• The original Rolls-Royce Phantom V, with the flag of Abu Dhabi from 1966, that was used by Sheikh Zayed. The car was discovered in Austria by Abu Dhabi-based motoring historian Mohammed Luqman Ali Khan who plans to bring it back to the UAE in time for the country's 50th anniversary and Dubai Expo. Courtesy: Mohammed Luqman Ali Khan
    The original Rolls-Royce Phantom V, with the flag of Abu Dhabi from 1966, that was used by Sheikh Zayed. The car was discovered in Austria by Abu Dhabi-based motoring historian Mohammed Luqman Ali Khan who plans to bring it back to the UAE in time for the country's 50th anniversary and Dubai Expo. Courtesy: Mohammed Luqman Ali Khan
  • The back number plate of the Rolls-Royce Phantom used by Sheikh Zayed. Courtesy: Mohammed Luqman Ali Khan
    The back number plate of the Rolls-Royce Phantom used by Sheikh Zayed. Courtesy: Mohammed Luqman Ali Khan
  • The car is more than six metres long and weighs two and a half tonnes. Courtesy: Mohammed Luqman Ali Khan
    The car is more than six metres long and weighs two and a half tonnes. Courtesy: Mohammed Luqman Ali Khan
  • Sheikh Zayed waves to crowds from the same Rolls-Royce. Courtesy: National Archives
    Sheikh Zayed waves to crowds from the same Rolls-Royce. Courtesy: National Archives
  • Sheikh Zayed had a passion for cars, from stately vehicles to desert 4x4s. Courtesy: National Archives
    Sheikh Zayed had a passion for cars, from stately vehicles to desert 4x4s. Courtesy: National Archives
  • Luxury vehicles, including the Rolls-Royce, are fitted with large desert tyres for Sheikh Zayed's historic meeting in 1968 where the Rulers of the seven emirates agreed to come together as one country.
    Luxury vehicles, including the Rolls-Royce, are fitted with large desert tyres for Sheikh Zayed's historic meeting in 1968 where the Rulers of the seven emirates agreed to come together as one country.
  • Sheikh Zayed visits Liwa and Delma Island in Abu Dhabi in 1979. Al Itihad
    Sheikh Zayed visits Liwa and Delma Island in Abu Dhabi in 1979. Al Itihad
  • Sheikh Zayed outside Qasr Al Hosn in the early 1960s with his nephew Sheikh Sultan bin Shakhbut and a Chevrolet Bel Air. American cars were popular in Abu Dhabi at this time. Courtesy: Guy Gravett
    Sheikh Zayed outside Qasr Al Hosn in the early 1960s with his nephew Sheikh Sultan bin Shakhbut and a Chevrolet Bel Air. American cars were popular in Abu Dhabi at this time. Courtesy: Guy Gravett
  • Sheikh Zayed chats with a relative alongside a Land Rover Series 2 outside Qasr Al Hosn in the early 1960s. Courtesy: Guy Gravette
    Sheikh Zayed chats with a relative alongside a Land Rover Series 2 outside Qasr Al Hosn in the early 1960s. Courtesy: Guy Gravette
  • Sheikh Shakhbut, Ruler of Abu Dhabi from 1928 to 1966, with his personal Cadillac Eldorado convertable inside Qasr Al Hosn around 1957. The car is reported to be a gift from the Ruler of Kuwait. Courtesy estate of Roderick Owen
    Sheikh Shakhbut, Ruler of Abu Dhabi from 1928 to 1966, with his personal Cadillac Eldorado convertable inside Qasr Al Hosn around 1957. The car is reported to be a gift from the Ruler of Kuwait. Courtesy estate of Roderick Owen
  • Sheikh Shakhbut with two of his Land Rovers at Qasr Al Hosn in 1956. Courtesy of the estate of Roderick Owen
    Sheikh Shakhbut with two of his Land Rovers at Qasr Al Hosn in 1956. Courtesy of the estate of Roderick Owen
  • This Mercedes V123 limousine was part of the royal collection from the late 1970s and can be seen at the Sheikh Zayed Heritage Centre in Bateen, Abu Dhabi.
    This Mercedes V123 limousine was part of the royal collection from the late 1970s and can be seen at the Sheikh Zayed Heritage Centre in Bateen, Abu Dhabi.
  • Also on display at the heritage museum, this BMW from the 1990s is notable not just for the massive desert headlights but also the handles installed above the driver and passenger doors, to make it easier for Sheikh Zayed as he became older and less agile.
    Also on display at the heritage museum, this BMW from the 1990s is notable not just for the massive desert headlights but also the handles installed above the driver and passenger doors, to make it easier for Sheikh Zayed as he became older and less agile.
  • A ceremonial Range Rover that was part of the royal family's collection held at the Sheikh Zayed Heritage Centre in Bateen, Abu Dhabi.
    A ceremonial Range Rover that was part of the royal family's collection held at the Sheikh Zayed Heritage Centre in Bateen, Abu Dhabi.
  • A Maybach limousine that was the last car used by Sheikh Zayed at the Sheikh Zayed Heritage Centre in Bateen, Abu Dhabi. He was seen in public in the car only months before his death in November, 2004.
    A Maybach limousine that was the last car used by Sheikh Zayed at the Sheikh Zayed Heritage Centre in Bateen, Abu Dhabi. He was seen in public in the car only months before his death in November, 2004.
  • Mr Khan hopes to bring back the Rolls Royce Phantom in time for Expo 2020. Courtesy: Mohammed Luqman Ali Khan
    Mr Khan hopes to bring back the Rolls Royce Phantom in time for Expo 2020. Courtesy: Mohammed Luqman Ali Khan
  • The chassis plate confirming it is the original Rolls Royce Phantom used by Sheikh Zayed from 1966. Courtesy: Mohammed Luqman Ali Khan
    The chassis plate confirming it is the original Rolls Royce Phantom used by Sheikh Zayed from 1966. Courtesy: Mohammed Luqman Ali Khan
  • Flags of Abu Dhabi proudly flying on the original Rolls Royce Phantom used by Sheikh Zayed as his state vehicle. Mr Khan plans to write a book about the discovery.
    Flags of Abu Dhabi proudly flying on the original Rolls Royce Phantom used by Sheikh Zayed as his state vehicle. Mr Khan plans to write a book about the discovery.

UAE at 50: rolling back the years to discover Sheikh Zayed's magnificent lost limousine


James Langton
  • English
  • Arabic

It’s a long lost part of the UAE’s history. A six metre, two and half tonne Rolls Royce Phantom V limousine with several careful past owners, most notably Sheikh Zayed.

The car was tracked down in Austria by Abu Dhabi motoring historian Mohammed Luqman Ali Khan and is now owned by a private collector in the UK.

Mr Khan is currently writing a book about the Rolls Royce to be published later this year in time for the UAE’s 50th anniversary,

The vehicle has a tendency to oversteer, while the petrol consumption of its V8 6.2 litre engine and 105 litre fuel tank is, to put it plainly, "awful"

It has been almost two years since he revealed the discovery. At the time, Mr Khan was researching a book on the cars of Sheikh Zayed, which he plans to publish in 2022.

The Rolls-Royce will also get a book of its own, scheduled to hit the shelves later this year.

But it was another publication, Memories of Emirates, by the UAE's National Archives, that started his quest. Among the book's illustrations was a colour photograph from 1966 of a gleaming Rolls-Royce being unloaded from a barge at Abu Dhabi, after shipment from England by importers Grey Mackenzie.

The car had been ordered from Rolls-Royce the previous year as the state vehicle for the Ruler at the time, Sheikh Shakhbut.

Six months after the car was unloaded on the beach – at that time Abu Dhabi had no port – his brother, Sheikh Zayed had become Ruler. With the office came the official Rolls-Royce.

After persuading the then owner to sell, Mr Khan acquired the vehicle on behalf of the UK collector, and has also located all the associated paperwork that established it was the genuine article.

The rear of the Rolls Royce Phantom V. Courtesy: Mohammed Luqman Ali Khan
The rear of the Rolls Royce Phantom V. Courtesy: Mohammed Luqman Ali Khan

It includes the original bill of sale, which records the car cost around £10,000, the equivalent of £165,000 or Dh830,000 today and something of a bargain, given that the current Phantom model is around twice that.

Extras included a refrigeration unit, an illuminated drinks cabinet, a pull-out picnic table and flag holders.

Rolls-Royce records confirm that the chassis number – 5VE15 – matches the one sold to Abu Dhabi.

It registered the owner as “His Highness Sheikh Shakbut bin Sultan Al Nahaiyan Ruler of Abu Dhabi”, with the car sold through Jack Barclay of Mayfair, London, and payment made via the Ottoman Bank, which had a branch in Abu Dhabi.

Sheikh Zayed made most use of the car. It was on active service at least until the end of the 1970s, when it greeted Queen Elizabeth II on her first state visit to the UAE in 1979.

Fitted with huge desert tyres, it transported Sheikh Zayed to his historic meeting on the border of Dubai in 1968, where the Rulers of the seven emirates agreed to come together as one country.

Three years later, on December 2 1971, it was dispatched by Sheikh Zayed to bring the UK diplomat James Treadwell to the newly established UAE, where he would present his credentials as Britain’s first ambassador.

Finally, it was given by Sheikh Zayed to Edward "Tug" Wilson, the founder and first commander of the Abu Dhabi Defence Force. Mr Wilson was a personal friend of the Ruler and also founded the Royal Stables.

Mr Wilson returned the car to the UK where he drove it in the 16,000-kilometre 1990 London to Beijing Motor Challenge.

Although there are currently no plans to return the Phantom to Abu Dhabi, Mr Khan hopes one day it might be displayed in the capital.

“I am driven by a passion to bring this car back to Abu Dhabi where it belongs,” he says.

Before shipping the car from Vienna to its new owner in the UK, Mr Khan could not resist taking a turn behind the steering wheel of what he calls the “most important motor car in the history of the nation".

He reports that the vehicle has a 15-metre turning circle and “a tendency to oversteer’’, while the petrol consumption of its V8 6.2 litre engine and 105-litre fuel tank is, to put it plainly, awful.

But as they used to say of those thinking of buying a Rolls-Royce: “If you have to ask how much it costs, then you probably can’t afford it.”

This article has been updated to better reflect the chain of ownership of the car

Profile

Company: Justmop.com

Date started: December 2015

Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan

Sector: Technology and home services

Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai

Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month

Funding:  The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups. 

Bugatti Chiron Super Sport - the specs:

Engine: 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16 

Transmission: 7-speed DSG auto 

Power: 1,600hp

Torque: 1,600Nm

0-100kph in 2.4seconds

0-200kph in 5.8 seconds

0-300kph in 12.1 seconds

Top speed: 440kph

Price: Dh13,200,000

Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport - the specs:

Engine: 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16 

Transmission: 7-speed DSG auto 

Power: 1,500hp

Torque: 1,600Nm

0-100kph in 2.3 seconds

0-200kph in 5.5 seconds

0-300kph in 11.8 seconds

Top speed: 350kph

Price: Dh13,600,000

Mental%20health%20support%20in%20the%20UAE
%3Cp%3E%E2%97%8F%20Estijaba%20helpline%3A%208001717%3Cbr%3E%E2%97%8F%20UAE%20Ministry%20of%20Health%20and%20Prevention%20hotline%3A%20045192519%3Cbr%3E%E2%97%8F%20UAE%20Mental%20health%20support%20line%3A%20800%204673%20(Hope)%3Cbr%3EMore%20information%20at%20hope.hw.gov.ae%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Fast%20X
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Louis%20Leterrier%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Vin%20Diesel%2C%20Michelle%20Rodriguez%2C%20Jason%20Statham%2C%20Tyrese%20Gibson%2C%20Ludacris%2C%20Jason%20Momoa%2C%20John%20Cena%2C%20Jordana%20Brewster%2C%20Nathalie%20Emmanuel%2C%20Sung%20Kang%2C%20Brie%20Larson%2C%20Helen%20Mirren%20and%20Charlize%20Theron%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026

1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years

If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.

2. E-invoicing in the UAE

Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption. 

3. More tax audits

Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks. 

4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime

Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.

5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit

There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.

6. Further transfer pricing enforcement

Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes. 

7. Limited time periods for audits

Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion. 

8. Pillar 2 implementation 

Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.

9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services

Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations. 

10. Substance and CbC reporting focus

Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity. 

Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer

The UAE squad for the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games

The jiu-jitsu men’s team: Faisal Al Ketbi, Zayed Al Kaabi, Yahia Al Hammadi, Taleb Al Kirbi, Obaid Al Nuaimi, Omar Al Fadhli, Zayed Al Mansoori, Saeed Al Mazroui, Ibrahim Al Hosani, Mohammed Al Qubaisi, Salem Al Suwaidi, Khalfan Belhol, Saood Al Hammadi.

Women’s team: Mouza Al Shamsi, Wadeema Al Yafei, Reem Al Hashmi, Mahra Al Hanaei, Bashayer Al Matrooshi, Hessa Thani, Salwa Al Ali.