The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 194hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 275Nm from 2,000-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: from Dh155,000
On sale: now
Vehicles with a trio of wheels are an oddity, unless we’re referring to three-wheeled taxis – dubbed tuk-tuks in Thailand and auto rickshaws in India. My only previous hands-on exposure to such a contraption was via the retro-laced Morgan Three-Wheeler in 2014, and I’m having flashbacks to that road test as I first lay eyes on the equally offbeat Vanderhall Venice.
Vanderhall brings its three-wheeler cars to the UAE
Never heard of Vanderhall? Here's some quick background info on the company: it's based in Provo, Utah, and was established in 2010 by Steve Hall, whose background was in computer-aided design for gas industry company Novatek. Hall spent five years prototyping the three-wheeled vehicles he had visualised, and by 2016, there were three "autocycles" on offer.
The brand recently launched in the UAE, with the Dubai-based Blanford Capital signing up as the local importer. There's no dealership as yet, but you can find a pop-up stand in the Dubai International Financial Centre where there's a car on display and sales staff to field inquiries.
Nifty performer
We test the Venice, which costs from Dh155,000 and is backed by a two-year limited warranty and two-year roadside assistance. Although it looks otherworldly, there are some mainstream elements to the car, namely the 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo engine and six-speed automatic transmission, both of which are sourced from General Motors. Peer under the bonnet of a Chevrolet Malibu and you’ll find the same motor. One benefit of the Vanderhall’s mass-market drivetrain is that parts are readily available, and maintenance is unlikely to be expensive.
Fire it up, though, and the Venice sounds nothing like a Malibu. The exposed twin side pipes emit a barrage of decibels, and noise levels escalate once you get under way, with a chorus of whooshing and whistling from the turbocharger wastegate. The Venice ekes out 194hp and 275Nm, roughly on a par with the Toyota Camry, but the key to the three-wheeler's eye-widening acceleration is that it weighs only 665 kilograms – less than half of the latter.
Stable ride
Unlike the tail-happy Morgan Three-Wheeler, which sends drive to the solitary rear wheel, the Venice is front-wheel-drive, and one consequence is that it feels far more stable and planted than the barnstorming Brit. There’s also the fact the Vanderhall has a much beefier wheel/tyre combo, with 285mm wide rubber at the rear, and a pair of 225mm hoops at the front. After an initial feeling-out process, it becomes clear the Venice serves up no nasty surprises – you never feel as though it’ll spit you off the road or fall over (like the Reliant Regal in Mr Bean skits), which was my initial concern.
Get comfortable in it and the Venice is great fun. You can fling it through corners, safe in the knowledge the thing will just stick and rocket out the other side. That said, the thin-rimmed wooden steering wheel is slippery, especially if your palms get sweaty, so you need to grip it with more pressure than ideal. The brake pedal has beautiful weighting and progression, and the Venice pulls up straight even under heavy braking. All this helps to build confidence in the car, so one’s initial circumspection begins to evaporate.
Safety concerns
Of course, get out into the cut-and-thrust of Sheikh Zayed Road and you again begin to feel a little vulnerable, as your eyeline is level with the wheel arches of the hulking SUVs looming all around. There’s little in the way of occupant protection and you sit very exposed, with the sidesill barely waist-high once you’re in the driver’s seat; you can reach down and touch the tarmac. One other thing to remember is that other motorists may not see you in their mirrors as the top of the Vanderhall is barely a metre high.
The Venice has slightly flimsy build quality and minimal passive safety, plus your eardrums are assaulted by engine/road/wind noise and your head gets buffeted by the wind. However, its raw fun factor and eyeball-smacking looks are adequate compensation. If the conditions are right (I tested it on a sublime 24°C day), it's pure exhilaration.
Company%20profile
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RESULTS
5pm: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Racing Festival Purebred Arabian Cup Conditions (PA) Dh 200,000 (Turf) 1,600m
Winner: Hameem, Adrie de Vries (jockey), Abdallah Al Hammadi (trainer)
5.30pm: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Cup Conditions (PA) Dh 200,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: Winked, Connor Beasley, Abdallah Al Hammadi
6pm: Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan National Day Cup Listed (TB) Dh 380,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: Boerhan, Ryan Curatolo, Nicholas Bachalard
6.30pm: Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan National Day Group 3 (PA) Dh 500,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: AF Alwajel, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan National Day Jewel Crown Group 1 (PA) Dh 5,000,000 (T) 2,200m
Winner: Messi, Pat Dobbs, Timo Keersmaekers
7.30pm: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Racing Festival Handicap (PA) Dh 150,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Harrab, Ryan Curatolo, Jean de Roualle
8pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 100,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: AF Alareeq, Connor Beasley, Ahmed Al Mehairbi
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
NYBL PROFILE
Company name: Nybl
Date started: November 2018
Founder: Noor Alnahhas, Michael LeTan, Hafsa Yazdni, Sufyaan Abdul Haseeb, Waleed Rifaat, Mohammed Shono
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Software Technology / Artificial Intelligence
Initial investment: $500,000
Funding round: Series B (raising $5m)
Partners/Incubators: Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 4, Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 6, AI Venture Labs Cohort 1, Microsoft Scale-up
The Land between Two Rivers: Writing in an Age of Refugees
Tom Sleigh, Graywolf Press
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More coverage from the Future Forum
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
England-South Africa Test series
1st Test England win by 211 runs at Lord's, London
2nd Test South Africa win by 340 runs at Trent Bridge, Nottingham
3rd Test July 27-31 at The Oval, London
4th Test August 4-8 at Old Trafford, Manchester
Ad Astra
Director: James Gray
Stars: Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones
Five out of five stars
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Aaron Finch, Matt Renshaw, Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (captain), Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Jon Holland, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Results
Stage 7:
1. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal - 3:18:29
2. Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - same time
3. Phil Bauhaus (GER) Bahrain Victorious
4. Michael Morkov (DEN) Deceuninck-QuickStep
5. Cees Bol (NED) Team DSM
General Classification:
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 24:00:28
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:35
3. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:02
4. Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:42
5. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
RESULTS
Light Flyweight (48kg): Alua Balkibekova (KAZ) beat Gulasal Sultonalieva (UZB) by points 4-1.
Flyweight (51kg): Nazym Kyzaibay (KAZ) beat Mary Kom (IND) 3-2.
Bantamweight (54kg): Dina Zholaman (KAZ) beat Sitora Shogdarova (UZB) 3-2.
Featherweight (57kg): Sitora Turdibekova (UZB) beat Vladislava Kukhta (KAZ) 5-0.
Lightweight (60kg): Rimma Volossenko (KAZ) beat Huswatun Hasanah (INA) KO round-1.
Light Welterweight (64kg): Milana Safronova (KAZ) beat Lalbuatsaihi (IND) 3-2.
Welterweight (69kg): Valentina Khalzova (KAZ) beat Navbakhor Khamidova (UZB) 5-0
Middleweight (75kg): Pooja Rani (IND) beat Mavluda Movlonova (UZB) 5-0.
Light Heavyweight (81kg): Farida Sholtay (KAZ) beat Ruzmetova Sokhiba (UZB) 5-0.
Heavyweight (81 kg): Lazzat Kungeibayeva (KAZ) beat Anupama (IND) 3-2.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 194hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 275Nm from 2,000-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: from Dh155,000
On sale: now
