In Dubai, cash flows into the hands of luxury car dealerships as freely the water in the choreographed fountain display at the base of the world-tallest Burj Khalifa shoots to the heavens. You’re never far from a tuned Ferrari or Lamborghini, a murdered-out G-Wagen or gold-trimmed Rolls.
You’d thus be forgiven for assuming the Dubai International Motor Show would be an outright parody of blingy excess. That’s partially true — the aftermarket neighborhood in one of the lesser halls readily entertains your more ostentatious automotive fantasies — but the show proper is as businesslike the people whose world-dominating aspirations draw them into this gleaming desert convention center in the first place.
That doesn’t mean it’s not a fun show, though — not with the unfamiliar array of hypercars and armored sandcrawlers displayed as tastefully as possible alongside the more, shall we say, “conventional” fare. Below, the most extreme machines shown off in this Middle Eastern automotive oasis.
The Familiar Faces
Infiniti QX80
Dubai is famous for its bold, imposing construction projects as well as its artful design work on same. So it’s fitting that one of the two properly notable reveals at the Motor Show comes in the form of Infiniti’s massive QX80 SUV. The formerly bulbous vehicle doesn’t exactly slim down with this refresh, but its design has been masterfully streamlined by Infiniti design head Alfonso Albaisa. The grill gets a substantial revision with a deeper and wider presence; the headlights sit higher, with their own sharpened lines. Body panels from front to the rear have been smoothed out for a less billowy look, and the inside gets more profuse leather treatment and new colors. There are also new 20- and 22-inch alloy wheel designs. It’ll still be powered by a huge 5.6-liter V8 with 400 hp and 413 lb-ft of torque, but the updating still nicely modernizes this big boy. We’ll drive it next month, so stay tuned for the full report.
