#BrownCarGuy – News, Views & Reviews!
Have you noticed it lately? The roads feel slower, the signs look stricter, and the cameras are multiplying like roadside mushrooms after a rainstorm. Suddenly, even the most careful motorists are finding themselves on the wrong side of the law – or rather, the lens.
Mazda’s flirted with electrification before – remember the MX-30? Stylish, well-built, and charmingly unconventional, but with a range so short you’d start worrying halfway to the shops. Even Mazda later admitted it needed work, adding a rotary range-extender to make it more usable.
The intriguingly-named Mad Bison is a London-based remixer who works with a variety of music genres, but I was particularly interested to come across a great car-inspired track by his protege, a rapper going by the moniker of Pigbosher. This track, ‘Street Heat’ is lifted from his album, ‘Urban Swamp’ – a rousing mix of social commentary spotlighting the grittier side of life. Mr Pigbosher is one angry chap, it seems. But back to the chase – the video accompanying Street Heat is a blast of raw angst and heavy metal car action – well worth three minutes of anyone’s time!
Rumour has it the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is preparing to scrap the 40-year tax exemption for classic cars – and if true, it could be one of the daftest economic moves in decades. Because make no mistake – if this goes ahead, you won’t just be taxing old motors. You’ll be taxing passion, history, and an £18-billion-a-year industry that already contributes around £3 billion in taxes annually to the Treasury.
That’s right. The same government that loves to preach about “protecting heritage” might soon be taxing it to death.
I get a truck and I’m a kid with a Tonka Toy again. Okay, I won’t bash it into the table leg or drop it from the kitchen counter, but I still want to drive it with a big grin on my face. So when Isuzu asks if I would like to review the 2025 Isuzu D-Max V-Cross, despite the fact that I reviewed this generation of the pickup twice just a few years ago… I found myself struggling to decline.
Full transparency, I didn’t so much want to review it, as I just wanted to rock around in it! And when it turned up, I wasn’t disappointed, because they sent their Instagram special. A D-Max that had driven into the accessories warehouse and come out wearing EVERYTHING! More on that in a bit.
Honestly, the 1990s don’t seem that long ago – however, it was the decade that popularised email and the World Wide Web; we got mobile phones that weren’t bricks, as well as digital SLR cameras, Sony Discmans and MP3 players; 170Mb was a lot and Y2K was terrifying but never actually happened.
Sometimes, car manufacturers end up with a ‘safe bet’ seller. Occasionally by design, but usually by chance. You may think that’s a golden egg for any car maker, but it can also be a poisoned chalice. It becomes so invaluable that the company simply can’t afford to get it wrong.
For Kia, that car is the Sportage – its best-selling SUV, the top performer across Europe, and, rather astonishingly, its global bestseller too. So when the Koreans tweak the formula, it’s a big deal.
Think you need a fat wallet to drive something desirable? Think again. Forget the tired hatchbacks, clapped-out old runabouts or overpriced German badgers – because lurking in the classifieds under the magic £3,000 mark are some proper gems.
Yes, I’m talking about silky V6 engines, stealth luxury, forgotten flagships, and even a high-revving sports car. And for good measure, a cheeky city hatch that’ll surprise you too. These are the bargain buys you didn’t think of – but should.
September came at us fast and furious – a month of breaking news, motoring drama, cultural flashpoints, and a few laughs along the way. Lotus is clinging to life, Porsche is making (and unmaking) decisions, politicians are meddling, and I even roasted some of your cars just for fun. If you missed any of it, don’t worry – here’s the complete BrownCarGuy digest from September 2025.
Continue reading “BrownCarGuy September 2025 Round-Up: Shocks, Scandals & Supercars”
308.4mph. That’s the new production car speed record. A number so big it should make you gasp, applaud, or at least mutter “blimey” into your beer. And yet, here I am, shrugging. Because while the Yangwang U9 Extreme – an all-electric hypercar from China – has just dethroned Bugatti and become the world’s fastest car, I can’t help asking: does anyone really care anymore?
