If you had the occasion to watch the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix which capped the end of the 2009 Formula One World Championship this past weekend, you may have gotten a glimpse of a giant red structure with a huge Ferrari emblem on the roof. What you're looking at is Ferrari World, the first Ferrari theme park, being built on the man-made Yas Island resort in Abu Dhabi.

The complex stands as the largest indoor park in the world, encompassing some 2 million square feet under a giant 150-foot-high red steel roof sporting the largest Ferrari logo in the world. Out of the top protrudes a 200-foot g-force drop tower, accompanying the world's fastest roller coaster, a flume ride simulating a Ferrari engine and kart tracks among its 20+ attractions. Of course there'll be plenty of restaurants and shopping opportunities that go along with any theme park as well. This one is set to open its doors some time next year as part of an ongoing initiative to turn the United Arab Emirates into a leading tourist destination.

Few countries are as car-crazed as the United Arab Emirates. The oil-rich gulf state has more exotic supercars than you can shake a stick at, and they're about to get three more. Porsche tuner extraordinaire 9ff is planning a limited run of convertible versions of its epically fast GT9-R. The fixed-roof version is capable of rivaling the Bugatti Veyron for speed and acceleration, with a 250 mph top end and a 0-60 run in under three seconds. The company just launched a dedicated website for the Emirates, and on it announced the availability of three convertible GT9-Rs exclusively for that market at an undisclosed price, together with this sketch. Those who say that money can't buy you happiness clearly aren't car fans, then.

Like the United States, the United Arab Emirates, wants to encourage young drivers to wear their seatbelts. But the UAE has a unique approach to their nationwide safety campaign. Instead of an ad campaign and the fear of tickets they are creating the Fashionable Seatbelt campaign which will be launched after Ramadan. Seatbelts will be covered with images of the national flag, sports logos and logos of fashion houses like Gucci. Figures from the Health Authority Abu Dhabi say that only 11 percent of Emiratis wear their seatbelts. Designers will be invited to submit ideas for the seatbelts and the plan is to eventually have the color of your seatbelt as something that is chosen when you pick out your car. It seems like an interesting idea but knowing how notoriously litigious Gucci and other luxury brands are when ti comes to protecting their intellectual property, I think that the campaign might have a tough time using the fashion logos.

[Thanks, Ben!]

What's the best, most luxurious SUV in the world? Well, at least until the long-awaited $300,000 Spyker Peking-to-Paris finally materializes, the Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG holds the top spot. So that's what the royal family of Abu Dhabi decided to base its bespoke off-road vehicle on. They turned to German tuner A.R.T. for the one-off AS55K YAAS Edition (above). Output from the standard model's supercharged V8 engine has been amped up to an impressive 620 hp. Aerodynamic components were added to the front, side, rear, and roof, including a whole new hood, all finished in carbon fiber. Numerous highly-polished stainless steel decorative elements highlight the air vents and other details, and red brake calipers add a pop of colour. Rounding out the bespoke options are bi-xenon headlights, four fog lamps, a two-tone leather, wood and carbon fiber interior, an A.R.T steering wheel and of course a customized entertainment system.

The ultra-opulent Burj Al Arab hotel, symbol of Dubai's excess, has just received four new custom Rolls-Royce Phantom limousines, pushing its total fleet of Phantoms to 10. Produced by Rolls' Bespoke Programme, the cars' interiors feature Grecian key marquetry applied to the wood veneer, and the distinctive Burj Al Arab logo embroidered into the leather headrests. The cars are all white like the exterior of the hotel itself, which is home to the $18,000-per-night Royal Suite, one of the world's most expensive hotel rooms. Last year we wrote about the bespoke Rolls created for the Four Seasons George V in Paris with a custom Hermès interior.

The world's first $6 million Hermès helicopter, designed by the famed French fashion house in conjunction with Eurocopter, has been delivered to Falcon Aviation Services in Abu Dhabi. Back in 2007 my colleague Deidre Woollard reported on the announcement of the ultra-luxurious chopper, dubbed the "l'Hélicoptère par Hermès," though no price was quoted at the time. Unsurprisingly, the oil rich emirate has snapped up the first of the craft, based on Eurocopter's EC135 model and done in brown and cream livery with signature Hermès orange accents.

The cabin of the helicopter was completely redesigned by Hermès Interior and Design - who also created a custom Rolls-Royce for the Four Seasons George V in Paris we wrote about last year - to maximize the available space and make it as luxurious as possible. Hermès' classic canvas "Toile H" was used to cover the cockpit while the handcrafted seats and banquette are upholstered in natural-grained Hermès calf leather. A sliding glass partition separates the passenger compartment and cockpit, enhancing privacy while allowing light to enter.

"We are delighted to be the first customer for 'l'Hélicoptère par Hermès', which gives us the opportunity to offer a unique travelling experience to our customers" FAS's Vice Chairman Salem Al Kayoumi stated. "This helicopter illustrates a successful fusion between design and technology, where every detail has been created for VIP and business travellers. They are busy and highly demanding, yet wish to travel with utmost comfort and elegance."

All Veyrons are special, but some are more special than others. As if a $1.5 million supercar weren't special enough, Bugatti has come out with what has seemed like an endless array of special editions to further differentiate the rare cars one from another. It all started with the Pur Sang edition, a Veyron with its bare aluminum and carbon-fiber body exposed like an heiress on a Mediterranean beach. Only five were made, and were sold within 24 hours of its announcement. It seems like the sheikh who bought this one, however, is in need of some extra cash, and has put his up for sale for an undisclosed price at an Abu Dhabi dealership. Interested parties with an extra couple million to spare should contact the dealership directly.

Malaysian designer Faisol Abdullah is creating the world's most expensive dress decorated with 751 diamonds from Middle Eastern jeweler Mouawad. The $30 million frock tops Chris Aire's $20 million diamond dress (above) created last year and ties the $30 million diamond bikini in terms of the world's most expensive item of clothing. Abdullah plans to debut the silk and taffeta evening gown, which features a central 70 carat pear-shaped diamond and is dubbed the "Nightingale of Kuala Lumpur," in time for next month's STYLO Fashion festival in the Malaysian capital. Mouawad, which produces Heidi Klum's jewelry line, is a red carpet favorite of Nicole Kidman, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lopez and Britney Spears.

"Stocks drop, gold is even falling but a diamond is forever," Abdullah tells Reuters. "This is a dress with diamonds. Why go backwards, why can't we go forwards? We are going to the fantastic, but its real. You are getting value for money with these diamonds." "It's a security and insurance nightmare buts it's worth it," adds Antoine Bakhache, head of Mouawad's Asia operations. "It's not throwing $30 million right down the drain, it is an investment for the super-rich." Nancy Yeoh, chief executive of STYLO which commissioned the dress, says they plan to present the garment to royal courts around the world starting with the Middle East, noting, "It's art and there are still enough rich people who would want to buy."

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, the Emir of Dubai, has finally unveiled the largest yacht in the world. Formerly known as Project Panhandle / Golden Star, the 531-ft. Dubai (above) was originally commissioned by Prince Jefri of Brunei. Al-Maktoum purchased the partly-constructed behemoth in 2006, and had it transported from Blohm & Voss in Hamburg to the the newly formed Platinum Yachts shipyard in Dubai for completion (renamed then Project Platinum), at a total cost of about $350 million. With eight decks, the Dubai can accommodate 115 people including a crew of 88. In addition to the swimming pool, Jacuzzis, helipad and multiple dining areas, saloons, guest and VIP suites, the yacht features two owner's suites on the sixth and seventh decks and two heli-observations rooms on the seventh and eighth decks, Superyacht Times reports.

The interior is garish in the extreme, a floating Las Vegas casino by way of the UAE. She has a maximum speed of 26 knots and a cruising speed of 25 knots with a range of 8,500 nautical miles. The Dubai may not hold its world's largest yacht title for long, however; as we reported back in October, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich commissioned an even larger yacht, the $355 million, 555-ft. Eclipse. It remains to be seen whether the economic downturn, in which Abramovich lost several billion dollars, will hamper completion of the yacht which includes a military-grade missile defense system. The Eclipse is also being equipped with armor plating surrounding the bridge and Abramovich's master suite, as well as bullet-proof windows.

Emivest Aerospace is now taking orders for the SJ30 (above), billed the world's fastest, longest range and highest flying light jet. The $8 million SJ30 recently set a new world speed record from London to Dubai, doing the trip in just 7hr 7 min including a fuel stop in Istanbul. Emivest was founded late last year when the Emirates Investment and Development Company acquired an 80% interest in US-based Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corporation, named for aviation pioneer Ed Swearingen. The luxurious single-pilot certified six-seater can retain sea level cabin pressure at 41,000 ft., reducing jet lag, and can fly more than 2,800 miles nonstop at speeds of up to 630 mph.

While Bugatti's much-anticipated Centenaire Bleu edition in celebration of it's 100th anniversary presented at the Geneva Motor Show turned out to be something of a letdown, another tweaked Veyron more than lived up to the hype. We're talking about the Mansory Vincero (above), which we first told you about back in January, of which only three examples are being built. With over $700,000 worth of upgrades added by Mansory, the total price of the Vincero (Italian for "I will win") comes out to about $2.5 million.

One of the Vincero's is now for sale in Abu Dhabi via online global luxury marketplace JamesList. The German-based exotic auto tuner boosted the car's power to 1,109 hp, and the exterior is finished in high-gloss black and grey with chrome accents on the grille, front fenders and doors, and front and rear carbon fiber panels. Inside there's two-tone black and white leather, ambient cabin lighting and custom F1-style shift paddles on the steering wheel.

One side effect of the implosion of Dubai's economy which my colleague Deidre Woollard reported on last month is the plummeting value of trophy properties owned by certain superstars. Celebs including David and Victoria Beckham (above), Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and Michael Jackson are losing £80,000 or over $100,000 a week as the luxury real estate they purchased in the over-inflated Emirate plunges in value, the London Daily Mirror reports. Posh properties that were worth £3.2 million (or about $4.4 million) in October now on the market for £1.6 million (or about $2.2 million), i.e. only half as much.

"The Dubai market has fallen off a cliff," Jack Whisker of luxury agents Dream Property Dubai tells the paper. "The credit crunch hit us suddenly because all the foreign investors lost confidence. It has hit the higher-value properties the hardest." In January Deidre reported that the Beckhams, who have a luxury villa on the Palm Jumeirah complex, were considering purchasing a second property in the Burj Dubai tower, so they could be doubly exposed. Brad and Angelina reportedly own one of the artificial islands in the out-there development known as The World.

Once the undisputed land of conspicuous wealth and consumption, the United Arab Emirates is being squeezed by a large drop in oil prices. It's a shame this comes after the region's addiction to art has become fully entrenched. Sotheby's is planning its first contemporary art sale from its new Doha, Qatar branch on March 18, 2009 – also the opening day of the Art Dubai fair. Hell, it's enough to make you "scream" (see photo).

This looks like the triumph of ambition over common sense, but Sotheby's was probably too far into its Middle Eastern endeavors before the bottom fell out on the region's finances. And with Bonhams and Christie's already in town, Sotheby's had little choice but to follow.

The UAE has committed quickly to the art scene. Abu Dhabi is working on building a Louvre, and is erecting a Guggenheim. Last year, art auction revenues reached $34.9 million, up 70 percent from 2007. But, the upcoming auction should be tricky, particularly with the poor performance of the sector last fall in more established markets, like New York, London and Hong Kong.

In around two weeks, we'll see if Sotheby's will be able to make this new auction house work, or if it will fall victim to the greater recession-triggered decline in the art market. The Mei Moses All Art Index dropped 4.5 percent last year. This seems like a modest amount, but you need to remember that record-setting sales continued through the middle of the summer. Last May, Roman Abramovich was a billionaire with a new Francis Bacon piece in his collection. Today ... we know he feels pain, too. The second half of the year wiped out the first half's records and pulled prices down further.

It's a tough time to count on the market to make Sotheby's Doha a success, but the market doesn't give us choices.

[Photo: "El Grito" by Julio Aguilera]

Things may not be going as swimmingly as they once were in the oil rich nations of the UAE, but that doesn't mean there aren't still plenty of people there with disposable incomes the size of some countries' GDPs. In April, Abu Dhabi will host its first Big Boys Toys Super Show, showcasing the world's top luxury products for men, at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC). So far the star of the show looks like the $3 million Maxximus G-Force supercar (above), a 1600 hp beast billed as the world's fastest street legal automobile capable of 0 - 60 mph in 2.1 seconds. The Big Boy Toys show will be divided into seven "hi-octane zones designed to appeal to anyone with a Y chromosome": Drive, Ride, Off Road, Marine, Aviation, Lifestyle and Wired. It's expected to attract tens of thousands of visitors.

Earlier this week we told you about Land Rover's polo team sporting in the snow in Aspen. Now the British auto maker has signed on to sponsor the inaugural Desert Palm Nations Polo Tournament in Dubai this Friday. The event is designed to "highlight and celebrate Dubai's achievements in the sport of polo" and will also serve as the official launch of the Desert Palm, Dubai, a Per AQUUM Resort & Spa and "the first dedicated boutique polo spa resort in the world." Participating in Desert Palm Nations tournament and representing the UAE team, sponsored by Land Rover, will be Adolfo Cambiaso, the number one polo player in the world, who will also playing for the first time in the Middle East. The tournament is set to become an annual affair and a highlight of the social season.