'Made in Bahrain' concept

Home grown model Formula One cars have caught the attention of enthusiastic visitors flocking to the shopping malls of Bahrain.

The cars, commissioned by the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), have speedily taken up the position of a major marketing vehicle promoting the kingdom's 'race number one' among local audiences and visitors.

Fashioned out of metal and fibre glass, 20 life-size replicas of an F1 race car have been designed and manufactured by engineers and designers of the Awan Group of Companies located in Salmabad and Riffa.

The final look of some of these mean machines has been provided by well-known Bahraini artist Abbas Al Mosawi.

Paul J Carney, general manager, said that a similar car would not cost less than $25,000 to import. He said: "This sort of car has never been produced from scratch in Bahrain. When we came to know that BIC was interested in this type of product we looked at a number of options.

"We first considered whether we should outsource them from the Philippines or China and then we sat down as a team and decided to produce it ourselves. We put together the skills of our two companies - Awan Fabrications and Awan Media - and made a prototype to present to BIC even before the tender was awarded to us.

"It has been a great project to be involved with especially as everything is Made in Bahrain!"

The replica with dimensions of 420x155cm is fixed on a pedestal and was first unveiled at the press conference outlining this year's event in Bahrain.

Models have also been on display at BIC ticket sales counters at City Centre and Seef Mall.

Other replicas racing cars have found its way to the premises of major sponsor companies such as Gulf Air, Batelco and Bapco.

Mr Carney said that eight to 10 people, who might normally be working on manufacturing portable cabins or toilets, worked full time on the production.

He added: "I don't think people thought that this could be done in Bahrain. It was produced in our factory where we had to first create a wooden structure around which we created the mould and then the car."

Each model F1-style car can now be manufactured in less than two days and the group is looking outside the kingdom's shores to market their 'Made in Bahrain' mean machine at a price to be decided.