Drive She Said

Actually someone else said that. Specifically it is a movie made by Canadian independent film director Mina Shum who I met by way of a few degrees of separation. The movie has nothing to do with this blog other than I was surprised (shocked really) to find it on video (Arabic subtitles!) near the checkout counter of my local grocery store, a long ways away from Canada. And as this blog is about the car culture of Oman, I thought it would make for a good title.

Petrol prices here are about half the price of gas anywhere in the Western world – and that’s for Super not Regular. So people here can clock a few clicks on the old odometer without burning anything other than road tar. Cheap gas prices, an appetite for fast and fancy wheels, a statistically young population, and of course, Arabian machismo all result in car obsession. Fortunately, Oman is not yet a case of “You are what you drive” like in Dubai where a C Class Benz will illicit snobby sniffs. Still, almost all local magazines, newspapers, and weekly happenings guides in Oman are peppered with car adverts and sections devoted entirely to motoring. One particularly popular tabloid has a weekly 2 page spread that features one of Muscat’s finest and their car, called Me and My Car. Sample: “I fell in love with it (Mini Cooper Cabriolet) the moment I saw it ,” gushed Adhra, who previously drove a Toyota Corolla. “It’s my baby now, a part of my family.” Well I suppose if P bought me a BMW Z4 Roadster, I would gush too.

Oman is Toyota country and the favourite colour is white and the quintessential car is the SUV Toyota Prado, unless you are a Bedouin, and then it is a red Toyota Pickup like that pictured above. And those who fancy luxury cars will not want for anything as all brands are here, with Jaguars being a favourite given the heavy British influence. A few months ago everyone in the business community was astounded when none other than Automaker Icon Carlos Ghosn came to personally open the world’s largest Nissan showroom, right here in Muscat! The 36,000 sq ft (3367 sq m) showroom dominates a section of Qurm and clearly overshadows the Toyota facilities 1 km away, which has begun renovation in earnest. It has to be noted that the Nissan dealership is owned by one brother of a prominent Omani business family while another brother owns the Toyota franchise. Suffice to say that neither brother is on speaking terms.

Some Facts about Driving in Oman:

A total of 10,197 road accidents occurred in the Sultanate in 2003, causing the death of 578 persons and injuring 6,735, according to the statistics issued by the Royal Oman Police. (ROP)

It is illegal to drive with your headlights on until after sunset. You will be pulled over by the ROP or other cars will flash you to signal your lights are on!

It is illegal to drive with a dirty car and yes you will be pulled over by the ROP and fined.

In 1970 there were only 10 km of paved roads in Oman.