Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
The most magnificent sports cars, gas-guzzling SUVs, even Hummer tanks, all scramble for space on the region's roads and as the number of private car owners burgeons, the trend for car modification - adding 'performance parts' and 'styling', has increasingly been catching up with the needs of young car owners.
Automechanika Academy, the conference held in the recently concluded Automechanika Middle East trade fair in Dubai, hosted a series of presentations on regional and international car modification. In an attempt to congregate the deciding powers and key players in this industry, the seminar was hailed successful by all the attendees, who believe a momentum was set on the Automechanika Academy platform, to start a dialogue on car customisation and modification.
Michael Dehn, senior show manager of Automechanika Middle East, said: "The area of car modification and the restrictions governing it need to be made more transparent in this region, and car owners should be trained and made well aware of the repercussions of any alteration they do to their car."
Altering or making modifications to your car could make it illegal to drive and put you at risk of a fine. Using tinting beyond the allowed legal limit on windows or adding a noisy exhaust can be a safety hazard and cause trouble to other road users.
But car customisation is an expensive business and before any modifications are made, it is necessary to crosscheck whether what's being planned is legal.
