#BrownCarGuy – News, Views & Reviews!
A relentless chase. A deadly secret. No way out. That’s the promise at the heart of Silent Ruin, my brand-new international spy thriller and the first in a new series featuring Jamshed Khan. This is a character I originally created over three decades ago, now reborn into a far more grown-up, high-stakes world of espionage, danger, and consequence.
I do not want to convert you to Islam.
I do not want to conquer you. I do not want to enforce Shariah law in Britain. I do not want to make all women wear burqas, force halal meat down your throat, groom your daughters, change your language, erase your culture, turn your churches into mosques, or ban pork and alcohol.
And, for the avoidance of any doubt, terrorism, murder, violence, maiming innocent people and killing children are abhorrent, evil and utterly indefensible.
Yet I am a practising Muslim.
Continue reading “I Don’t Want to Make You Eat Halal Meat or Wear a Hijab”
At a recent event, I was chatting to somebody who works within the legacy car industry. It doesn’t matter which manufacturer, because this relates to the industry as a whole – it’s something bigger, broader and potentially catastrophic for the entire car industry. What this person told me was that, in terms of marketing and PR budgets, their focus now is very much on product rather than brand. And I understand why. These companies have cars to sell, EV targets to hit, emissions legislation to satisfy, ZEV mandates to survive, shareholders to soothe and showroom traffic to somehow summon from the ether. But I also think this strategy could be a fundamental, frightening and potentially fatal mistake.
The Ferrari Luce may prove to be one of the most important car designs of recent years, not because it is revolutionary, not because it is beautiful, and certainly not because it has been universally admired. Quite the opposite. The reaction to Ferrari’s first electric car has been so overwhelmingly negative that it may have inadvertently transformed how enthusiasts view every major design reveal that has followed it. That sounds absurd, but bear with me.
Let’s get one thing straight right from the outset. This is not the MG you think it is. Forget bargain hatchbacks. Forget sensible family SUVs. Forget everything you know about MG because the IM5 is operating on an entirely different plane. In fact, if somebody covered the badges and asked you to guess what this was, I suspect very few people would say MG. And to be fair it does look generic Chinese EV. But here’s what you need to know: this thing is utterly bonkers.
Every now and then a story emerges from the corridors of Westminster that makes you stop, put down your tea, rub your eyes and double-check that you haven’t accidentally wandered onto a parody website. This was one of those moments. According to evidence submitted to the House of Commons Transport Committee by the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, better known as PACTS, one argument for introducing more blanket 20mph speed limits is that doing so could reduce the need for additional signs, consultations, traffic orders and all the associated administrative clutter that accompanies modern transport policy. In other words, if I’ve understood this correctly, one of the reasons millions of motorists could find themselves travelling more slowly is because road signs are apparently becoming a bit expensive.
The 2026 Enfield Pageant of Motoring turned out to be an absolute treasure trove of weird, wonderful and wildly creative machinery, reminding us why grassroots car culture remains far more entertaining than yet another identikit crossover launch with mood lighting and an app subscription for heated seats. This year’s event was packed with everything from beautifully preserved classics to utterly unhinged custom creations, including a chopped and Audi-powered Vauxhall Victor FB, stunning American cruisers, rat-look survivors proudly wearing decades of scars, and hot rods that looked ready to drag race Satan himself.
There was a time when even children could identify cars instantly. In fact, I was one of those annoying little kids who could recognise a car from half a mile away, at night, purely from the headlights. A Jaguar XJS looked like a Jaguar XJS. A Saab looked like a Saab. A Citroen looked like it had arrived from the future after taking a wrong turn somewhere near the Eiffel Tower.
There was a time when hearing the word “Lotus” instantly conjured up images of lightweight sports cars dancing down B-roads with the delicacy of a hummingbird. Tiny steering wheels writhing in your hands. Barely-there kerb weights. Fibreglass bodies. A driving experience so pure and alive that you could forgive the occasional electrical tantrum, water leak, or trim piece that decided it no longer wished to participate in the journey – because the journey itself was epic (and that’s just to the shops!).
Some days in this job make you grin like a kid who has just found the secret stash of sweets hidden away for Eid. My visit to the Toyota Media Experience Centre in Crawley did exactly that. I walked in expecting a few classics tucked into a corner. What I found was a warehouse of wonders containing everything from a Lexus LFA to an Corona time capsule to a Prius that survived a cross continental rally.