Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
THERE are some vehicles that just bring out the boy in you and the wonderful Wingle 5 manages to make you sport a smile on your face without even trying.
Maybe it’s the name. Wingle … isn’t that the coolest name ever? Come and see my new Wingle! It’s a winner every time.
As soon as I muttered those immortal words in the office, the GulfWeekly’s team of scribes scurried down the stairs in a stampede to look at it quicker than they tuck into the fare on Curry Monday (a legendary weekly feast that even has journalists from other publications descending on us).
It’s Chinese and with the Great Wall company name emblazoned across its rear, it’s proud of it too.
Not surprising as it’s the number one pick-up brand in China, is solid as a rock and a model that is fast picking up fans around the globe and not only because of the price, which I’ll come to later.
China’s tenth-largest automaker employs 42,000 people around the world and builds 700,000 cars every year. The Wingle has been China’s best-selling pickup since 1998, shifting 120,000 examples each year.
It may not be the fastest motor on the road but it’s solid enough with its 2.2 litre 105HP engine. With a five-gear box it’s incredibly fun to drive and is understandably a perfect choice for businesses and helps counter the bruising experiences drivers face on the roads and highways of Bahrain.
It’s the sort of vehicle you just have to roll down the driver’s window and lean your elbow out like a macho man. I was so carried away in my pickup driver’s persona that I almost felt obliged to join the other white van men cutting past the queues of cars on the highway by mounting waste ground or abusing the hard shoulder.
As for driving down Exhibitions Avenue in Hoora it felt almost compulsory to beep the horn at every witless expat Westerner walking by to see if they wanted an illegal ride to the airport.
But I didn’t, of course.
What I love about being behind the wheel of the Wingle was the comfort, it’s really built for the professional driver and, nowadays, pickups have all the mod cons too. The cabin was a warming purple and the vehicle boasted powerful air conditioning, power steering, power mirrors, power windows, power door locks with remote, alloy wheels, plus a CD player, radio and USB input.
Topgear described it as ‘not bad’ and ‘an acceptably average pickup truck with an acceptably below-average price tag’, which is some praise from one of the most critical of commentators.
I kept thinking that if I had a business account I’d snap one up for all those times I’ve wished for a removal vehicle to pick up a bargain spotted in the classifieds, or to transport the family bikes with ease on our annual pilgrimage to Bahrain International Circuit in support of the Charity Wheelathon.
It’s got to be the best bargain in town too, with prices starting from just BD4,095.
Check out the Wingle at YK Almoayyed’s Sitra showroom on display next to the Renaults or call 17703286.
