Category: Culture

Petrolhead ≠ Politically Incorrect: I don’t Rev for the Right, but nor do I Line-Lock for the Left!

Some think that if you enjoy the sound of a V8 and a whiff of burnt rubber, you’re a climate-denying dinosaur. Time to set the steering straight

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. 

Continue reading “Petrolhead ≠ Politically Incorrect: I don’t Rev for the Right, but nor do I Line-Lock for the Left!” →
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The Future We Promised Ourselves – And Why We’re Not at Warp Yet

Shahzad Sheikh staring at the Starship Enterprise from a shuttlecraft window
I’ve always loved Star Trek for its vision of a hopeful, united, intelligent humanity. But as the USS Enterprise prepares to warp into the future, I can’t help but wonder – have we stranded ourselves in the past?

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.

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The St James’s Motoring Spectacle 2025 – Over A Century of Motion on Pall Mall

Videos and photos of the cars shows at spectacular London event, including the line up of veteran cars attempting the London-to-Brighton Run

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.

Continue reading “The St James’s Motoring Spectacle 2025 – Over A Century of Motion on Pall Mall” →
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PODCAST: Ghosts, Gearboxes & Great Stories – Is Car Journalism Dead or Just Rebooted?

BCG Therapy Session Podcast with Jeff Bailey & Imthishan Giado

Somewhere between haunted roads, electric cars, and the eternal fight between influencers and journalists, a very honest discussion broke out. In the latest BrownCarGuy Therapy Session Podcast, I was joined by Jeff Bailey – long-time motoring writer, serial car buyer, and author – and Imthishan Giado, my partner-in-crime from our Car Middle East and Motoring Middle East days. We didn’t plan to solve the mysteries of the universe, but somewhere between the nostalgia and the banter, we might just have done that – or something…

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Cardiff’s War on Drivers: The Truth Behind the SUV Parking Charge

Cardiff has become the first UK city to charge extra for heavier cars – praised by some as climate progress, but seen by many as yet another salvo in the war on drivers

Cardiff Council has approved a policy that introduces higher parking permit charges for larger and heavier vehicles, starting with those over 2,400kg – and soon expanding to 2,000kg for non-electric cars. The Council claims the aim isn’t to punish, but to “gently encourage behaviour change,” arguing that bigger cars take up more space, cause more road wear, and are a greater danger to pedestrians.

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BCG Podcast: Movie Cars, Classic Cars & Superstars! – Ferrari Fails, KITT Dreams & The Jay Leno Syndrome

From ugly Ferraris and wannabe James Bonds to falling classic car prices and full-on hoarding confessions – welcome to the Therapy Session petrolheads didn’t know they needed

They say never meet your heroes – but what about driving them? In this week’s BrownCarGuy Therapy Podcast, I sit down with three of the most gloriously opinionated car nuts I know – Sy Ali (Drivers Union), Adnan Mallick (Landbeasts Automobile Classica), and Imthishan Giado (Motoring Middle East co-founder and Dubai Car Culture icon) – to unpack the messy, emotional, and hilarious world of modern car culture.

We’re talking ugly Ferraris, movie car nostalgia, the freefalling classic car market, and whether we’ve all secretly become Jay Leno-style hoarders. Strap in – this one’s pure petrolhead therapy.

Continue reading “BCG Podcast: Movie Cars, Classic Cars & Superstars! – Ferrari Fails, KITT Dreams & The Jay Leno Syndrome” →
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From Kop Hill to Karachi – BCG Therapy Session Podcast!

A Beetle, a Ferrari & a Car Culture Rebellion – my latest therapy session podcast with Sy and Fiona Easterby

Some people just talk about car culture – we live it. In this week’s BrownCarGuy Therapy Session, I was joined by two proper legends of the community: Syed Ali of Drivers Union, and Fiona Easterby, world traveller, petrolhead and the proud pilot of the now-famous Baja Bug, Pedro.

Together, we took a wild ride across stories, streets and scenes – from the dusty roads of Pakistan to the adrenaline-pumping climb up Kop Hill in a Ferrari 360 Modena, and finally… to the most dangerous motoring frontier of all – the British High Street.

Continue reading “From Kop Hill to Karachi – BCG Therapy Session Podcast!” →
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Britain’s New Wave of Racism: Why It Feels Like the 70s Again

From doomscrolling into the late hours to reliving the scars of the 70s, I can’t help but fear that the immigration debate has unleashed a wave of newly emboldened racism

It’s 3 AM and I can’t sleep. I’m doom-scrolling – and I literally mean doom. The algorithm has me in its prickly, unyielding grasp. Not showing me what I love or what inspires me, but what I fear. What I worry about.

Racism. Rage. Riots. Rampage. Right-winged rants.

Continue reading “Britain’s New Wave of Racism: Why It Feels Like the 70s Again” →
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Your Car Roasted!

People are judging you by your car, you know they are. But do you fit the stereotype, or are you changing the narrative?

Before you even parked up today, someone decided who you are – just from your car. In that instant, they didn’t just judge you, they wrote your entire life story. Might as well have been spray-painted across your bonnet.

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