A DeLorean, an Aston, and a growing sense that driving no longer works in our favour
Some motoring moments make you laugh later. Others make you stop and think, hang on… something’s not right here. In this episode of BCG Therapy Podcast, a near-disaster involving a DeLorean nearly disappearing into a trench at a luxury hotel in Dubai with actual Star Wars Stormtroopers watching, and a glamorous Aston Martin that would take on Spectre but was defeated by a British pothole spark a much bigger conversation about modern motoring – and why driving increasingly feels stacked against the very people doing it.
This episode brings together myself, Sy from Drivers Union, and Imthishan Giado from Dubai, for a wide-ranging, unfiltered chat about cars, culture, and the awkward truth lurking beneath both – we’ve already lost the War on Cars?
We start with one of those stories that sounds made up until you realise it isn’t. A DeLorean, a diplomatic event at a brand new luxury hotel in Dubai, wooden planks over a trench, American CIA and Star Wars Stormtroopers, with seconds to spare before gravity nearly won and zapped the DoLrean DMC-12 outta sight – ‘Great Scott!’. Cue panic, shouted instructions, and a very heavy right foot. It was cinematic, absurd, and genuinely terrifying – all at once. But we can laugh about it now. We think.
Then we’re back on home turf. No glamour. No drama. Just a normal British road and a pothole deep enough to snap the suspension on an Aston Martin. No crash. No speeding. Just neglect, quietly turning prestige into a four-figure repair bill. Spectre couldn’t kill an Aston, but potholes – the silent but effective assassin!
From there, things escalate.
We dig into why UK roads are falling apart, how potholes have become a hidden tax on drivers, and why modern cars – heavier, more complex and more software-dependent than ever – are often less able to cope with the real world.
The conversation shifts into darker territory too. Connected cars. Software updates. Remote shut-offs. Sanctions that can brick vehicles overnight. Cars that no longer feel fully yours, but more like devices you’re temporarily allowed to use.
Along the way, we ask some uncomfortable questions.
- Why are younger people opting out of driving altogether?
- Why do new cars feel more stressful than joyful?
- And why does it feel like car culture is being quietly designed out, rather than banned outright?
And the rest is rose-tinted nostalgia. Probably.
Tell us in the comments: Have cars already turned on us… or is the worst still to come?
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