Last week I was in Saudi for work. I have a nose for car related things, and sometimes my timing is what lets me down rather than my ability to sniff stuff out. So unfortunately I missed the Cars & Coffee event and at least one of the places I wanted to visit. More on this below. This is in part due to the really annoying habit of things not being very much online there, or maybe I just need to speak Arabic. So I did discover there is a guy in Riyadh (the city I was in) who has a huge car collection which is housed in a converted mansion. I found a few blogs mentioning it, visiting it, and commenting on it but NOT ONE which would tell me where it was. I will work on this for next time.
I will start by commenting on the daily traffic I saw. And remember I was only in Riyadh which is the capital city so its kinda like going to London and saying "this is what all of the UK is like" but hey.
I was surprised how many yank tanks I saw. And I use the term deliberately because it was the big stuff. Suburbans, Denalis, Yukons, Escalades, F150s, Excursions and the like – loads of the big pickups and SUVs, but also lots of older full size sedans. I saw more CROWN Victorias in Saudi than I did in the USA. They were everywhere. The photo here shows a car park scene – note the CROWN Victoria up front and in the row behind are a Suburban, a Bronco, a Mercury Grand Marquis…. The Ford Taurus is a popular choice of Uber Comfort and I saw plenty of Chevy Malibus too. What was about in big numbers were Dodge Challengers and Chargers, the odd Camaro and Mustang and none of these were the V6… At night I could hear them street racing or maybe just pelting about for fun, the crackle of the hemis and so on.
The next batch of cars out there are the established Asian brands – mostly Toyota. Again they go for the Land Cruiser, 4Runner, RAV4, etc. but also the Camry and so on. The Camry Hybrid is about the most popular taxi out there, along with the Hyundai Elantra Hybrid. For an oil state I was surprised how many hybrids and EV I saw, mostly the Japanese and Korean brands. I guess that’s more to do with air quality in the very very busy Riyadh streets than fuel costs.
Last up there are LOTS of Chinese cars there. Geely, Chery, JAC, BAIC and there were a ton of Haval SUVs. MG is popular and then there are the Chinese build “western brands” like the Ford Territory. Even sticking to the China branded stuff this must have been 30% of the cars on the road, or close to it.
What didn’t I see? Mainstream British brands like Range Rover, Jaguar, MINI, etc. Nothing. There were a few older pre-Defender Land Rovers about but that was it. The Germans are out of the game there too. I think I saw 2 Mercedes and both were abandoned looking 1980s/1990s models. I saw adverts for BMW but none of their cars. Nothing from VW or Audi either. Forget the French and Italians also.
Its interesting that other than the CROWN Vics there aren’t old cars to be seen anywhere. Everything is very new looking.
So I couldn’t find the mysterious car museum mentioned in some blogs, but I did find the Royal Car Collection at the National Museum. Its not a massive collection but the cars are exceptional examples, all of which coachbuilt, all of which magnificent. This is a free museum. The whole complex is quite fascinating so worth a visit if you are in town.
Saudi does have more of a car culture than its streets suggest though. The fancy supercars and so on are not the only thing that is driving this. I couldn’t get to any of the events but I’ve put links in to their Cars & Coffee type events reports and you can see some of the photos of some quite awesome customs, rods and so on.
www.speedhunters.com/2019/12/cars-and-coffee-saudi-arabian-style/
I also came across a business called Camel Jockey Garage and was unable to get up to visit this. Its unclear to me if they have a public “museum” or are just a workshop but I’ve managed to grab some photos from various sources of their place, and if I get back into Riyadh I will definitely pay a visit.
They have Instagram but its not been updated in a while….
www.instagram.com/cameljockeygarage/?hl=en
Then there is the Saudi Classic Car Club, and its probably just as well for you to check the link out here and select “translate to English”. Again this is one where there is mention of events and things without being very specific as to when and where.
saudiccc.com/
So on the whole I found Saudi different to what I expected and there seems to be a different car scene going on there than I anticipated too.
I will start by commenting on the daily traffic I saw. And remember I was only in Riyadh which is the capital city so its kinda like going to London and saying "this is what all of the UK is like" but hey.
I was surprised how many yank tanks I saw. And I use the term deliberately because it was the big stuff. Suburbans, Denalis, Yukons, Escalades, F150s, Excursions and the like – loads of the big pickups and SUVs, but also lots of older full size sedans. I saw more CROWN Victorias in Saudi than I did in the USA. They were everywhere. The photo here shows a car park scene – note the CROWN Victoria up front and in the row behind are a Suburban, a Bronco, a Mercury Grand Marquis…. The Ford Taurus is a popular choice of Uber Comfort and I saw plenty of Chevy Malibus too. What was about in big numbers were Dodge Challengers and Chargers, the odd Camaro and Mustang and none of these were the V6… At night I could hear them street racing or maybe just pelting about for fun, the crackle of the hemis and so on.
The next batch of cars out there are the established Asian brands – mostly Toyota. Again they go for the Land Cruiser, 4Runner, RAV4, etc. but also the Camry and so on. The Camry Hybrid is about the most popular taxi out there, along with the Hyundai Elantra Hybrid. For an oil state I was surprised how many hybrids and EV I saw, mostly the Japanese and Korean brands. I guess that’s more to do with air quality in the very very busy Riyadh streets than fuel costs.
Last up there are LOTS of Chinese cars there. Geely, Chery, JAC, BAIC and there were a ton of Haval SUVs. MG is popular and then there are the Chinese build “western brands” like the Ford Territory. Even sticking to the China branded stuff this must have been 30% of the cars on the road, or close to it.
What didn’t I see? Mainstream British brands like Range Rover, Jaguar, MINI, etc. Nothing. There were a few older pre-Defender Land Rovers about but that was it. The Germans are out of the game there too. I think I saw 2 Mercedes and both were abandoned looking 1980s/1990s models. I saw adverts for BMW but none of their cars. Nothing from VW or Audi either. Forget the French and Italians also.
Its interesting that other than the CROWN Vics there aren’t old cars to be seen anywhere. Everything is very new looking.
So I couldn’t find the mysterious car museum mentioned in some blogs, but I did find the Royal Car Collection at the National Museum. Its not a massive collection but the cars are exceptional examples, all of which coachbuilt, all of which magnificent. This is a free museum. The whole complex is quite fascinating so worth a visit if you are in town.
Saudi does have more of a car culture than its streets suggest though. The fancy supercars and so on are not the only thing that is driving this. I couldn’t get to any of the events but I’ve put links in to their Cars & Coffee type events reports and you can see some of the photos of some quite awesome customs, rods and so on.
www.speedhunters.com/2019/12/cars-and-coffee-saudi-arabian-style/
I also came across a business called Camel Jockey Garage and was unable to get up to visit this. Its unclear to me if they have a public “museum” or are just a workshop but I’ve managed to grab some photos from various sources of their place, and if I get back into Riyadh I will definitely pay a visit.
They have Instagram but its not been updated in a while….
www.instagram.com/cameljockeygarage/?hl=en
Then there is the Saudi Classic Car Club, and its probably just as well for you to check the link out here and select “translate to English”. Again this is one where there is mention of events and things without being very specific as to when and where.
saudiccc.com/
So on the whole I found Saudi different to what I expected and there seems to be a different car scene going on there than I anticipated too.
Ax GTi Turbo