In Memory of Mitchell “Mitch” Perera: An Icon of UAE Car Culture

A car culture icon of the United Arab Emirates has left us far too soon.

Laid-back, easy-going, ever enthusiastic, always eager to help, a keen foodie and, of course, a powerhouse of automotive passion, engineering endeavour and ingenuity. That was Mitch.

Please open a cold one and light up your rear tyres in honour of Mitch Perera, who leaves behind a high-octane legacy and lasting memories for those lucky enough to have known him.

His unassuming presence belied his towering influence on Dubai’s car scene, helping to shape the very DNA of custom car culture in the UAE.

From desert duellers to classic muscle cars and custom trucks dripping in so much cool you didn’t even need to switch on the aircon, he was renowned for spectacular street machines that always got the car guys drooling.

The muscle car guy’s muscle car guy, Mitch wore his considerable knowledge lightly. His easy manner, simple humility and willingness to help were what stayed with you.

I’ve missed him since leaving Dubai in 2019. I’m deeply saddened to hear of his passing, and so glad we had this discussion on video six years ago, recording some of his thoughts, memories and life experiences.

In This Video

Mitch’s first journey in a car rather set the tone. According to his parents, they brought him home from hospital in Sri Lanka in a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air. Frankly, with an introduction like that, a lifelong weakness for American iron was practically compulsory.

His grandfather was a car enthusiast, and the family’s cars included everything from DeSotos and Cadillacs to Capris, Anglias and a Hillman. His father was an aircraft engineer, so the mechanical curiosity ran in the family too. Engines, engineering and enthusiasm were part of his upbringing.

Mitch arrived in the UAE at around ten years old, after his father took up work connected with the development of Sharjah International Airport in the mid-1970s. He grew up alongside the Emirates, getting to know a country whose car culture he would eventually help shape.

The tinkering started early. He told me about a little garage in Ajman where he and his father worked on cars, and a Daihatsu off-roader into which they fitted a 1.8-litre Mitsubishi Galant engine. With drive going to the rear wheels and fat tyres at the back, he treated it as a dune buggy around Fossil Rock. You can already see where this was heading.

In 1987, barely a week after getting his driving licence, he spotted an advert for desert safari drivers and guides with Orion Tours in Sharjah. For a young man who loved driving and the great outdoors, getting paid to spend his days behind the wheel in the desert was an irresistible proposition.

The equipment was suitably character-building: manual 60-Series Toyota Land Cruisers with straight-six engines. As Mitch recalled, on a good day all six cylinders were working. On most days, about four and a half. A proper baptism of sand and spanners.

That was the beginning of a career in tourism and adventure that, by the time we spoke, had occupied almost 25 years of his life. Along the way, he developed an extraordinary knowledge of the desert and an appreciation for its peace, space and solitude. He enjoyed finding quieter trails, away from the crowds gathering at the familiar dune-driving spots.

His driving experience also took him to Britain for three years through a General Motors training programme. Here, he added mud, snow and a very different sort of off-roading to his experience of sand, gravel and rock. We compared notes on that during our chat. Mitch appreciated the beauty of the British trails; I confessed to having considerably less enthusiasm for getting stuck in British mud.

Of course, the driving was only part of the story. Mitch had to make a vehicle his own. He told me he had never owned a standard car, and even when he and his wife bought a brand-new Chevrolet Lumina SS in 2005, he changed the wheels and suspension before taking it home. Most people collect the keys and adjust the seat. Mitch apparently needed to sort out the chassis first.

His love of American cars had been fuelled by a childhood diet of Smokey and the Bandit, The Fall Guy, Starsky & Hutch and the other television staples many of us grew up watching. Pickups, muscle cars and big V8s made a lasting impression. In Mitch’s case, that enthusiasm found its way into the garage.

Through Liberty Motorsports, he also built strong connections with the international aftermarket industry and helped develop SEMA’s activities in the Middle East. When we spoke, he recalled attending the Las Vegas show for seventeen consecutive years, alongside workshops and industry conferences. He understood the business, the engineering and the people behind the spectacle, and helped connect that world with the growing appetite for customisation in the Gulf.

Mitch helped us at Motoring Middle East with our car meets too. In the interview, we reminisced about the Festival City gathering that attracted more than a thousand cars. We had certainly caused a bit of a stir. Thankfully, the police included plenty of fellow petrolheads, and they mucked in to help.

He had friends in the authorities who raced at weekends and built cars in their own workshops. That shared enthusiasm crossed every boundary. Whatever your background, nationality or budget, there was always a conversation to be had around an interesting car.

Mitch understood that, and he made time for people. In our chat, he spoke about helping younger enthusiasts getting started. He had accumulated decades of experience and contacts, and was happy to share them. That generosity will be familiar to many who knew him.

He remained curious, too. During our conversation, this committed V8 man surprised me with his enthusiasm for EVs, new technology and a venture he was helping develop. He described himself as a gadget enthusiast and wanted to keep up with where the industry was heading. There was plenty of room in his automotive world for another interesting idea.

He also told me about plans for “Mitch’s Trail Bites and Friends”, bringing together outdoor cooking, exploring and familiar faces. Cars, trails, food and friends. A very Mitch combination.

Watching that conversation again brings back his warmth, his knowledge and the easy pleasure of talking cars with him. It also makes me wish we’d had the follow-up chat we talked about. There were plenty more stories to tell.

Mitch’s influence lives on in the machines he helped build, the enthusiasts he encouraged and the friendships formed around a shared automotive obsession. Across the sands, streets and car meets of the UAE, so many people will have their own Mitch story.

I’m grateful to have known him, and to have captured a few of his.

You’ll be missed, Mitch. Thanks for the memories, the machines and all that magnificent V8 thunder.

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