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Bahraini Ghaleb Ali Engineer has combined his patriotism and passion for customising cars to create an automobile that can only be described as bedazzling.
Entrepreneurial Mr Engineer, 43, fromRiffa, owner of a Beetle Customs, used 1,370,000 Swarovski crystals totransform a Mercedes SL500 into a bejewelled work of art that represents his love for the kingdom.
Mr Engineer, who unveiled his glittering work of art at the recent Bahrain National Day celebrations, said: “This car is my gift to Bahrain – it’s my way of expressing my love for my country in the best way I know.
“I have been customising cars for years and for the past four years I have been creating special cars for the celebrations.Each year is an experience that I learn from and since I’m a perfectionist, I’m constantly trying to outdo myself!”
The bejewelled Mercedes also features pictures of His Majesty King Hamad, His Royal Highness Prime Minister PrinceKhalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad AlKhalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier, aswell as a map of Bahrain.
Also featured on the bonnet is the number 98.4%, a reference to The National Action Charter of Bahrain, a document put forward by King Hamad in 2001 to return the country to constitutional rule. It was approved in a national referendum in 2001, in which 98.4 per cent of the voters voted in favour of the document.
Over the years Mr Engineer has also kitted out two Dodge Magnums, one Mercedes S Class. This year, the cost of covering the car with crystals alone was around BD4,000.
Mr Engineer added: “I wanted to do something different and challenging. Each crystal was placed by hand and the entire project took around a month to complete.”
The project came naturally to the auto enthusiast who took a shine to the motoring world at the age of six.
He said: “Ever since I can remember, I have been very much into cars. I was influenced by my dad, who actually opened up the first garage in Bahrain, Singer Garage.
“When my father passed away in 1997, my brothers and I took over the family business.”
Over the years, Mr Engineer developed a fondness for buying damaged cars and restoring them to their former glory,completely revamping them as he saw fit.
He said: “That is when I realised I had a talent for customising and decided to follow through with an idea to open up my own shop.”
In the year 2000, Beetle Customs in Sanad was born and over the years, Mr Engineer’s talent and attention to detail has earned him a reputation as glowing as some of his cars.
In the past, particularly in Westernsociety, surnames came from people’s jobs, locations, achievements, personal appearances or their father’s name. Although Engineer is not a common Arab surname, it became a family name because of Ghaleb’s ancestor’s trade when Bahrain was a British protectorate.
