#BrownCarGuy – News, Views & Reviews!
Tim Shaw and Fuzz Townshend are back with Car S.O.S. Series 14, bringing more outrageous restorations, emotional stories, and some properly bizarre behind-the-scenes moments – including a Nissan Pulsar GTI-R debate, a Rover P4 with a mental-health mission, and one unforgettable toilet incident.
AI is not going to take your job. It already has.
This is not a rant against AI. Those of you who follow me know that I use the absolute heck out of it! It’s my illustrator, animator, assistant, researcher, sub-editor… hell, AI is my bitch. It helps boost my workflow and up my pace – it’s the VTEC that lets this one-man content engine rev harder, faster, longer.
Continue reading “AI Vs Authenticity and the True Cost of “Good Enough””
Everything looks real. Until it isn’t. Cars, content, even people are now being designed, edited and improved by artificial intelligence – and the automotive world may never look the same again. If you’ve found yourself squinting at your phone lately thinking “Hang on… is that real?”, congratulations. You are officially living in the age of artificial intelligence.
Not the flying-cars, robot-butlers kind. No. This is the more unsettling version. The one where cars are being designed by algorithms, photos are being “improved” beyond recognition, videos are faked convincingly enough to fool journalists, and voices can be cloned while their owners are fast asleep. Welcome to the great reality wobble.
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.
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”
I don’t read car reviews. I don’t watch car reviews. Not because I think everyone else’s stuff is rubbish (well… maybe sometimes). But because I don’t want to be influenced, even subconsciously, by anyone else’s opinion on a car.
So here’s the thing most people don’t realise: YouTube isn’t actually free. Sure, you don’t pay to watch it – but behind every video is hours of work, not to mention money spent on gear, software, fuel, or even just coffee to keep us awake at 2am (I’m not even joking!). And unless you do something very simple, YouTube quietly buries that content.
That’s why so many creators (including me) are constantly reminding you to “hit the like button” or “don’t forget to subscribe.” It’s not just nagging – it’s survival. Here’s my full video explainer – watch this first, then read on.
Some genres race ahead. Others seem stuck in neutral. And when it comes to fictional books about cars and car culture, we’ve got a real case of literary breakdown on our hands. That’s right — despite the car being one of the most important inventions in human history, a global obsession, a symbol of freedom, rebellion, identity and adrenaline… it’s barely visible in the world of fiction.
Have you ever watched a car review and thought, “Gosh, they really love this car… is it really that great?” You’re not wrong to wonder. In 2025, the world of automotive content has become a slick, hyper-polished, monetised machine. The videos. The reels. The “reviews”. The ones where the creator is beaming, the lighting is flawless, and every car is apparently “amazing”. But beware – here’s what you may not know: many of these creators are being told what to say (or not say) and being paid to do so!
There I was, taking a break from b-rolling footage of the car-nucopia that is the Enfield Pageant of Motoring, strolling amongst stalls of tibits, car parts and tempting dinkies, while cradling a hot cup of coffee, when I nearly choked on my cheese toastie! Smack bang between sellers of Capri instrument panels and post-war grille badges, was a bloke with a book. His modest table and roll-up banner advertised a new novel, “It Can’t See You in the Dark” by Feroze Engineer. There was a car on the cover. And not just any car!
