AI, Cars and What’s Real Anymore? Bond, Bots and the Lotus That Refuses to Die

Reality is now optional; cars feel increasingly fictional; James Bond belongs to Amazon; and the Lotus Esprit has returned to mess with our heads

Somewhere between the fifth AI-generated video you didn’t trust and the third car launch you instantly forgot, it dawned on us: we might be living in the uncanny valley… and it’s a charged congestion zone!

That unsettling sense of digital déjà vu is where this latest BCG Podcast begins. I’m joined by Sy from Drivers Union, and together we tumble headfirst into a bonkers tangled conversation about AI, cars, car culture, Bond, books, events, identity and the creeping suspicion that none of us quite know what’s real anymore – including ourselves.

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SPOTIFY

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AI: Artificial Intelligence or Absolute Insanity?

Let’s start with the big one. AI. Not the glossy keynote version with smiling presenters and pastel slides. The real AI — the one quietly cloning voices, faking footage, inventing people and gaslighting your eyeballs at scale.

We talk about that moment we’ve all had recently, where you watch a clip, scoff confidently and say, “That’s obviously fake.”

Then five minutes later it’s on the BBC, three news sites, and your group chat, and suddenly you are the unreliable narrator.

AI hasn’t just blurred the line between real and fake — it’s taken a cheese grater to it. It’s now so good that your instincts, once trusty and true, are basically running on outdated firmware.

Naturally, we laugh about it. Because if you don’t laugh, you end up staring into the void while whispering, “I remember when using Photoshop was controversial.”

Cars in Crisis: Faster, Smarter, and Strangely Soulless

From AI, the conversation swerves smoothly — as all good automotive conversations should — into cars. Or more specifically, the curious case of why modern cars feel more impressive than ever… yet somehow less memorable than a motorway service station sandwich.

We talk about how launches blur together, how specs soar while souls sink, and how many new cars feel like rolling software licences with leather seats. They’re quicker, quieter, cleverer — and about as emotionally engaging as setting up a new printer on your computer.

Meanwhile, classic cars and 80s/90s icons are enjoying a renaissance. Pop-up headlights. Angular drama. Mechanical honesty. Cars that made you feel something before they made you a latte.

Turns out nostalgia isn’t about rose-tinted glasses — it’s about remembering when things had character rather than connectivity.

The Lotus Esprit: Back, Bonded and Bloody Brilliant

And then… the Lotus Esprit enters the chat. Specifically, the Encor Design reimagining of the Esprit S1 — a car that doesn’t just tug at heartstrings, it yanks them with a gloved hand while Roger Moore raises an eyebrow in approval.

This isn’t a lazy reboot or a cynical cash-in. It’s a thoughtful, carefully considered resurrection of a car that once defined cinematic cool. A machine so deeply embedded in pop culture that it’s impossible to discuss without drifting into skis, submarines and dry one-liners.

We talk about why this Esprit matters, why it feels more authentic than many factory launches, and why sometimes the best way to honour heritage is to ignore modern conventions politely, then do your own thing anyway.

In short: it has theatre, tension and timelessness — three things sorely missing from most new cars and at least half of modern life.

Events, Enthusiasm and the Search for Something Genuine

From cars themselves, we zoom out to car culture.
The best events of the year. The ones that still feel human. Where conversations outweigh content creation, and the cars are the stars — not the drones hovering overhead like judgmental mechanical pigeons.

We talk about how enthusiasm is fragmenting into niches, how smaller events often feel richer, and how authenticity is quietly outperforming spectacle. People don’t just want more cars anymore — they want meaningful motors and memorable moments.

Of course, we also acknowledge the cruel irony that if you work in cars long enough, you rarely get to enjoy them properly. The enthusiast’s curse: turning passion into paperwork.

Drivers Union, Magazines and Accidental Publishing Empires

Sy then reveals what can only be described as ambitious plans for Drivers Union. Expansion beyond supercars. International reach. A renewed embrace of classics and sports cars. And the launch of a proper Drivers Union magazine.

Not a flimsy pamphlet. A real publication.

Which casually leads to the revelation that Sy has 11 automotive books in progress — a number that officially tips you from “keen enthusiast” into “someone who may need shelving advice”.

We talk about why books still matter, why permanence has power, and why long-form storytelling might just be the antidote to algorithm fatigue and endless scrolling despair.

Bond, Amazon and the Identity Crisis We’re All Having

Somehow, this all leads us to James Bond. With Amazon now holding the keys to the franchise, the question isn’t just who Bond should be next — but what Bond even represents anymore. Is he escapism? Aspiration? A cultural mirror? Or simply the last bloke allowed to order a martini without being asked about oat milk?

We talk Roger Moore nostalgia, Pierce Brosnan speculation, and why endlessly rebooting icons risks sanding off the very edges that made them iconic in the first place.

Bond, after all, isn’t about ticking boxes. He’s about fantasy, style and confidence — qualities that don’t respond well to focus groups.

The Pakistani Bond That Arrived Early

Somewhere in the chaos, I admit to having written a comic-book spoof years ago featuring Jamshed Khan — essentially a Pakistani Bond, long before such ideas were fashionable talking points.

Which rather neatly proves the point: creativity doesn’t need permission slips. It just needs imagination, conviction and a sense of humour.

So… What Is Real Anymore?

By the end of the episode, we don’t pretend to have answers. Just observations, laughter, and the shared suspicion that we’re all living through a strange transitional chapter.

AI is accelerating. Cars are evolving. Bond belongs to Amazon. The Esprit is back. Books still matter. Confusion is constant.

And maybe — just maybe — that’s where the most interesting conversations live.

Watch or listen to the full BCG Podcast above. Then join the discussion below. What still feels real to you?

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