#BrownCarGuy – News, Views & Reviews!
Imagine being fined £160 – not for speeding, not for parking on double yellows, not even for driving in a bus lane – but for doing absolutely nothing more than being in the wrong bit of yellow paint for a few seconds. Welcome to Kingston Road, South-West London – home of Britain’s most expensive yellow box junction. Or as locals call it: the cash cow!
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…
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
Today, United States President, Donald Trump, stood before the United Nations and gave a speech that can only be described as equal parts dangerous, delusional and daft. He ranted about an “invasion” of illegal migrants in Europe, accused London of wanting to implement Sharia law, and dismissed climate change as a hoax. It was a greatest-hits collection of fear politics, fake news and frikkin lunacy!
Last time he presented to world representatives at this esteemed venue in 2018, listeners sniggered. This time, no one was laughing – apart from when he jokingly complained about the teleprompter not working and being stuck on the escalator (some brave soul in that building was clearly trying to thwart the nonsensification of this noble – if ineffectual – institute).
Continue reading “Trump at the UN | Leader of ‘Free World’ Shackles it in Fearmongering and Misinformation”