#BrownCarGuy – News, Views & Reviews!
2024 has been a wild ride for the automotive world, and not the fun kind. Instead, we’re seeing some of the biggest names in the business struggle to keep their wheels on the road. Ford, Porsche, Audi, and Tesla – these household names are facing a tough year, with sales plummeting and new challengers emerging. So what’s causing these once-dominant brands to falter?
In this podcast I’m catching up with my mate Kirpal Singh Randhawa, founder of West London Classics, the car club that’s gone from a small group of petrolheads getting together to chat about carburettors, to one of the most significant forces in London’s car community!
Ford, the company that brought us the revolutionary Model T and literally made cars affordable for the masses, is now stepping away from the very mass-market models that built its empire. If you’ve been keeping an eye on the automotive world, this is massive news, and not exactly what you’d expect from a brand like Ford. After a fascinating interview with Jim Farley, the CEO of Ford, published recently in Car Magazine, it’s clear that big changes are happening.
Do you need a truck? Probably not. Will you drive off road, actually, the question should be, will you frequently drive like a bat-out-of-hell on rough terrain? Unlikely. Is it smart to have a car that’s nearly two metres longer, and half a metre wider than a typical small city car? Not really. During a cost-of-living crisis should you be contemplating buying a car that costs around £60,000 all-in and manages only 20.5mpg? Does your bank manager come to work sporting a mohawk, nose ring and wearing a mankini? Exactly.
Should you then be lusting after the new 2023 Ford Ranger Raptor truck? Oh, hell yeah! Totally. Absolutely. In fact, form an orderly queue of adoring fans that starts just behind me.
Continue reading “2023 Ford Ranger Raptor Review”
Here’s my take on the all-new Ferrari Purosangue and the all-new 2024 Ford Mustang.
Continue reading “Two New Horses”
At Salon Privé, specialist retailer Clive Sutton unveiled a highly specified 560HP Roush-engined Superformance MkIII finished in Ferrari Grigio Silver. In honour of Carroll Shelby’s 100th birthday, Clive Sutton specified the powerful, custom-built Roush motor for the MkIII. Priced at £185k, the ready-to-roll model will top the MkIII range with customers able to specify other MkIII variants for import starting from £135k. Here Luke Sutton talks us around the incredible Cobra. #BCGEvents
Continue reading “Shelby Roush Cobra Superformance MkIII”
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Continue reading “My latest motoring spread in Asian Leader – 16 March 2022”There’s a number of firsts here. This is the first mass-market car-maker’s first fully electric vehicle. It’s also the first dedicated electric car from Ford rather than the ‘electric version’ of a regular combustion-engined car. Plus the first electric car to bear the name ‘Mustang’ (though one suspects not the last) and the first time an electric car has adopted the alias and, to some extent, assumed the persona of a muscle car. Which, if you think about it, should essentially be its absolute antithesis, arch-nemesis even!
Continue reading “Ford Mustang Mach-E Review [Electric Car]”The Ford Puma ST can be thought of as a more family-friendly version of the pocket-rocket Ford Fiesta ST – just about the best small hot hatch you can currently buy. That bodes well doesn’t it? Especially as it gets pretty much the same drivetrain with 1.5-litre 3-cylinder turbo Ecoboost engine putting out 200bhp and 320NM of torque
Continue reading “Ford Puma ST Review”I know what you’re thinking: ‘Why are you reviewing a Focus that’s been around since 2018, and why would I be interested in a 1.0-litre three-cylinder version?’ Well lend me your attention for the duration of this short prose and I promise your interest will be piqued. (At least enough to go watch my video review!)
Continue reading “Ford Focus Mild Hybrid Review”