Simply Abu Dhabi XXXIV

2 1 2 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I There’s no question, the Fenyr is an attention-grabber with cameras and phones clicking away from passing cars as we drove through Dubai. The interior could be described as cosy with the pillbox-style windscreen almost negating the need for sun visors and no back window as it’s all taken up by engine. Open the throttle and the glorious whistle and roar from the airbox behind your head is both incredibly loud and enticing. It may have a similar engine layout to the Porsche 911, being a twin-turbocharged, mid-mounted 3.8- litre flat-six, but it delivers an extra 220bhp over the Porsche and uses the same PDK 7-speed transmission as it’s the best around and the only one that can handle the its gobsmacking 980Nm of torque. Performance is quoted as 0-100km/h in 2.8 seconds, 0-200 in 9.4 and a top speed of 395km/h and while we didn’t get anywhere near to trying it in Dubai’s rush hour, it had the meat under foot to leave everything else behind at the lights. This car however is merely the shop window forWMotors as there is much more to Ralph Debbas’ growing business than an exotic supercar. Parking the Fenyr in front of a non-descript warehouse at a hidden location, the roller shutter lifted, and I was welcomed into the top-secret other side of the business that includes its sub-brand, Iconiq Motors. In front of me were two prototypes that will also be built in the Dubai factory and are the polar opposite of what I’d just been driving. “We have a lot of new things coming such as the Beast Patrol, or Ghaith as we’ve named it, a police car we revealed at Gitex last year. This is the first fully integrated smart police car which we designed for Dubai Police. “Ghaith will change the face of policing with onboard cameras and state- of-the-art connectivity making it a mobile police station that can also be unmanned and operated remotely. This has been a two-year project and we’ll be delivering the first batch to Dubai Police before the end of the year. “The biggest news however is our fully self-driving, Level 5 Autonomous vehicle calledMuse we are developing for the Dubai Government for Expo 2020.” At over five metres long, Muse is an impressive sight which intends to redefine the shape of the car. The steering wheel is hidden away and the front seats swivel to face the rear. Its front and side windows double as giant LCD screens to watch movies, browse the Internet or work on the computer. Muse was officially unveiled at last month’s Shanghai Auto Show and just hours after my introduction, it was presented to the Private Office of Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum for the official signing ceremony.