On the way to Liwa it is only a short detour to Sheikh Hamad bin Hamdan al Nahyan's or the Rainbow Sheikh's car museum. I can clearly remember Jermey Clarksons Motor World some 10 years ago and being in awe at the collection that the Sheikh had put together. As you drive through the desert the first thing you notice is the top a pyramid glistening in the distance. Not what you might expect in the UAE but certainly not surprising for this country. It turns out this pyramid houses the car museum. Checking in the UAE off-road guide it is suppose to be open 7 days a week – but when our convoy of cars arrived it was decidedly closed. Carol (a British expat who has been here for 17 years) used her jedi mind trick and powers of persuasion on a bored looking Indian chap to let us in. To be honest he would never have been able to disappoint the children we had along for the ride. We were kindly let in and basically had our own private tour of the car museum. It was just great. Here is the largest pick-up truck in the world which actually contains a house and even is able to be driven short distances, 17 more images after the break...
The Power wagon pick-up truck is not the only vehicle that the Rainbow Sheikh has enlarged. In 2009 he turned his attention to the WWII American Willys Jeep and soon a monster Jeep of truly humongous proportions appeared. The jeep is four times larger than a standard Willys Jeep.
We can get a true size of the scale of this jeep when an ordinary guy stands next to it, or even the Sheikh himself with a standard Jeep parked alongside for extra comparison...I hope the hand-brake is on!
The Jeep is apparently a working motorized model and indeed stands as the worlds largest working model Willys Jeep. By the look of the compression on the tires I would suggest that its got some weight too and is not just a big plastic kit. Indeed the jeep has been fabricated from metal with not a single piece of plastic in sight.
The Jeep was built from the ground up and all the parts were specially constructed and fabricated for it, including the tires. Money being absolutely no object for the Billionaire Sheikh, he can of course build any fantasy he desires and he often does!
This construction is perhaps the greatest ever tribute to the Willys Jeep and if you happen to be visiting Saudi Arabia then it may be worth while checking this Jeep out at the Emirates National Auto Museum. Don't forget to take your camera with you! You can also visit The Rainbow Sheikhs online museum at www.enam.ae
And for me the signature vehicle the huge globe trailer
Emirates National Auto Museum - To the south of Abu Dhabi city, around 45 km away is the ‘Pyramid’ which houses 200 cars belonging to HH . Here what attracts visitors is the collection of off-road vehicles and classic American cars, the Sheikh’s Mercedes rainbow collection and world’s largest truck, all at one place. Many of the collections were featured in the BBC television programme Top gear, so don’t miss the chance to see these star attractions.
The visitors who make a beeline to Abu Dhabi are increasing year by year. And many among them are repeat visitors. The visitors find this place intriguing and fascinating and the place is luxurious with man made wonders with attractions of nature, and find something new in their each visit. They fall in love with the culture and the great hospitality of the people .
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