In the past I'd never really been a big fan of Mercedes. They kinda drifted along in my mind as the big German Stuttgart taxi wagon that I either got collected from Munich Airport in or my mates parents drove. However over the last couple of years they seem to have really put their game face on and started producing some pretty heavy and hardcore machinery.

Now the sweeping statement I just made above clearly doesn't and didn't stand for some of the beauties that popped up along the way, however getting all hot under the collar for a W124 (84-95) should have been a thought that would never see the light of day. That all changed six months ago when I started looking into a certain Mercedes, by the name of the W124 500e.

Mercedes Benz 500e, which would you believe, was created in close cooperation with Porsche. Each 500e was hand-built by Porsche and in modern terms the production method was some what lethargic. Each car being transported back and forth between the Mercedes plant and Porsche's Rossle-Bau plant in Zuffenhausen during assembly and taking a rather monumental 18 days to complete each model.

I whipped the next bit off the net however stats speak louder than words and I couldn't say it better myself. The 500 was called the "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" by the press of the time and performance tests of the day yielded impressive results: 0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) times of 5.5 to 6.0 seconds and acceleration through the quarter-mile (0.4 km) in 14.1 seconds at 163 km/h (101 mph).

Now I was sold so much on one of these bad boys that I stepped up to the plate and bought one...Mine needs a bit of love and will recieve it as the months go by, so in the mean time enjoy this beaut!

Click for more pics of this awesome saloon car that is either not known or ignored!

The legend that is RUF rocked up to the Geneva Motorshow with news that it is to make its own bespoke V8 engine for the next generation of its 911-based RGT model.

The all new in house designed features a flat-crank, dry-sump, 4.5-litre naturally aspirated V8. This monster new engine will develop 542bhp at 8500rpm and 369lb ft at 5400rpm. And, before you say the V8 will screw with the perfect balance of the 911 you might want to take note that it will be weighing in at less than 200kg...not a bad job I think you will agree!

I for one can't wait to get my hands on this one.

Phil

I feel a million miles away from what makes me tick when I see pictures like this. A country buggy (look it up), type3 notch back (again...look it up) and a Ghia all looking completely awesome on their highly detailed Porsche Fuchs wheels and slammed to the floor. Useless and completely awful to drive but awesome on every level.

We will be bring you bits and bobs from the Yard of Evil Ben's as and when it hits us.

Phil

We brought you a couple of these stories at the back end of the Middle Eastern summer last year and thanks to the skills of Jaime Lipman and the guys at carmiddleeast.com we bring you some more to enjoy.

There is nothing like the oddity created by GCC Nationals and their ponchant for shipping their uber toys around the world during their summer holidays. I say summer holidays however its more a case of Summer escape, getting themselves as far away from the Middle Eastern summer heat as possible.

So armed with Jaime's GPS equipped phone and some hear say and experience based on Internet chatter the crack team hit the streets of London.

Click on and enjoy some more of Jaime's pics...

Thanks to jalopnik.com I came across this rather humerous picture of ex F1 Driver and King of the Chin's, David Coulthard ripping it up in a KAMAZ-4326.

It must be hard to be a retired Formula One driver.....

The KAMAZ-4326 is a 4x4 Diesel-powered truck designed to haul cargo to remote, hard to reach areas. Kamaz says it can operate in any environment, functioning reliably anywhere from -22 degrees to 122 degrees Fahrenheit. Kamaz won the truck class in the 2010 Dakar...Not surprisingly really!

Phil

I'm a HUGE fan of Redline Time Attack in the US and would dearly love for it to become a feature on the UAE's Motorsport Calendar. One of the super heavy hitters in the US series is AMS Performance with their super sexy and very delectable Mitsubishi EVO X which seems to have run faster and harder than most of the cars throughout the year to a point where they grabbed the Unlimited AWD Championship! Considering the effort and the workmanship that went into the car I almost expected it would happen.

Turn it up...revel in the sense of speed and enjoy.

Phil

In that eternal search for anything motorsport related here in Qatar, I came across this small fledgling series that's ran at the local Losail International Circuit. The series is very similar to the original tin-top races held at the Autodrome a few years back when just a handful of like minded petrolheads raced just for the fun of it.

The series is based on two classes of cars either modified or stock with the race is run over 10 laps. Various machinery shows up, like an insane locally modified GTR through to a pretty looking stock Lotus Elise. Unfortunately I just missed the last race, so i'll try and catch the action for the next one at the end of the month.

Leigh

2010 is the year that GT racing becomes truly global with the launch of the FIA GT1 World Championship. Twelve teams, with a total of twenty four cars representing six brands and driven by forty eight of the world’s leading sportscar drivers will compete in twenty races on ten of the leading circuits on four continents. The championship will feature the most iconic and inspirational sportscar marques in the world including Aston Martin, Corvette, Ford, Lamborghini, Maserati and Nissan.

The FIA GT1 World Championship will visit some of the world’s most legendary and iconic circuits. The season starts in the United Arab Emirates in April on the F1 circuit at Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi. The European leg of the championship starts on another Grand Prix circuit at Silverstone in the UK where the drivers will be the first to race on the new ‘Arena’ circuit and compete for the world famous Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy.

The next round is held in Eastern Europe at Brno in the Czech Republic before heading to the Paul Ricard HTTT in the South of France. At the end of July, the FIA GT1 World Championship will race on another world famous Grand Prix circuit with two 60-minute races at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, before the 24 Hours of Spa. Round 6 will be held at the end of August at the Nürburgring in Germany, with the final European round held in September in the Algarve, Portugal.

The Championship then heads to the southern hemisphere with Round 8 in South Africa on the streets of Durban. The final two rounds will take place in South America with Round 9 at Interlagos in Brazil before the finale of the inaugural FIA GT1 World Championship season takes place in Argentina on the majestic San Luis circuit in December.

Overall, the new FIA GT1 World Championship will be ground-breaking, truly global, prestigious, and technically innovative; ushering in a new era for sportscar racing.

There is something oh so right about this picture...The car, the composition and scene and of course that insane looking turbo poking out of the bonnet...I can almost hear the noise it would make.

Phil

The word on the street and the internet gossip forums is that the awesomely successful and gorgeous Khaleji Motorsport GT2 Ferrari F430 GTC has been given the nod to run in an Invitational Class in the UAE GT Championship.

The big question now is how many cars will appear in that wing mirror and for how long?!

Boys, can you clarify?

Phil

May we present a latest update from our friend Luke Huxham (www.wearedrift.com). Drifting seems to be continuing to grow at an amazing rate to the point that if your not entering corners backwards now, you're not trying hard enough.

Nikko (Japan) is a great circuit to find out where the current level of drifting is at as drivers from all around Japan travel to Nikko to test, tweak and generally break the boundaries that we know.

The DVD that Luke is putting together is on course for a quarter 4 2010 release release date.

Phil

Dismissed somewhat at its first showing as a concept at the New York Auto Show in 1954, the Mercedes-Benz 190SL was considered a poor relation to the spectacular 300SL and 300SLR race cars, on which it was visually based.

It was Mercedes-Benz’s first attempt to enter the Gran Turismo market with an affordable roadster and though built alongside the 300 Gullwings, it was predominantly a version of the 180 ‘Ponton’ sedan, with a shortened chassis and the same new overhead-cam, 104bhp, 1.9-litre petrol 4-cylinder engine.

The 190SL was a monocoque, but shared the independent suspension of the spaceframe 300, and whilst its style was pure racecar, many of the components were sourced from the more mundane parts bin of the saloon which had been launched in 1953.

Just under 26,000 SLs were built, in either detachable hardtop or convertible soft top versions between 1955 and 1963, with minor modifications every year of build. It’s pretty difficult to find a truly original car since the popularity of the chic roadster did not really blossom until the early 1990s, but it is reckoned that about a quarter of them still survive in one form or another.

The 190SL model was also known as the Nitribitt Mercedes as a result of a scandal in Germany in 1957, when a ‘Lady of Negotiable Virtue’ who bought one for herself, and would collect clients in it, was murdered! The case was never solved.

Fraser

I love videos like this...not only is it another epic from youtube god amjayes, but it's one of a legend in the making rather than a legend in the past. Sebastian Loeb has what can only be described as complete and utter control over his sport and will hopefully continue to have that control until he either gets bored and moves on or retires. His car control is sublime and even when in a Citroen Saxo in the junior ranks you can see the car control and skill oozing from the car.

As always the pure engine sounds mean you need to wack that volume up....

Phil

Coming off the last round it looked like things might be starting to get a little predictable on the Touring Car grid - the SEATs of Al Mutawaa, Simmonds and Bin Khader running around in a class of their own in Class 1 with the Lap57 cars of Omran Al Owais, Umair Khan and Aslam Moola set to dominate in Class 2, with a mix of Mohammed Al Mutawaa and Jason O'Keefe just a tick back, followed by everybody else.

Not that there's anything bad or unexciting with predictability in this case - the drivers in question have been having some awesome scraps among themselves and in general predictably means that we've got a lot of cars performing reliably and consistently, which speaks volumes for how far local motorsports has come in just a year or so. It's great to be wrong sometimes though, as Round 5 provided more than its fair share of surprises along with the harsh, sweet competition we've come to expect from these guys.

Let's Dive in then!

Stop press: Big thanks to Darren Rycroft (www.anysportphotos.com) Sir Mike Bale of "Killer Shot" (http://dxbimages.zenfolio.com) and Leigh Evans (www.leighjevans.com)for the lens work this weekend.

Without them it just wouldn't have happened.

Well this has just landed and WOW! A great insight into DXB Racing and the efforts that they put into creating great collection of cars, a great team and from spending time with the guys a great atmosphere.

Enjoy, Phil

Thanks to Camden Thrasher for this great shot that he dragged out of his archives...

Phil

camdenthrasher.com

I love stories of true endeavour, effort and camaraderie...all between a bunch people with a common goal. In this instance the common goal was building a car to enter, take part and complete the 2010 running of the now globally respected Dubai 24hrs.

Not only that it would be a home brewed effort by a team made up almost entirely of UAE Nationals made of brothers, family and friends...

So sit back and enjoy this great little clip sent to me by Omran Al Owais..

Phil

I was jumping up and down inside my dressing gown like a blurry eyed school boy when I sat down in front of my pc this morning. To my delight, right there in front of me was this rather special offering from Porsche, only uploaded to Youtube barely an hour previously.

What you see here is the Concept Study 918 Spyder, and I for one think it is something sensational. The future of the sports car? The future of performance driving? Well, big statements to make, but I am very tempted to say yes and I am very excited to see how this story unfolds.

Check out the superbly made video below, and we will definitely be looking at this car in more detail as more information comes through.

Luke.

Well Rd5 of the super competitive UAE Touring Car Championships has been and gone, yet there is still no sight of the report from the team here at Ranch C+P!!!! Can you believe it???

Believe me it is coming and yes we do have some great stories from theshadow that was hawking around all weekend....So please hang tight and the treats will flow.

Phil

From our buddies over at www.motormavens.com (the coolest site out there), this awesome video gives a glimpse at what life is like for Formula Drift driver Ryan Tuerck during the off-season.

Life behind a desk never felt so bad!

Phil