A week ago last Saturday the 22nd I had my test drive in a Dodge Charger R/T.
I’d been logically been putting it off until I’d got my UAE driving licence and besides Saturday was a quieter day for me. Anyhow the showroom did not do test drives on Fridays.
I eventually got to the show room in my recently rented car ten minutes late as I got caught in the traffic. Fortunately I found somewhere to park very quickly.
After perusing the net for a while and after seeing a few of these in the flesh I’d decided the charger was the car for me. A Porsche Cayman was a similar price, but they still scream out to me “loser”.
In fact if you can cast your mind back some years you’ll recall the Dukes of Hazard boys used to drive one, or if you cast your mind back to the classic Steve McQueen film – Bullit, the Charger was driven by the two men in ‘the’ chase scene.
The previous weekend I’d had the chance to sit inside the Dodge – A gargantuan 5.7l V8 hemi with some 380bhp, 20 inch wheels and a 0-60 time in around 5.2s.
The great thing about over here is tax – or the shear lack of it. Fuel is less than 20p a litre. It also helps with the prices of cars. A fully kitted car like the charger will set you back less than 25,000gbp!
I asked the dealer to take the car somewhere quiet away from the hectic streets surrounding the showroom. We headed out and quickly trurn the corner onto an open stretch of road – ROAR!!!!
I was pushed back into my seat as the throttle was floored. The sheer growl of the V8 and the power was phenomenal. I’d already decided to buy it at that point! We headed to the breakwater near the Emirates Palace Hotel.
I jumped in an took over.
I am not sure what scared me most. The fact that it was my second day driving in this new country or the fact that I had 380 horses under my right foot. I gently took it around a few corners and along some straights then planted the accelerator…….. We were already doing the speed limit of 60kph and within the a second or two we were doing something crazy. The only real indicator of which was the snaking of the rear as it grappled with the black tarmac for grip.
On return to the showroom I dropped a deposit down and left. Since then trying to get hold of my bank around the Eid al-Adha has been a nightmare. In fact it looks like I might not be able to get hold of the bank until this Saturday as UAE day will no doubt get in the way.
As long as it is sorted out before I head to China on the 12th of December all things will be okay.
So my Xmas present to myself will be hopefully a new black charger –God willing
After a lot of waiting I finally had a call from the bank.
Thirty minutes later and after forwarding fourteen different types of documents, I do believe I have a loan. Now I just have to wait for UAE National day to finish.