#BrownCarGuy – News, Views & Reviews!
The UK woke up to a rather depressing figure this week. Economic growth from July to September came in at 0.1 per cent. The analysts thought we would hit 0.2 per cent, so already things looked a little feeble. The headlines called it a blow for the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves. The markets shrugged. Most of the public sighed into their morning tea.
I know that I’m pigeon-holed sometimes. And I know why. I love cars, especially big hairy monstrous motors that smoke their tyres and obliterate decibel detectors.
Yes, my name is Shahzad and I’m an Autoholic. I confess the thrum of a V8 turns me on, octane is my cologne, and a gear-snatching, wheel-twirling thrash up a twisty road is my therapy. Cyclists are annoying, traffic cameras are the enemy, and the Highway Code is a quaint little booklet that’s just the right thickness for the wobbly leg of my coffee table.
And most damning of all, I refuse to apologise for any of this.
Stardate: Right-Here-Right-Now
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved Star Trek. Not because of the phasers, photon torpedoes, or the occasional red-shirt casualty (though let’s be honest, those were fun too). No – it was the future it promised. A future built on intellect, compassion, curiosity, and progress. A future where humanity finally grew up, stopped arguing about nonsense, cured disease, ended hunger, explored the stars – and had the decency to put cup holders on shuttlecraft.
Continue reading “The Future We Promised Ourselves – And Why We’re Not at Warp Yet”
Somewhere between the mockery and the memes, between jokes about “Range Rover rip-offs” and “plastic dashboards”, something rather extraordinary happened. The Chinese car industry grew up – fast. And now, while the West was busy sniggering, Beijing’s automakers quietly built an empire. An empire of design studios, R&D centres, global shipping fleets, and production hubs from Brazil to Budapest. Once dismissed as cheap copycats, China’s carmakers have now become the innovators – the disruptors – the ones pushing the boundaries of electric mobility, tech integration, and even automotive engineering itself.
Let me pull you into it: vast halls, thousands of gleaming machines, petrol and polish in the air – that was the vibe inside the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show 2025 at the The NEC Birmingham. I wandered the aisles with my good mate Sy (Founder of Drivers Union), trying to take it all in: club stands, traders, rare models, and some genuinely wild builds. It’s a show that doesn’t just showcase classics – it celebrates them with a roar.
When a man who doesn’t even drive becomes the Mayor of New York City, you just know things are about to get interesting. Zohran Mamdani’s victory has made waves across the world – not just because he’s the first Muslim, first brown and first African-born mayor in NYC’s history, but because he represents something much bigger: a changing philosophy about how cities are built, who they serve, and – crucially for us car lovers – whether there’s still space for motorists in the urban future.
Now, before you reach for your pitchforks or your petrol can, let’s take a calm, and rational look at what this actually means for drivers.
Coffee – it’s the legal performance enhancer that fuels early mornings, late nights and long motorway hauls. Most of us can’t even start an ignition, let alone a working day, without one. But here’s the shocker – too much caffeine might actually make you a worse driver. According to a new UK survey, 11 million drivers regularly exceed the safe daily caffeine limit of 400 milligrams – that’s about two barista coffees, four cups of tea, or five cans of energy drink. Go over that, and you might start to feel like you’ve traded your steering wheel for a fidget toy.
London did what London does best today – mixed elegance with engine oil. Pall Mall transformed into a living timeline of motoring at the St James’s Motoring Spectacle 2025, a glorious preview to tomorrow’s London-to-Brighton Veteran Car Run. The whole street hummed, clattered, and occasionally coughed to life as machines older than most family trees sat alongside the latest electric wonders.
October was a month where the motoring world felt like it had one foot on the throttle and the other in a pothole. We had political mayhem, performance miracles, tech scandals, nostalgic deep dives and a few hearty laughs along the way. Whether you’re here for honest reviews, shocking truths, or a dose of car culture therapy – I’ve rounded up my best videos, blogs, and podcasts from the past month. Buckle up!
Continue reading “BrownCarGuy October Round-Up: Scandals, Supercars & 10 Million Fines”
They were supposed to be the perfect bridge to a greener motoring future – the best of both worlds. Drive electric around town, and petrol on the motorway. No range anxiety, no compromise, no problem. But according to a new report by Transport & Environment, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) might be one of the biggest greenwashing scandals in the car industry. In the real world, these so-called eco-friendly cars are polluting almost as much as petrol vehicles.
So what went wrong? And more importantly – are PHEVs worth buying at all?
