DESERTED HIGH-CLASS
CARS IN DUBAI
G'day folks,
Ah ... The rich have fallen by the wayside.
Some cities have a
litter problem, some suffer from high crime rates and others might have a lack
of affordable housing. And then you have Dubai, which for the last several
years has been facing the unusual problem of high end sports cars being
abandoned and left to gather thick layers of dust at airport car parks and on
the roadside across the city.
If you’ve ever been to Dubai or anywhere in the United Arab
Emirates, you will have noticed they have a serious car culture out there, with
a particular preference for the latest and greatest in high-end super cars. But
like the rest of the world, Dubai has fallen on hard times. Once the hub of the
oil economy and the centre of a booming property market, foreigners, mostly
British, invested in the red hot market. Newly wealthy ex-pats bought the latest
Italian and German sports cars to complement their millionaire lifestyles– and
then the global economic crisis came along and burst everybody’s bubble.
Thousands of the finest automobiles ever made are now being
abandoned every year since Dubai’s financial meltdown, left by expatriates and
locals alike who flee in a hurry because they face crippling debts. With big
loans to repay to the banks (unpaid debt or even bouncing a cheque is a
criminal offence in Dubai), the panicked car owners make their way to the
airport at top speeds and leave their vehicles in the car park, hopping on the
next flight out of there, never to return.
Ferraris, Porsches, BMWs, Mercedes are regularly abandoned
at the car park of Dubai International Airport, some with loan documents and
apology notes simply left on the windscreen and in some cases with the keys
still in the ignition.
Last year, a Ferrari Enzo, one of only four hundred
manufactured, was seized by police having spent several months in a car park
collecting dust. The million dollar motor went on sale at auction alongside
other Ferraris, Porsches, Range Rovers and Mercedes plucked from the roadside.
Clancy's comment: They have obviously bitten off more than they can chew. Do I feel sympathy for them? Nope. I'm a great believer in karma. Bring it on. What a pack of wimps.
I'm ...
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