In the world of high-end cars, there comes a point where performance and luxury are simply not enough. Horsepower is easy to come by these days: Porsches, Corvettes, Ferraris, Lamborghinis - everyone's trying to outdo each other. And it seems as if most of the world's car makers are buying cows bathed in oil and butter, softening their hides for the most luxurious interiors imaginable. So when you're looking to show up your neighbour with your next new car, what choice do you have?
The selling point, then, is not how many cylinders your car has, but how few people own your car. In a word, exclusivity.
That's the raison d'etre of Alpina. The German company is officially listed as an automobile manufacturer, though it builds all of its cars based on BMW's line-up. It slots in above the base BMWs for luxury and just below the M Series for performance.
What the company does is simple: it offers unique exterior paint, wheels, interiors and performance upgrades, but fewer than 2,000 cars are built annually. Thereby, if you own an Alpina, there's a pretty good chance you'd be the only one on the block with one. Of course, this being the UAE, that may not apply.
And these things are different, I found as I first climbed into this bright blue, B6 two-door coupé. Wow, the interior was, uh, different. Soft, cream-coloured leather lined just about every centimetre of space inside the car. Contrasting stitching highlighted the seams, with blue piping lining the seats. Highly polished maple adorned the centre stack.
I had come to expect a certain clean and reserved taste in BMWs, and this was a little beyond the norm. I would even go so far as to say it was garish. Not what I would expect from a German luxury car.
Right, then. Let's try to focus on the ride, I thought. And, it being built on a BMW 6 Series, the ride was, of course, pretty well perfect. The soft and luxurious demeanour easily held its composure with fits of higher-speed, tight-corner driving. I'm not sure this is the kind of car I'd want to thrash around a race- track on the weekends, but it could probably handle it. It's certainly more than capable of spirited driving around town.
And spirited is somewhat of an understatement. Five hundred and thirty horsepower under the hood gives this coupé a mighty kick, sending it from nought to 60 kilometres per hour in 4.4 seconds. The 4.4-litre V8 is coupled to a very capable six-speed automatic transmission with manual shifting capabilities. Sounds like a great combination, doesn't it?
And yet, it could be so much better. Instead of manually shifting with paddle shifters, Alpina put two small nubs on the back of the steering wheel, with up and down shifts marked by large + and ? signs stitched in leather on the each side of the front of the wheel. Why? BMW's M6 has a perfectly good - actually, much better - transmission in its double-clutch, sequential manual box. This can be driven like a tame automatic, but when you want to play, it's a proper, Formula 1-inspired box with paddle shifters. Why offer anything less?
In fact, questioning the gearbox brought the whole comparison of the M6 and B6 into perspective. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the ride of the M6 - it can be soft and supple or tight and sporty, and it can also be adjusted to suit the situation, unlike the B6. It's got about the same power, a much better gearbox, and pretty well the same exterior look. Oh, it's also got that whole "M button" thing, which can change the car from a smooth, boulevard-cruising coupé to a snarling beast for the track. The kicker for me is the fact its interior is much more tastefully appointed, yet no less luxurious than the B6. The M6 is a car I would take to the Autodrome; the B6 seems like something you take to the golf course to show off to your mates before you head out for a foursome. Exclusivity or not, I just don't get the whole idea of it.
Here's a thought: bring home the M6, buy a set of low-rider dubs and get the car painted in your own choice of colour, then get a pinstripe put on down the side. You'll find you'll do a lot less golfing and a lot more driving.
nvorano@thenational.ae
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
UAE%20v%20West%20Indies
%3Cp%3EFirst%20ODI%20-%20Sunday%2C%20June%204%20%0D%3Cbr%3ESecond%20ODI%20-%20Tuesday%2C%20June%206%20%0D%3Cbr%3EThird%20ODI%20-%20Friday%2C%20June%209%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EMatches%20at%20Sharjah%20Cricket%20Stadium.%20All%20games%20start%20at%204.30pm%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20squad%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMuhammad%20Waseem%20(captain)%2C%20Aayan%20Khan%2C%20Adithya%20Shetty%2C%20Ali%20Naseer%2C%20Ansh%20Tandon%2C%20Aryansh%20Sharma%2C%20Asif%20Khan%2C%20Basil%20Hameed%2C%20Ethan%20D%E2%80%99Souza%2C%20Fahad%20Nawaz%2C%20Jonathan%20Figy%2C%20Junaid%20Siddique%2C%20Karthik%20Meiyappan%2C%20Lovepreet%20Singh%2C%20Matiullah%2C%20Mohammed%20Faraazuddin%2C%20Muhammad%20Jawadullah%2C%20Rameez%20Shahzad%2C%20Rohan%20Mustafa%2C%20Sanchit%20Sharma%2C%20Vriitya%20Aravind%2C%20Zahoor%20Khan%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
IPL 2018 FINAL
Sunrisers Hyderabad 178-6 (20 ovs)
Chennai Super Kings 181-2 (18.3 ovs)
Chennai win by eight wickets
Mina Cup winners
Under 12 – Minerva Academy
Under 14 – Unam Pumas
Under 16 – Fursan Hispania
Under 18 – Madenat
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
CHATGPT%20ENTERPRISE%20FEATURES
%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Enterprise-grade%20security%20and%20privacy%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Unlimited%20higher-speed%20GPT-4%20access%20with%20no%20caps%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Longer%20context%20windows%20for%20processing%20longer%20inputs%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Advanced%20data%20analysis%20capabilities%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Customisation%20options%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Shareable%20chat%20templates%20that%20companies%20can%20use%20to%20collaborate%20and%20build%20common%20workflows%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Analytics%20dashboard%20for%20usage%20insights%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Free%20credits%20to%20use%20OpenAI%20APIs%20to%20extend%20OpenAI%20into%20a%20fully-custom%20solution%20for%20enterprises%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The bio
Studied up to grade 12 in Vatanappally, a village in India’s southern Thrissur district
Was a middle distance state athletics champion in school
Enjoys driving to Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah with family
His dream is to continue working as a social worker and help people
Has seven diaries in which he has jotted down notes about his work and money he earned
Keeps the diaries in his car to remember his journey in the Emirates
