There was a distinct irony to the Dubai International Motor Show last month.

At one end of the Convention Centre, the power-crazed tuners of Gemballa and Brabus were showing off their latest steroid-induced creations, while at the other, General Motors displayed their electric Chevrolet Volt, BMW was announcing the new hybrid X6 and Mercedes showed the S400 BlueHybrid, complete with a full-scale example of its clever engine, which houses an electric motor between the V6 and the automatic transmission.

Doubtless few would have noticed this neat piece of engineering, but it’s this contrast between the old, performance-focused, fuel-is-cheap mentality of the Middle East and the new, alternatively-powered forward thinking that more or less defined the show.

Make no mistake, many will still take comfort in what they see. Even in this unstable time, a raft of new, fast cars were being waded out. It was quite easy to forget the absence of Lamborghini, Porsche, Honda, Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep, when stamping its intent on producing ever more ludicrous modified Mercedes was Brabus. CEO Bodo Buschmann took the cover off the latest product of his imagination with a rather stern face. The Brabus GLK V12 has the Biturbo 750 engine from the Brabus Bullit and produces 740bhp, 995lb ft of torque and does a faintly stupendous 322kph, making it the fastest SUV in the world.

Spending much time trying to absorb the numbers of the other Brabus V12 monsters was dizzying, so I decided it best to move on. To a triplet of special edition Bugatti Veyrons, which boasted a range of glittering custom interior and exterior modifications. From there, it was onto Ferrari, which curiously didn’t have a 458 Italia on its stand, and then to Mercedes. Or more appropriately, to AMG. A ‘Desert Gold’ SLS was the centre of attention (as if the gullwing doors weren’t enough). The hue is a unique colour Mercedes says will be available if there’s demand for it (no guessing there will be.) ‘The premiere of the SLS AMG in AMG Desert Gold at the Dubai show is a token of respect for the Middle East,’ said Mercedes-AMG CEO Volker Mornhinweg. ‘After the USA, Germany and Japan, the Gulf region is the fourth-largest market for AMG.’

Alongside the SLS was a new G-Class. Yes, another one. The 30th anniversary, Middle East-only ‘Edition 79’ G55 has its own special matt finish, new wheels and new trim and will be limited to 79 cars.

Across the hall on BMW’s stand was the X6 ActiveHybrid. This’ll be an interesting car to watch when it goes on sale in the region. The X6 is a hugely popular car, but will anyone in a region of cheap fuel care it has two electric motors and consumes less fuel than an xDrive50? BMW – quite correctly – isn’t so sure. As things stands, it sees two ways of marketing its hybrids. Either governments around the region encourage people to drive greener cars, or, as is more likely, the X6 will be marketed as a ‘Sports Hybrid’ with an emphasis on the increased performance.

As for the new X6M and X5M, I put it to Phil Horton of BMW Middle East, why, with the two being the same car underneath (the difference being only in body styles), it was felt right to sell both. ‘There was a big debate within BMW whether we should introduce both,’ he says. ‘We [BMW Middle East] thought that the X6 would go up and come down in sales. That hasn’t happened. Like the X5, it’s gone up and stayed at a very high level. So actually we’re now quite pleased we’ve got both of them.’ As for a 1-Series M car, Horton proclaimed that it’s ‘95 per cent certain it will be in the region in the next 12 months’.

It was then over to rivals Audi, where the company’s Middle East Managing Director, Jeff Mannering, unveiled a surprise by announcing that the TT-RS will in fact be coming to the region, and claimed that ‘Audi is on its way to becoming the hottest automotive brand in the Middle East region’. That we’ll have to see about, but there’s no doubt that releasing more RS versions in the GCC will boost the company’s profile.

A little further on in the next hall, standing high on a platform, was the Zenvo ST1, which made its regional debut. It was the first time we got to see the car up close, and despite the odd loose button and kit car-style small floating pedals, first impressions were of a solid effort for a development prototype that has covered 40,000km. There’s a dial just behind the gearlever that lets you select between three power modes: 650, 850 or the full 1104bhp bonanza. The panels all seemed to fit neatly too, and overall quality was credible for a first car built by a small Danish company.

It wasn’t quite the same with the Ultimate Aero. For a start, no one was even allowed near the ‘World’s Fastest Production Car’ after it was unveileved by Mohammed Ben Sulayem. Then, after I managed to perch my behind inside it and found the cabin cramped, the driving position awkward, the steering wheel to be not quite straight and the switchgear on the iffy side, a representative to my left literally shouted at me – I imagine it was out of panic – to ‘not touch anything!’ Now there’s someone who has faith in the quality of his $ 760,000 product…

By far the biggest stand belonged to GM. It may be downsizing, but the General still has a lot of models under his wing. The new CTS-V Coupe was probably the most interesting of all the cars displayed, and Mike Devereux, M.E. President, proudly announced that it’ll be the car he’ll drive when it arrives this summer. Centre stage on the GM floor was the Corvette Stingray Concept. Expect future Corvettes to take cues from this hollywood show car.

The Aston Martin One-77 is one car that has gone from concept to reality rather quickly, and the one displayed in a separate Aston tent at the show was the final car. Although it looked like an elongated DBS, all the exterior and interior (apart from the dials) is bespoke.

Then, at the far end of the show were some surprising names. The Chinese carmakers of BYD and Haima chose to bravely display their compact and family cars to the Middle East market. Proudly sitting on a plinth was BYD’s S8. Its designer clearly suffered from a lack of imagination, as the front was a blatant rip-off of a Mercedes CLK, the profile bared a distinct resemblance to a VW Eos and the rear seemed to be lifted from a 2008 Honda Accord.

Haima didn’t do much better. Its one acceptable-looking model, the S1, is a two-door sportscar resembling a Hyundai Genesis Coupe. I would also guess Haima’s Marketing Manager will soon be out of a job, because the S1 was the one model Haima chose not to display.

Perhaps they have a crystal ball, the Chinese. Perhaps they think the oil on our shores has almost run out. If that’s the case, somebody should tell Gemballa, before the German souls go bankrupt. A ‘Matt Edition’ 670bhp, Carrera GT-based Mirage GT was for sale at the show, alongside the Tornado – a 720bhp Cayenne Turbo. Believe it or not, it looked even uglier than the original car.

Sure, these may be troubled times, but the supply of the absurd seems to be as plentiful as ever.