Gold cars

Here are a few photos taken by me on the way to Chelsea.

Please take note of the cheeky bastard who has pasted gold paper over his budget Ford Ka. He had parked this along with the gold cars.

There is no better way to put it than a report from the London Times.

Most people pack a book, clothes and toothpaste to go abroad, but a Saudi tourist arrived in London over Easter with a fleet of gold cars worth more than £1 million.

Their appearance heralded the start of “supercar” season when millionaires from Kuwait, Saudia Arabia and United Arab Emirates escape the heat of the Gulf and compete with each other to drive the most ostentatious vehicles in the capital.

The Lamborghini, as well as this Rolls-Royce Phantom, are thought to belong to the same family.

The tourist brought with him cars including a £370,000 Mercedes, a £350,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé, a £180,000 Lamborghini Huracán and a Bentley Flying Spur worth £220,000.

Only a handful of airlines offer flyers a car-carrying service. Qatar Airways charges about £20,000 for the option, which involves the vehicles being secured to the floor of a plane. The “supercar” season led to so many complaints last year over noise, speeding and illegal parking, that the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea was forced to introduce a public spaces protection order in Knightsbridge.

Motorists are banned from revving engines, rapidly accelerating, racing, performing stunts, sounding horns or causing obstructions. They are also prohibited from leaving the engine of a stationary car running. Motorists who breach the order face a maximum fine of £1,000 or fixed penalty notice of £100. Over the past three weeks, seven drivers have been handed fixed penalty notices.