Iconic cars return

Iconic British sports car brands Aston Martin and Lotus are marking their return to Bahrain under UAE-based Adamas Motors as their new retail partner, writes Avinash Saxena.

James Bond’s preferred car marque is back in the country after five years and Lotus - the maker of lightweight, high-performance sports cars including the Evora, Elise and Exige ranges - has a dealership in the kingdom after a decade-long absence.

On the sidelines of the launch of a state-of-the-art service centre, the company’s top officials including operations director Chris Buxton and country manager for Bahrain George Duncan told GulfWeekly that Adamas Motors will also be the exclusive distributor of Morgan Motor Company with a fourth brand to follow.

The service centre located in Nuwaidrat currently houses a temporary showroom in the leadup to the opening of its Moda Mall arena opening at the end of the quarter, scheduled to coincide with the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2021.

Taking centre stage when the multi-million dollar showroom opens in late spring will be the critically-acclaimed Lotus Evora GT, a car which has won acclaim from motoring media in the US where a near-identical model is on sale.

Also available will be the Lotus Exige 20th Anniversary special edition, which features an enhanced specification over the standard Exige.

The Bahrain showroom will be one of the first in the world to display the new Lotus retail identity.

Lotus was previously involved in Formula One racing, via Team Lotus, winning the Formula One World Championship seven times.

It will also boast Aston Martin’s full range of ‘second century’ luxury sports cars and grand tourers, including the all-new DBX.

Founded in 1910 by Henry Frederick Stanley Morgan and owned by the Italian investment group InvestIndustrial since March 2019, Morgan makes cars that are unusual in that wood has been used in their construction for a century, and is still used in the 21st century for framing the body shell.

All Morgan cars are assembled by hand.

“We are very pleased to bring Aston Martin, Lotus and Morgan Motor to Bahrain and are confident that the discerning Bahraini customers will respond well to the new and exciting products to be released in the near future,” said Mr Buxton.

Cars offered by Adamas will range in price from BD19,000 to BD752,000, and are targetted at car enthusiasts.

Mr Duncan who has been working on the showroom’s design and build over the last year said that the company is looking to offer “a unique lifestyle experience through a motor show feel and a one-stop-shop concept like a luxury department store along the lines of Harrods in London”.

The showroom will feature a coffee shop, boutique, perfumery and a majlis for VIP customers and guests, conforming to the latest corporate identity requirements of all brands.

Adamas Motors chief executive Karl Hamer said: “We are very proud to invest in Bahrain and its people have always been close to my heart. Our objective is to provide customers with the full product range of the four marques, supported by our first-class service and customer experience.”