Fans of classic automobiles, espresso and pizza can rejoice, there’s an uncommon place in Abu Dhabi the place you may park up and take pleasure in all three without delay.
Part café, half classic car present room, DRVN Coffee provides a neighborhood area for automotive admirers within the United Arab Emirates to sip lattes and savor a slice of Margherita surrounded by a number of the world’s rarest wheels.
The idea is the brainchild of Rashed Al Fahim, who launched DRVN in 2019 to unite his three nice passions and supply a public viewing gallery for a few of his father’s classic car assortment.
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Al Fahim is now accountable for the 100-strong roster, however he hasn’t all the time wielded such autonomy. Once informed by no means to put a finger on any of the classic automobiles that made up his father’s beloved assortment, Al Fahim responded by taking by his father’s 1964 Jaguar E-Type out for a drive, with out permission.
By the time the proprietor realized his car was lacking, it was already too late. His son had taken it to a storage, the place items of the long-lasting British speedster lay strewn throughout the ground — the beginning of a restoration course of that might take seven years to finish.
Today, Al Fahim runs his father’s assortment without having to resort to such subterfuge, however that hasn’t rendered him exempt from parental scolding.
“Ever since, it’s been this cat and mouse game,” Al Fahim informed NCS.
“I try to touch one of his cars, change one of his cars. He yells at me but then ends up being proud of what we’ve accomplished.”
Formerly a industrial airline pilot for Emirates, Al Fahim jotted down his marketing strategy on a long-haul flight from Dubai to Manila.
Fittingly, the primary store opened simply a stone’s throw away from Al Bateen Executive Airport, with two extra shops opening since, throughout town and in Dubai, simply off the Palm Jumeirah, the man-made archipelago.
Given his lineage, it was maybe inevitable that Al Fahim would finally drop down from the sky to the street. In 1958, his grandfather Abdul Jalil Al Fahim opened an auto-repair store that has since expanded into ALFAHIM Group, a family-owned conglomerate with enterprise pursuits spanning actual property, vitality and journey.
The firm is now led by Mohammed Abdul Jalil Al Fahim, whose penchant for classic automobiles rubbed off on his son from an early age.
“We’d arrive at school and all the other kids are gathered around this classic car and parents are looking,” Al Fahim recalled of his childhood.
“I wanted to share that passion that so many other people share, but turn it into an experience that not only car lovers could enjoy, but (also) those who know nothing about cars. It’s just being surrounded by this automotive culture.”
“(And) When you go for a drive or you take your car out, the destination always seems to be a coffee shop,” he added.
DRVN has performed host to car meets, the place locals park their most interesting wheels, in addition to Formula One screenings and Pilates courses. There’s successfully just one guideline on the espresso store: if a car will be purchased in a public showroom, it gained’t be on show.
That strict adherence to showcasing solely probably the most distinctive of rides has seen some profitable wheels roll into the cafe, from a race-converted Mercedes-Benz 300 SL with Brad Pitt’s signature, to a different Mercedes mannequin — the 600 Pullman — that ferried Queen Elizabeth II on her state go to to Abu Dhabi in 1979.
According to Al Fahim, nearly $400 million-worth of Porsche historical past, together with the maker’s first ever mannequin, was as soon as on show on the Dubai retailer, which opened in partnership with the legendary German producer in 2022.
Foreseeing a “much bigger” future for DRVN, Al Fahim is eyeing additional worldwide enlargement for the enterprise as he seeks to capitalize on the fervour for automobiles past the Middle East.
“Every car that’s built, it’s a form of art,” he mentioned. “These engineering marvels are what built humankind, and it will continue to be like that.”