We talk to the head of W Motors in Dubai, which produced the Lykan Hypersport – the car that Vin Diesel's Dom drives off Etihad Towers in Furious 7.
When Furious 7 opens in UAE cinemas on Wednesday, April 2, fans will see Vin Diesel's character Dom Toretto switch vehicles.
Parking his beloved black Dodge Charger, Toretto takes the wheel of a rare and impressive Lykan Hypersport, the first Middle Eastern supercar and one of the world's fastest.
It goes from 0 to 60 in less than three seconds and has a top speed of 395kph. With a US$3.4 million (Dh12.5m) price tag, it is the most expensive car to feature in the Fast and Furious franchise.
W Motors, a company based in Dubai, produces the car in Torino, Italy by Magna Steyr. The company's chief executive, Ralph Debbas, 29 and from Lebanon, spoke to The National from Beijing just after he had shared the stage with the film's stars Diesel, Jason Statham and Michelle Rodriguez at the film's Chinese press event.
He will showcase the car today at the Dubai International Marine Club during an appearance at the Step conference, a tech, design and gaming event.
In the film, Diesel’s Toretto manages to drive the Lykan Hypersport through the windows of one of Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Towers skyscrapers through the air to another, before plummeting 45 floors to the ground.
It's an electrifying scene, which is, as an investigation by The National found, theoretically possible – although the car would not likely hit the ground unscathed.
Debbas agrees that the stunt could work in real life. He should know, because he was there watching his beloved car in action in Atlanta, Georgia, where the filmmakers managed to pull it off.
“Of course, the car didn’t crash through a building,” he says. “But they actually threw the car out of a window and rammed it on the ground upside – it was absolutely amazing seeing it touch down.
“It is not the sort of scenario you would see in real life. The whole Etihad Towers scene is just incredible.”
While all 10 stunt cars used in Furious 7 were shipped to Atlanta by plane for the filming of the movie on set, the Lykan Hypersport was sent back to Dubai and is being kept in storage at W Motors.
The eye-catching car regularly attracts curious onlookers when Debbas takes it out for a spin – and once the film is released, it will have full film-star kudos, too.
“It is a satisfaction and pride to drive it around Dubai and see all heads turn in its direction when it hits the highway,” says Debbas. “People are starting to notice it more and more on the roads. They step aside to admire it and to take pictures.”
As if the mechanical specs were not enough, the Lykan Hypersport used in the film truly dazzles: with 420 diamonds placed in its headlights.
“At first, the diamonds enabled us to create a lot of buzz about the car and were part of our marketing strategy,” says Debbas, who explains that sapphires and emeralds are also an option. “Then these precious stones played a very important role in making the car look even more beautiful.”
Furious 7 marks the first time in the multibillion-dollar franchise that Toretto has driven a hypercar, and is the first time since FF3 that he's not been in his black Dodge Charger.
"The producers and stunt coordinators needed a car that was really different from the ones used in all the previous Fast and Furious movies, something that they don't see everyday," says Debbas.
The car was certainly given special treatment during filming. A special set resembling an Arabic-style penthouse suite was built to feature the car. Celebrities aside, Debbas believes the vehicle is "the star of Fast and Furious 7".
“There are seven of these in the world and this guy keeps his locked up in a vault,” says Brian O’Conner, the character played by the late Paul Walker in the film.
“There’s nothing sadder than locking a beast in a cage,” Diesel’s Dom replies, before taking it out for a little spin.
Debbas says that although Diesel only got the chance to drive his “beast” during working hours, “he is looking forward to driving it off set” – a hint perhaps that the Hollywood action man has bought one of his own.
Debbas has high hopes for the film, which he says has created “a huge wave of excitement” about his car even before its release in the UAE on Wednesday night.
"In my opinion, this film is going to be the biggest movie at the box office in history – next to Avatar and Titanic," he says. "We are very lucky to be part of Fast and Furious 7. This whole adventure is fantastic."
• Ralph Debbas and the Lykan Hypersport will appear at the one-day Step conference, March 31, at the Dubai International Marine Club, at 11.50am. Last-minute tickets are available for Dh1,282 For more information, visit stepconference.com
artslife@thenational.ae
This article was amended on March 31, 2015. It had previously stated that the Lykan Hypersport was produced in Dubai. Although W Motors is based in Dubai, the car is produced in Torino, Italy by Magna Steyr.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
COMPANY%20PROFILE%3A
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
HAJJAN
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Abu%20Bakr%20Shawky%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cbr%3EStarring%3A%20Omar%20Alatawi%2C%20Tulin%20Essam%2C%20Ibrahim%20Al-Hasawi%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2018 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross
Price, base / as tested: Dh101,140 / Dh113,800
Engine: Turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder
Power: 148hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 250Nm @ 2,000rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed CVT
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The Kingfisher Secret
Anonymous, Penguin Books
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
Sanju
Produced: Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani
Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Paresh Rawal, Anushka Sharma, Manish’s Koirala, Dia Mirza, Sonam Kapoor, Jim Sarbh, Boman Irani
Rating: 3.5 stars
