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| A different kind of convertible awaited Andrew in Dubai |
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1.30am: (8.30pm GMT) Wednesday 18th January
Arrive Dubai for a rendezvous with a rather different kind of convertible - the Volvo C70. Exhausted but still sufficiently conscious to spot a poster selling flats, each of which comes with a brand new Jaguar. Says a lot about Dubai and, I fear, about Jaguar, too.
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| C70: note excited expression on Andrew's face... |
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2.00am
Press conference in Dubai hotel. At two in the morning. Not sure if I'm awake or dreaming.
4.00pm
Spent day driving through Emirates and Oman. Unlike any other in its class, C70 has an appealing retractable hard-top roof, but is otherwise unadventurous and rather dull; just, I suspect, how its customers will want it. Even so, this is the 225bhp T5 version and, as such, the most exciting one there'll be. It promises little for the cheaper, slower variants to come.
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| A penchant for 7Up |
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5.00pm
Bundled into an XC90 and driven into the desert by probably the only chauffeur in the world with genuine Dakar Rally experience. A hundred sand-dunes later, arrive at suspiciously corporate-looking Bedouin camp for an evening sitting of mint tea, kebabs and belly-dancing. Even managed to find a camel with a penchant for 7-Up. Crack open the can for the beast, remove fingers before it clamps its jaws around the tin and watch it toss its head back and down the lot. Laugh? I nearly had to excuse myself.
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