#BrownCarGuy – News, Views & Reviews!
A relentless chase. A deadly secret. No way out. That’s the promise at the heart of Silent Ruin, my brand-new international spy thriller and the first in a new series featuring Jamshed Khan. This is a character I originally created over three decades ago, now reborn into a far more grown-up, high-stakes world of espionage, danger, and consequence.
From a political thriller that eerily predicted the introduction of Pay-Per-Mile in the UK’s “War on Motorists” (The ULEZ Files), to a bold new international spy series launching with Silent Ruin, a collection of thought-provoking short stories spanning two decades (Quantum Races), and a semi-autobiographical no-nonsense insider guide to breaking into the automotive media world (How to Be an Automotive Content Creator)…
This is the complete BrownCarGuy library. Whether you’re here for action, ideas, or real-world experience, there’s something here for you. Available now on Amazon or Read free with Kindle Unlimited.
Let’s get one thing straight right from the outset. This is not the MG you think it is. Forget bargain hatchbacks. Forget sensible family SUVs. Forget everything you know about MG because the IM5 is operating on an entirely different plane. In fact, if somebody covered the badges and asked you to guess what this was, I suspect very few people would say MG. And to be fair it does look generic Chinese EV. But here’s what you need to know: this thing is utterly bonkers.
If there is one event that perfectly captures the sheer breadth and brilliance of car culture, it is the London Concours. Returning to the beautiful lawns of the Honourable Artillery Company in the heart of the City of London, the 2026 edition celebrated its 10th anniversary in spectacular style, bringing together more than 120 extraordinary vehicles spread across nine curated classes. From cutting-edge hypercars and poster-car dream machines to rally legends, American muscle, tuner specials and exquisitely reimagined classics, this year’s event was an automotive feast unlike any other.
Every now and then a story emerges from the corridors of Westminster that makes you stop, put down your tea, rub your eyes and double-check that you haven’t accidentally wandered onto a parody website. This was one of those moments. According to evidence submitted to the House of Commons Transport Committee by the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, better known as PACTS, one argument for introducing more blanket 20mph speed limits is that doing so could reduce the need for additional signs, consultations, traffic orders and all the associated administrative clutter that accompanies modern transport policy. In other words, if I’ve understood this correctly, one of the reasons millions of motorists could find themselves travelling more slowly is because road signs are apparently becoming a bit expensive.
A funny thing has happened on the road to electrification. Along the way, someone assumed that the future of luxury motoring would be silent, seamless and battery powered, that the world’s wealthiest buyers would lead the charge into a brave new era of zero-emissions indulgence, and that once the millionaires and billionaires embraced electric cars, the rest of us would naturally follow faithfully in their tyre tracks. It sounded plausible enough. After all, if anyone could afford the latest technology, it would be the people who think nothing of dropping the price of a semi-detached house on a weekend toy.
The new Aion V has landed in the UK, and I got an early first drive at SMMT Test Day at Millbrook, where some of the latest cars are laid out like an automotive buffet and you try not to come away with indigestion, or an existential crisis about how quickly the car industry is changing. This is Aion’s new electric family SUV, and while the badge may still be unfamiliar to most British buyers, the proposition is anything but vague: 317 miles of WLTP range, £36,450 OTR, around 204PS, lots of equipment, loads of space and one of the most interesting ownership packages currently being offered on any new car in Britain.
Ferrari has officially revealed its first fully electric production car, the all-new Ferrari Luce EV, and honestly, I bewildered and apoplectic with rage. This is the company that gave us the Ferrari F40, Testarossa, 288 GTO, Dino, Daytona, 308 and 458 Italia. Cars that looked like rolling works of art. Cars that made grown adults weak at the knees and children plaster posters across bedroom walls. And now… this.
The 2026 Enfield Pageant of Motoring turned out to be an absolute treasure trove of weird, wonderful and wildly creative machinery, reminding us why grassroots car culture remains far more entertaining than yet another identikit crossover launch with mood lighting and an app subscription for heated seats. This year’s event was packed with everything from beautifully preserved classics to utterly unhinged custom creations, including a chopped and Audi-powered Vauxhall Victor FB, stunning American cruisers, rat-look survivors proudly wearing decades of scars, and hot rods that looked ready to drag race Satan himself.
The Nissan Micra has always been one of those cars that quietly got on with the job. It was never glamorous, rarely outrageous, and yet somehow became deeply woven into British motoring culture. Your mum had one, your driving instructor had one, your mate learned to heel-and-toe in one, and somewhere out in the sticks, there’s probably still a battered K10 surviving on sheer stubbornness and WD40 fumes. But now the Micra enters a whole new era because this all-new sixth-generation model is fully electric, thoroughly modern, heavily digitised and, perhaps most surprisingly of all, good value and rather likeable.
There was a time when cars didn’t need mood lighting, over-the-air software updates, lane departure nags, adaptive personalities or a touchscreen larger than a student bedsit television simply to survive the school run. There was a time when a humble hatchback existed purely to provide practical, affordable and dependable transport, and somehow, almost accidentally, managed to become charming in the process. This 1988 Nissan Micra GSX Automatic is one of those cars.