12:15 PM
Eid Madness at The Dubai Mall (October 24-26 2012)
12:15 PMThese past few days were complete madness for car spotting in Dubai, which is always the case for any major event in the UAE! It all starte...
These past few days were complete madness for car spotting in Dubai, which is always the case for any major event in the UAE! It all started with me spotting a Rolls-Royce Corniche V parked at a petrol station (there are only 374 of these in the world) on Wednesday October 24 2012.
Then evening came and I decided to head to The Dubai Mall. I hung around for 2 hours and spotted a Mansory Aventador, Ferrari 575M Maranello (with a rare 6 speed manual stick and roll cage) and 599 GTO, Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SV and a Hamann 599 GTB.
I went to The Dubai Mall again on Thursday, and I spotted a Mansory Stallone and the same Aventador, the same Ferrari 599 GTO and a Bugatti Veyron Sang Noir. A Rolls-Royce Drophead with a Chrome vinyl wrap also made an appearance. I don't usually take pictures of Rolls-Royces, especially Dropheads as they are very common, but this stood out from the pack! There was a crowd around the cars, especially the Mansory Aventador and the Veyron Sang Noir. The staff were guarding the cars and preventing people from touching the cars, especially the Bugatti Veyron, which drew a crowd.
Friday came and unsurprisingly I decided to head to The Dubai Mall again. The amount of traffic coming towards The Dubai Mall was astronomical, with the traffic amount rivaling the traffic on New Year's Eve. My usual exit from Al Khail Road was full of traffic, and the traffic was even visible even from Al Khail Road, so I went to the mall from Al Wasl Road. Unfortunately for me the police decided to close off one of the exits I usually use to get to my parking spot, which was a huge inconvenience for me. I also managed to take the wrong entrance which made me get stuck in the parking lot for 15 minutes. It took me 1 hour to arrive to the mall and get a parking spot, as opposed to 30 minutes on a regular day.
It was all worth it as I finally managed to see the mythical Bugatti Veyron Pegaso for the first time, which is rumored to have 1200 HP. The Bugatti Veyron Sang Noir also made another appearance and I even managed to get a combo shot of both Bugatti Veyrons! Unfortunately, there was a huge crowd surrounding the Bugatti Veyrons (you can see it in the pictures and videos) and the staff were trying their best to prevent people from getting too close to the cars. They also were fending off those who had to touch the cars while posing besides them for their pictures to be taken and even those who were lingering around the cars for long periods of time.
This really tested what little patience I had for getting the right shot of the cars. It's times like these that made me appreciate getting the EF-S 15-85 IS lens for my 7D, as opposed to the EF-S 17-55 IS. My EF-S 15-85 IS lens had more reach, ie. I could get closer to the subject from a distance. Although the max aperture at the long end (85mm) was a measly f/5.6, I had little problem due to the fact that I always bring my tripod with me (for video and long exposure image shots).
All in all, I had a blast seeing all these nice cars!
Don't forget to click the link below for pictures and videos!
Please note that the video for the Mansory Stallone was taken a few weeks back, although it is the same one that I spotted on Thursday! I never got around to taking any pictures and videos of it on that day, unfortunately.
