I was going to call the thread "Keeping it cool when it's hot" to take advantage of the obvious play on words given the climate of my current location and the coolness of the old ride but then co-workers happened. I'll explain, but before we get too far I have to do two things:
1) I have to warn you that this isn't going to be so much of a "build log" as it is going to be more of an "ownership log". For my sake I hope it's boring, and I hope there isn't much to type.
2) I have to give the back story, and that might get a little wordy. (TLDR? skip to the next post. You wont miss a thing)
So lets start at the start:
I moved to Kuwait.
When I did, I found that none of my current vehicles were eligible for import under Kuwaiti law. It turns out that anything older than 10 years of age had to be imported by a Kuwaiti citizen. That means I had to sell my '87 Toyota 4x4 and my '84 4-Runner. My '82/'85 (depending on the paperwork) Alfa GTV6 had to go to a babysitter because as tough as it was to sell my "toys", my eldest son would absolutely NOT let us part with the Alfa (I owe him big for that one).
No big deal, I figured. I'll find something "interesting" in Kuwait, and the search started.
While I was in the states I ended up finding a few semi-decent car options on the Kuwaiti classifieds, but nothing that was really "getting me going". At this point I wasn't too worried; we were just seeing what to expect and what to budget. I figured a WRX would be good compromise of "interesting yet reliable enough for a daily" and a Landcruiser would be the "sure thing". The former would pop up with one possible example about once every two weeks, and there were piles upon piles of the latter to choose from.
As things progressed I started to notice that there wasn't much here in the "older than a decade" bracket and absolutely nothing in the "manual transmission department". A few e-mails to friends already in the area didn't yield much info as to why that might be (harsh environment maybe?) and they all told me to buy a newer Landcruiser (hey, I'm game. I love to camp and the desert might have a few places to explore) and then one coworker tried to sell me his for almost $60k. nope.
aaaaaaaaaaand then I got here...
I could go on all year, but time and time again I was told the same thing
1) buy a Patrol, a (landcruiser) Prado, or a Pajero. (I now refer to these as "The Three P's") If you still have any questions, see "Patrol, Prado, or Pajero". Do not pass go, do not collect $200.
2) DO NOT buy anything OLD or anything that wasn't modified for use in the GCC (Gulf cooperation council) at the factory. They WILL overheat in the summer (130+ deg) and the AC WILL NOT even remotely keep up. Buy something new, preferably a Patrol, Prado, or Pajero.
3) Parts will be IMPOSSIBLE to find for anything that isn't Asian (Audi's here are many and plenty in the "sightly used" but "dirt cheap" category for that reason apparently) so buy a Patrol, a Prado, or a Pajero.
4) DO NOT under any circumstances buy a vehicle outside of its warranty period. People here do not take care of their cars, and it is a harsh environment. They wont even change their oil after the warranty expires. Find a Patrol, Prado, or Pajero that's still got its warranty.
5) "I said the same thing you're saying. When I was in Dubai I bought a (insert a car that is not a Patrol, a Prado, or a Pajero here) and I (insert doom and gloom here) so I bought a (Pick one: Patrol, Prado, or Pajero) and (insert happy ending here)"
and like I said. The mere thought of straying from this formula would have all your coworkers on your butt like flies on rice. It just cant be done, dont even suggest it. Go find a Patrol, a Prado, or a Pajero.
Weeeeeeeeellllllllllllll I gotta be honest. When you tell me not to do something, the first thing I want to do is exactly what you told me not to do.
When I feel like I'm getting pig piled on, you can amplify that sentiment a hundredfold and then double it. After a month of hearing this defeatist jargon, I was really feeling something like this:
Well, feeling like you're going to set the world on fire is one thing. Actually doing it is something completely different (see: Luke's co-pilot in his snow speeder during the battle of Hoth...)
I've been here a month now. Finding a car with decent air-con, that strikes emotion, and can be bought and registered for under 3000kd (about $10,000) turns out to be quite the daunting task.
In the Japanese theater, Subaru still pops up with the occasional WRX but I really am worried about the previous owners. One candidate that I thought looked pretty clean ended up having 8 exhaust pipes. Eight! (take your time. I'll wait)
The other candidate I saw had repaired body damage that would make you seasick if you tried looking down the lines. The rest of the vehicles seem to be penalty boxes or (wait for it...) Patrols, Prados, or Pajeros.
In the European theater I've pretty much psyched myself out on the 2009/10 V8 Jaguar XF's. In my opinion they check my boxes "just enough" (haul kids, reliable, safe, etc) but I cant help but feel like I'm trying to like it too much. Besides, I want to turn the naysayer world on fire here, and does this really do it? The 2-door Jaguar XK's are prettier but lack the ease of getting kids in the back seat.
With much persistence, M4ff3w has me looking at the twin-turbocharged V12 Mercedes CL or S 600. Unfortunately this falls just a hair outside my comfort zone when it comes to cost and ease of maintenance (but DOES, oddly enough, fall slightly within my budget). It doesnt help that there was a Mercedes Cl and S 600 thread on GRM lately that really made ownership sound not nearly as bad as the interwebz would have you believe. But I really need something my housemate wont see me working on every day (oh yeah, one guy I work with lives in an apartment below the house I picked to live in. Any excessive wrenching will be reported and the Three-P crowd wins) and I'm not completely confident in the care of the previous owners. Besides, heavy Germans never really had my interest....
I've found a couple Mercedes 560SEL's and an E320 that I've chatted once with Mezzanine about, but really only the E320 had my interest...
So there I was. Nothing old, everything new. Definitely feeling like I was in automotive purgatory and then the worst possible thing happened: I found out I didn't speak Arabic. 
That's right. This whole time I've been thinking I could actually buy the cars I've been looking at online and it never dawned on me that while I can introduce myself over the phone, but I cant express interest in a vehicle and negotiate a sale in the local language. Take those slim pickins I've found so far, and reduce that by 100% because I can't answer a classified ad...
It's official: Automotive purgatory. 
There was seriously a week where I tried to resign myself to the fact that I was stuck with whatever the local dealers had on their lots (read: The three P's and second hand supercars). I even went with a friend to what must have been EVERY dealership in town. I was done for.
and then I broke another coworker rule: "Don't pay a realtor, go straight to the landlord if you want a place. The realtors will charge you half a months rent..."
Well, I used a realtor to find my house. I actually had the landlords name from the previous tenant, but never got around to calling him. When I saw the property advertised on the local classifieds, I picked up the phone and called the realtor. In doing so, I got along very well with the guy (his name is Mustafa, he has a kid about my eldest's age named Mohammed). "If you ever need any help in Kuwait, please call me " he says.
OOOOOOOhhhhhh buddy. You should have never said that.... one week later:
"Hi, would you mind calling this guy for me? I'm interested in his car, and I'm worried about my Arabic"
Begin build 
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