motor show
The 2007 Total motor show was held at the Ngong racecourse over the weekend. Of late only the Concurs (classic car show) seems to run regularly, but it was great to have the motor show back
after two years where we can always see the latest new vehicles and dream of buying them with Safaricom millions.
Nairobians can also look forward to the
Nairobi air show to b held on October 7.
Who's here?: Heavy presence by American brands (hummer, Chevy, Cadillac, Chrysler, jeep), while also upcoming is India (Tata, Mahindra), and China (
FAW and
great wall)
Also present were several banks (NIC, CFC, Barclays, bank o Africa, and Consolidated) all offering vehicle purchase finance plans
who's missing?: some prominent British (Land rover), and German (BMW, Volkswagen/Audi) brands, and the Kenya Revenue Authority. It’s interesting (and sad) to realise how much tax is paid on new cards – as some car companies chose to display both the regular price and duty free price (which the government, embassies, or national of other countries - Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda etc. pay for the same car)
some prices
Cars Chevy Optra 1.9m
Chrysler 300C 7 million (only 4.1 million duty free)
Mercedes E class 6.4 million [EUR 70k] (only 3.7 million duty free) [EUR 41k]
SUV New Pajero 6.1m , older model Pajero 3.3 million,
Toyota Land Cruiser VX 9.7m (5.8m duty free), Land Cruiser Prado 5.2m (3.2 DF)
Jeep grand Cherokee 5.7m [$85k] (3.2m DF) [$49k]
Mercedes ML 8.5m (4.9m DF), GL class 11.8m (6.7m DF)
GH Humvee
Cadillac SPX
Lorries Mercedes Actros 3340 prime mover8.3 million (only 7.1 million duty free)
Mitsubishi Fuso prime mover 8.2m
Trailer by Randon 2.5m
Buses actually have the same chassis as lorries, just the upper body is different Tat school bus (62 seats) 4.9m
Nissan 51 seat (i.e. Citi Hoppa) 4.3m
Mitsubishi Fuso (51 seat) 2.8m
Nissan 67 seat 8m
Pickup Toyota Land Crusier4.8m (2.8m DF)
schools & traffic
last week has marked the beginning of third term for most schools kids – and the impact on rush hour traffic has mde
bad traffic situation even worse – commutes have gone up by 30 min at least each way, and it is often faster to get off the matatu and walk passed a major intersection. The increase is from more passengers (school kids) on matatu's, more school buses on the road, but mostly from parents’ droppings kids off at far away schools across town before cutting back to the office
What would happen if parents were required to school their kids within a certain radius of their homes or offices? And the rule was given a 5 year grace period for investors (or teachers) to get funding (government loans) and other incentives lile land to create quality schools within neighbourhoods? What kind of impact would it have on traffic? There are negatives, but kids would be able to get to school/back home at a decent time (in daylight) or even walk. Parents would not have to make long commutes to quality schools for their kids, and the road would be much clearer even when schools are open. A wishful idea, but totally unenforcable
Gotcha
they finally got to me - halfway at least, almost a year and a half since the
last known attempt. There may have been more attempt, but they were probably thwarted by round the clock security and other precautionary measures employed such as tipping night sentries and never straying from safe houses.
The perpetrators took advantage of a rare lapse in judgment and were swift, silent, and deadly in their attack.
The fateful moment came when I went to the bus station to pick up someone visiting the city. As is the case with many such visitors, they believe there is no food in Nairobi so they come armed with several sacks of fresh fruits and vegetables.
So for a few seconds I stepped out o the car (leaving it unarmed and exposed) to help my force the sacks into the boot – and for those few seconds, the car doors were open and the alarm was off.
As soon as I drove off I knew something was wrong – and sure enough when I stopped to check there was a huge hole where my indicator light used to be!
That’s one plague of driving very popular and very common Toyota is their parts are in great demand – much so that thieves are always ready to snatch your mirrors and lights to sell the last motorist who has lost his – and front indicator lights are a prized item that is likely to be stolen anytime.
