A Briton in Bahrain
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
Sir,
How sad it is to have to relate to you that having arrived recently in Bahrain to take up my new job I was informed by my colleagues that British cars are almost totally unavailable here. The reasons for this are simple: Japanese and American cars rule the roost. This I have subsequently discovered is because they are readily available, reliable in the harsh climatic conditions and for the most part cheaper than their British counterparts. As in the past I have always been sufficiently patriotic (some say foolish) to buy British, it was with traitorous guilt feelings that I eventually presented myself at the “Alqaisi Trading Establishment” (sic) with a view to purchasing a Honda Accord. Though a little disconcerted by the fact that I had to buy blind no one is allowed to test drive anything out here) I eventually ordered a metallic blue, fivespeed manual model with air conditioning. The car was delivered within 12 hours! I would add almost as an aside that I am very pleased with the car, though it is annoyingly “lumpy” at high revs. I was equally pleased with the price of £2,850 on the road, considerably less than say, a Chevette Saloon or similar model in Bahrain. I am in danger of becoming a “petroholic” at 13 pence per gallon (your comments on a postcard please, Mr. Healey). The insurance was however rather painful to the wallet at £241 fully comprehensive, though this was partly because of my tender years!
I have decided that in my next life I am going to become a car salesman in Bahrain; largely as a result of the very rapidly expanding business community here, 800 new cars are being registered every month, which is not bad at all for an island with a population of only 250,000. I must say that some of these new vehicles are more familiar than others to a Britisher, as one does not regularly see Hyundais, Daihatsus, Subarus or Suzukis (yes, cars!) at the local golfclub. As far as the exotica are concerned there is a large number of’ Shadows, Mercedes, Cadillacs etc., to be seen amongst the wealthier Arabs, and I have even spotted a Porsche Turbo, and a Urraco (the latter very briefly as my own mount runs out of steam at 150 k.p.h.).
May I end by saying that one of the few things that I have refused to sacrifice since leaving “the smoke” is my monthly copy of your excellent magazine. It gets better with age, and I am eagerly awaiting my next issue (even at £1.50 per copy as it is out here, it is cheap at the price).
Manama, Bahrain. NIGEL J. WRIGHT
P.S. I am ashamed to have to inform you, particularly as a Tyrrell fanatic, that my parents recently spent the entire GP weekend in Monaco, but did not watch the race. I will never be able to show my face again at a BRSCC film show!