Modified Car Expo in AlKhobar

A special thanks to @Sabiiz and @thecrazyjogger for tipping me off to the event taking place in AlKhobar this weekend. I would’ve missed out otherwise!

Say whatever you want about Saudis, but they LOVE their cars. Some more than would be considered healthy (but that’s a different debate). Every year, car enthusiasts from Saudi Arabia gather in AlKhobar to show off some of the best automobiles in the country in the Annual Modified Car Exhibit. As the title suggests, the exhibit features some of the heaviest modified cars in the country as well as some very, VERY exotic and antique autos.

Personally, I don’t know much about exotic cars, and can probably only barely tell you what an Audi R8 is. But a chance to take photos of rare cars was too good to pass up. I still feel bad about missing the Detroit Auto Show last year. Only one problem: the day I planned to go, Thursday, was a ‘family’ day. Which meant that unless I could find a wife in the next day or so, I wouldn’t be able to get in.

At this point I thought it would be interesting to try a social experiment. Just how much leeway does a photographer have in navigating the boundaries of Saudi society. Turns out… a lot.

I grabbed my friend, Salman, as I headed out to the Exhibition Hall. When we reached the venue, we were confronted with no less than THREE checkpoints, to ensure the immorality of single men entering a family event didn’t happen. It turns out that if you sound purposeful and act like you’re supposed to be somewhere, you can get away with anything. Over the first two checkpoints, me and Salman would convince security that we had been asked to come in today. While the story would never fool any of the organizers, the guards bought it, and let us pass.

At the third check, we ran into the event organizers. Luckily, one of the organizers was in the local Photographic Society and seemed to recognize me through a mutual acquaintance (another photographer). He would clear me to enter, and even get me an ID card for special access at the show. Yay for cameras

I is official!

oooOOOoooo… shiny! Don’t expect me to be able to name too many of these; I don’t know as much about cars as you might think ;P

FJ Cruiser painted in camouflage colors. Painting a car like this is illegal in Saudi Arabia and the owner of the vehicle paid over $4,000 to have it done just for the show. The guy owns 48 other FJs. I feel inadequate.

And this one as a…. ummm… a little help?

Raw power. A shot of the engine powering a beast of a truck.

Dodge Viper. 600HP, 8.4L V10 Engine… makes me feel all tingly inside. *sigh* one day photographers will make enough cash to buy one of these ;P

“See this button there, if you press it while moving, it causes the car to crash head on with the ground.”
On an insanity scale of 1-10, 1 being ‘pretty cool’ and 10 being ‘wtf were you THINKING’, this particular modification scores somewhere around 15.

Representing Honda, were the “Jeddah Boys”. Apart from the obviously homoerotic sounding name, the mods they did to their cars were pretty cool. You can see a video here

I ran into a friend of mine, manning one of the booths at the show. This stall, run by C.A.R.E., seeks to encourage sensible driving of cars. What’s the use of a nice car if you’re going to crash it right? On a side note, there’s an entire website of people who’ve had nice cars but crashed them… Check then out! (But if you ever get the urge to crash your car, I know a great photographer you could donate it to instead!)

Oh shit! Its da cops. It’s the Jeddah Boys again, this time with a pretty cool makeover of a Lumina. Though something tells me you can’t drive this car on the streets… legally.

Shelby Cobra. Not the newest thing on the floor that day, but damn, you could tell this thing was made for speed.

No introductions needed. You probably wouldn’t even notice me if I were standing right next to this car. A recent conversation I had with a friend: Me, “Is it true that women are attracted to men with expensive cars”. Her, “lol, yes it is”. Me, “wow… I didn’t stand a chance on Thursday, did I.. 0_0″.

And finally, I wrap it up with my PERSONAL favorite. Something with Spongebob on it…. awwww… how I LOVE that aquatic critter.

That’s all folks! I’ve been having a little trouble with my internet so edits haven’t been so easy lately, but I’ll update with my camera settings for each of my pictures soon.

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