UAE Portrait of a Nation: When the road is all the rage

A lifelong passion for cars has taken Saeed Al Marzooqi from his birthplace of Dubai to many corners of the world.

Mr Al Marzooqi, 41, is the chief executive Top Speed Performance, a chain of shops selling high-end “after market” car parts and accessories for the performance motoring industry, with shops in Dubai and Sharjah.

Born in 1975, he was the only one of seven siblings who would go on to follow in their father’s footsteps by pursuing a career in the automotive industry.

The road to becoming one of the big players in the Emirates scene began at an early age.

“When I was young, if I had money, I’d buy toy cars,” he says. “I didn’t have a passion for football, it was cars for me.”

In 1992, he participated in the Al Futtaim mechanic training programme, which aims to put more Emiratis under the bonnet and promote the industry.

Three years later, Mr Al Marzooqi was asked to join his father’s company, which was selling imported engine parts.

After taking up the offer, he started taking regular business trips to Japan. “My friends were asking me if I was finding used turbos, body kits and mud flaps,” he says. “This is a very niche market; you would not find these things in a regular shop.”

He concluded that he was looking at a potentially profitable industry, and started importing the speciality parts into the UAE.

By 2002, he had purchased his father’s company and added more parts into the catalogue, giving birth to Top Speed and giving car enthusiasts in the UAE and the across the GCC another source for pistons, clutches, gearboxes, wiring and performance fuel.

Whether to source new parts or visit auto shows, it is a business that has taken him to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan and outside of the region to countries like Japan, Thailand, Germany, Italy, UK, the United States and Australia.

This year, he plans to add a third location, in Abu Dhabi, which will extend the company’s 11,000 square feet of showroom space.

He said his industry is about using the car to express individuality, whether modifying an engine or enhancing the exterior with a body kit and adding hydraulics to cruise like a low rider.

Modifications are becoming more complex, he says.

He says he has seen cars equipped with on-board battery powered air compressors, specially suited for dune racers who want lower tyre pressure when racing, but standard pressure for asphalt.

With a flick of a switch, the modification will allow the driver to inflate and deflate their tyres, without having to get out of the driver’s seat.

Cars are also being equipped with water tanks for easy washing after a day of racing in the sand.

“Everybody wants to be different, it depends on their interests,” Mr Al Marzooqi said.

He said it is an industry that Emiratis have easily latched onto, with auto enthusiasts well known to show off their rides at the mall, during National Day, or abroad while on holiday.

“You’ll always find good cars in wealthy countries,” he said. “In the UAE, you see the passion here. If you have interest in a hobby and you can’t feed it with money, it will not grow.”

To help the industry expand in the UAE, Mr Al Marzooqi said his company is the driving force behind Custom Show Emirates, which he describes as the biggest show of its type in the Middle East – held annually in Abu Dhabi featuring as many as 600 customs cars.

The company also arranges mechanic programmes and apprenticeships, and hopes to offer courses for women this year.

“We are making money from this industry, so we have to feed it back,” he says.

It looks like his passion for automobiles will continue, as all nine of Mr Al Marzooqi’s children seem to be inheriting an interest in automobiles.

“Even the girls, more than the boys,” he said.

esamoglou@thenational.ae