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Dubai police flex it: world’s fastest cop cars

14 February, 2015

In the first world, you’re probably thinking of Dubai as a Middle Eastern Las Vegas — all bright lights, brand-new skyscrapers, and a lot of money floating around. The city whose huge annual gross domestic product (GDP) is made up primarily from the construction, trading, financial, and tourism sectors is a globally recognizable hub of activity.

Despite Dubai now possessing a large foreign debt burden, thanks primarily to the global economic recession of 2008, Dubai’s police force has managed to acquire an enviable garage of pursuit vehicles. They’ve even made a short film showcasing the fleet and though they’re likely promotional items to boost tourism, rather than actual pursuit vehicles, it’s still interesting watching.

Looking like a Need for Speed, or Middle Eastern Fast and the Furious trailer, we spied some mighty impressive vehicles in there — the star-studded line-up includes a Bugatti Veyron, Nissan R35 GTR, McLaren MP4-12C, Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, Bentley Continental GT, Mercedes SLS AMG, Brabus-fettled Mercedes G-wagen, Audi R8, and a BMW M6 Gran Coupe.

Even though these things are probably there more for show than go, it’s still entertaining to watch, and a bit of food for thought for the speedsters among us — imagine if Kiwi cops’ cars were faster than ours!

Travelling companion

16 November, 2023

It’s easy to see why the Morris Minor Traveller was one of the best-loved variants of the Morris Minor. Introduced in 1953, it was equipped with the same independent torsion bar front suspension, drum brakes, and rack and pinion steering as its saloon sibling but, with their foldable rear seat increasing versatility, many Travellers were used as trade vehicles, says Derek Goddard. Derek and Gail Goddard, the owners of this superbly restored example, have run Morris Minors since before they were married in 1974.
“Our honeymoon vehicle was a blue Morris Minor van — it was a rust bucket,” says Derek.

Super Leicht Gullwing

9 November, 2023

It’s fair to say that nothing much in the classic Mercedes world gets past Mercedes-Benz Club stalwart Garry Boyce so it wasn’t surprising to learn that around 15 years ago he had sniffed out an extremely rare 300SL lightweight Gullwing as well as a 1958 300SL Roadster hiding away in the Waikato. The cars were not for sale but Garry eventually managed to persuade the owner to allow him and his restoration team to take a look at the Roadster. They discovered a very distressed but largely unmolested car. The car was so original that the body had never been off the chassis, meaning most of the parts and fittings were still present and correct, as they had been fitted by the factory.