The golden era of motoring dating from the mid-20th century can be experienced by visiting the handful of royal collections dotted around the world.
Few are more storied than that of King Abdulaziz Al Saud, whose classic car collection is on show at the National Museum of Saudi Arabia.
Constructed outside the walls of the old city of Riyadh, on what had previously been used as farmland during winter months, it is part of a complex which includes the Murabba Palace, arranged around a breezy central courtyard set in a beautiful palm-planted garden, where the king lived from its completion in 1938 until his death in 1953.
On a recent tour I saw, up close, the magnificent craftsmanship of a range of vehicles. Perhaps the most significant was the Rolls-Royce Phantom III All-Weather, a gift from Winston Churchill in 1946.
Jonathan Mantle, author of Car Wars, says that after President Roosevelt lent King Abdulaziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia, a crewed Douglas DC-3 plane, Churchill, who took this as a challenge, promised him “the best motorcar in the world”.
By the time the pair met, the model had been out of production for six years, but a pre-war model was discovered in a dealer’s garage by the Ministry of Supplies, fitted with a throne and dispatched to the king. It took a year to arrive.
Mantle writes that the king objected that the car was right-hand drive. He liked to sit in the front, especially while out hunting, and he would as the car was, be on the left of the driver, whereas the place of honour was on the right.
It is not only in Riyadh that such vehicles are treasured. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum has put a 1930 Mercedes-Benz 770K, which was ordered new by King Faisal I of Iraq, up for auction.
Online bids have exceeded $1.5 million. One of 117 W07 examples built between 1930 and 1938, its chassis bears the plate Baghdad – 83807. The vehicle was used as a state car for official business in the Iraqi capital, and after his death in 1933, at the age of 48, it was used for the same purpose by his son, King Ghazi, and grandson King Faisal II. The vehicle’s place in history, its rarity, beauty and its royal pedigree combine to give it a rare allure.
Of the modern royal generation, the Sultan of Brunei has a collection of about 7,000 cars, making him the largest private car collector in the world. His collection is estimated to be worth about $5 billion. It includes Ferraris, McLarens, Bugattis, Rolls-Royces, Bentleys and BMWs.
Prince Turki bin Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is reported to own. a Lamborghini Aventador, Mercedes G63, Bentley Flying Spur and Rolls-Royce, all models. plated in gold.
In Britain, Queen Elizabeth II has an impressive state fleet. Buckingham Palace Royal Mews museum collection has three models each from Rolls-Royce and a pair of Bentleys. Long-based models by Rolls-Royce are very rare and the Queen once boasted a 1955 model that was just one of 18 ever made. The claret and black painted limousine was returned to the maker in 2002. On her Golden. Jubilee Queen Elizabeth was. presented with a new Bentley state car. Although she isn’t required to obtain a driving licence because of her royal privilege, Her Majesty did learn to drive – and was trained as a mechanic – during the Second World War, when she drove an aid truck for the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service. She is said to love cars, her Land Rovers in particular, and has been seen behind the wheel recently in Windsor and Norfolk. She has amassed a fleet of ultra-rare vehicles – including magnificent twin Bentleys – that is worth tens of millions of pounds.
Museum pieces of the future are often the stars of royal weddings. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle drove a vintage Jaguar E-Type to their wedding reception in 2018. The 1960s crowd-pleaser was dubbed Enzo Ferrari once called “the most beautiful car in the world”. The twist at the wedding was that this was the “E-Type Concept Zero”, a prototype zero emissions model.
It can only be imagined what this car – with its place in history, rarity, beauty and royal pedigree – might one day make at auction.
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
About Tenderd
Started: May 2018
Founder: Arjun Mohan
Based: Dubai
Size: 23 employees
Funding: Raised $5.8m in a seed fund round in December 2018. Backers include Y Combinator, Beco Capital, Venturesouq, Paul Graham, Peter Thiel, Paul Buchheit, Justin Mateen, Matt Mickiewicz, SOMA, Dynamo and Global Founders Capital
The specs
Common to all models unless otherwise stated
Engine: 4-cylinder 2-litre T-GDi
0-100kph: 5.3 seconds (Elantra); 5.5 seconds (Kona); 6.1 seconds (Veloster)
Power: 276hp
Torque: 392Nm
Transmission: 6-Speed Manual/ 8-Speed Dual Clutch FWD
Price: TBC
Jewel of the Expo 2020
252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome
13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas
550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome
724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses
Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa
Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site
The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants
Al Wasl means connection in Arabic
World’s largest 360-degree projection surface
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
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 720hp
Torque: 770Nm
Price: Dh1,100,000
On sale: now
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
The specs
Engine: 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 540hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 600Nm at 2,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Kerb weight: 1580kg
Price: From Dh750k
On sale: via special order
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
Favorite place to travel: Lebanon
Favorite movie: Braveheart
Company profile
Company: Verity
Date started: May 2021
Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Size: four team members
Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000
Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
