compartment, while the chauffer's cabin always remains fully closed.
The conceptual landaulet is built on the Maybach 62S platform minus the body module with a rear section of the roof. In the closed mode, the black folding fabric roof is tightly pressed to the arcs of the stationary roof section. A chauffer opens the roof by pressing a switch on the central console at passengers’ will. With the help of an electronic hydraulic mechanism the roof softly folds into the space behind the back seats, together with a single-layer safety glass rear window. Roof opening or retraction takes 16 seconds.
The interior's central idea is the contrast between black upholstery in the driver's cabin and the snow-white leather of the passenger compartment. Also, the passenger compartment features decorative elements and insets lacquered with black piano varnish or made of black granite with golden inlays.
The Germans got two orders for that car (which costs over half a million dollars) right at the show, though it isn't even a production version yet. About thirty more serious customers are waiting for their turn. Compared with that, three sold SLR 722 GTS don't look impressive at all.
The motor show turned out quite successful for Audi too: the company signed 25 contracts just for a R8 supercar, and the customers haven't been put off even by a 18-month waiting period. The Americans from West Coast Customs tuning studio haven't come off losers either: they managed to sell 9 specially tuned Range Stormers at almost $400,000 apiece, while one of the main show stoppers Shelby Ultimate Aero - one of the fastest production cars of the modern times - went for almost $600,000.
In a word, it seems that Arab Sheikhs haven't yet heard about the world economic crisis and demonstrated that they still know how to choose toys - which, thanks to the high oil prices, keep getting more expensive. Quite an example for our home-grown moneybags!
Ilya Kalinov
Photoreport
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