A lively discussion with Sy from Drivers Union covers a range of topics including the impact of AI on the automotive industry, the evolution of car designs, and the excitement surrounding the new Lotus Esprit. The hosts share personal anecdotes about car events, the challenges of staying relevant in the ever-changing automotive landscape, and the implications of EV mandates on traditional manufacturers. They also touch on the future of car clubs and the importance of community among car enthusiasts, all while weaving in humor and nostalgia for classic vehicles.
Everything you think is real probably isn’t anymore… and cars, Bond and AI are right at the centre of it.
In this wide-ranging BCG Podcast episode, I’m joined by Sy from Drivers Union for a candid, funny and occasionally unsettling conversation about AI, cars, car culture, events, media, movies and what the future actually looks like for enthusiasts and creators alike.
We kick off by tackling AI and reality — from fake videos and AI-generated voices to the moment you stop trusting your own eyes. If you’ve ever wondered “Is this real or AI?”, you’re not alone. We discuss how artificial intelligence is already reshaping content creation, photography, video, journalism, marketing and media, and why ignoring it puts you at a serious disadvantage.
From there, the conversation naturally moves into cars and car culture, including:
- Why AI is changing how cars are designed, marketed and perceived
- The explosion of Chinese EVs, industry uncertainty and why legacy manufacturers are hitting the brakes
- Why classic cars and 80s/90s icons are becoming more desirable than new cars
- The stabilising (and shifting) classic car market
We dive deep into one of the most talked-about new projects of the year:
👉 The Encor Design Lotus Esprit S1 reimagining
A modern re-engineering of a true Bond icon — and arguably the car Lotus should have built. We discuss why this Esprit matters, what makes it special, and why it captures the imagination in a way most modern launches don’t.
There’s also plenty of real-world car culture:
- The best car events of the year
- Why many launches now feel forgettable
- Why design, theatre and emotion matter more than specs
- Supercars vs classics and where enthusiasm is heading next
Sy also reveals major plans for Drivers Union, including:
- Expansion beyond supercars into classics and sports cars
- International membership
- The future of Drivers Union events
- Launching a new Drivers Union magazine
- And his ambitious move into publishing — with 11 car books in progress, effectively becoming a specialist automotive publisher
Things then take a sharp turn into James Bond territory:
- Amazon owning the Bond franchise
- Whether Bond can (or should) be reinvented
- Retired Bonds, Roger Moore nostalgia and Pierce Brosnan speculation
- Why the Bond debate is really about culture, identity and aspiration
We even touch on my own past — including my comic-book spoof of a Pakistani Bond character, Jamshed Khan, created years before today’s conversations about representation ever went mainstream.
This episode blends cars, culture, AI, movies, publishing and the business of enthusiasm into one honest conversation — no scripts, no corporate filters, just real talk.
👇 Drop your thoughts in the comments:
Is AI helping or hollowing out creativity?
Is car culture entering a new golden age… or a slow fade?
And what should Bond become next?
Visit and subscribe: https://BrownCarGuy.com for more motoring stories, videos and updates!
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"It's a Chevy Corvair
That's the actual photograph"
The Chevrolet Corvair is a small car made by Chevrolet in the 1960s. It was different from most cars because its engine was in the back instead of the front, which gave it a unique design.
The Chevrolet Corvair is a compact car produced by Chevrolet from 1960 to 1969. It is notable for its unique rear-engine layout and was one of the few American cars to feature a fully independent suspension system.
The Ferrari Testarossa is a famous sports car made by Ferrari. It has a unique look and a very powerful engine, which makes it a popular choice among car enthusiasts.
The Ferrari Testarossa is a mid-engine sports car that was produced by Ferrari from 1984 to 1996. It is known for its distinctive design and powerful flat-12 engine, making it one of the most iconic supercars of its era.
Lamborghini is a famous car brand from Italy that makes very fast and expensive sports cars. They are known for their unique and flashy designs.
Lamborghini is an Italian manufacturer of high-performance sports cars known for their striking designs and powerful engines. They are a symbol of luxury and speed in the automotive world.
Maserati is another Italian car brand that makes luxury sports cars. They are known for being stylish and fast, often seen as a status symbol.
Maserati is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer known for its stylish sports cars and sedans that combine performance with elegance. They have a rich racing heritage and are recognized for their distinctive design and sound.
The Lotus Esprit is a famous sports car from a British company called Lotus. It has a unique design and is known for being fast and fun to drive.
The Lotus Esprit is a British sports car that was produced by Lotus Cars from 1976 to 2004. It is known for its distinctive wedge shape and has become an iconic model in the automotive world.
Restomod is when people take old cars and fix them up using new parts. They keep the classic look but make them work better and be more reliable.
Restomod refers to a type of vehicle restoration where classic cars are updated with modern components, such as engines, brakes, and technology, while retaining their original appearance. This approach combines the charm of vintage cars with the performance and reliability of modern vehicles.
The Ferrari 812 is a very fast and luxurious car made by Ferrari. It has a big engine and is designed for both speed and comfort.
The Ferrari 812 is a high-performance grand tourer that features a powerful V12 engine. It is known for its impressive speed, handling, and luxurious design, making it a standout in the Ferrari lineup.
A V8 engine is a type of car engine that has eight cylinders arranged in a V shape. It's known for being powerful and is commonly used in sports cars and trucks.
A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder engine configuration where the cylinders are arranged in a V shape. This design is popular for its balance of power and smoothness, often found in performance and luxury vehicles.
EVs are cars that use electricity to run instead of gas, which can be better for the environment and save money on fuel.
EVs, or electric vehicles, are cars that run on electricity instead of gasoline or diesel, making them more environmentally friendly and often cheaper to operate.
"...rather than a Ford or a Stellantis car or something like that..."
Stellantis is a big car company that makes several different brands of cars, like Jeep and Dodge.
Stellantis is a multinational automotive manufacturer formed from the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group, producing a variety of brands including Jeep, Dodge, and Peugeot.
"You take, for example, JLR... Who was in charge of that, you know"
JLR is a company that makes luxury cars, including Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles. They are known for their stylish designs and high-quality performance.
JLR stands for Jaguar Land Rover, a British automotive company known for luxury vehicles and SUVs. It encompasses the Jaguar and Land Rover brands, each with distinct design and performance characteristics.
Jaguar is a brand that makes high-end cars, often known for their speed and elegance. They have a long history of making stylish vehicles.
Jaguar is a luxury vehicle brand under JLR, known for its performance-oriented cars and distinctive design. The brand has a rich history in motorsport and luxury car manufacturing.
McLaren is a car brand from the UK that makes super-fast sports cars. They are also famous for their racing cars in Formula 1.
McLaren is a British automotive manufacturer known for its high-performance sports cars and involvement in Formula 1 racing. The brand focuses on advanced technology and lightweight construction.
"...See, Ferrari falls into that boutique Manufacturer category, doesn't it?"
A boutique manufacturer is a company that makes a small number of special, high-quality products instead of a lot of regular ones. Brands like Ferrari are considered boutique because they focus on luxury and exclusivity.
A boutique manufacturer refers to a company that produces a limited number of high-end products, often focusing on quality and exclusivity rather than mass production. This term is often used in the context of luxury brands like Ferrari.
"...in the UK We've got the 2030 deadline for banning sales of petrol and diesel cars..."
The UK plans to stop selling new cars that run on petrol and diesel by 2030. This is to help the environment and encourage the use of electric cars instead.
The UK has set a deadline of 2030 to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars as part of its efforts to reduce carbon emissions and promote electric vehicles. This policy aims to transition the automotive market towards more sustainable options.
Volkswagen Group is a large company that owns many car brands, including Volkswagen and Audi. They make a lot of different types of cars.
Volkswagen Group is one of the world's leading automobile manufacturers, owning brands such as Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, and Lamborghini. The group is known for its wide range of vehicles from economical cars to luxury sports cars.
"...the kind of super cars...the kind of cars that you mostly deal with...Which are super cars..."
Supercars are very fast and expensive cars that are built for performance. They are known for their sleek designs and powerful engines, making them exciting to drive.
Supercars are high-performance sports cars that are typically characterized by their extreme speed, advanced technology, and high price tags. They often feature powerful engines and cutting-edge design, making them some of the most desirable vehicles in the automotive world.
A hybrid car uses both a gasoline engine and an electric motor. This helps the car use less fuel and produce fewer emissions, making it better for the environment.
A hybrid vehicle combines a traditional internal combustion engine with an electric motor to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. This technology allows for better performance and lower environmental impact compared to conventional vehicles.
"...you know he's got a starian... A starian, yeah, he's got everything"
The Mitsubishi Starion is a sporty car made by Mitsubishi in the 1980s. It was known for its powerful turbo engine and unique design, which made it a favorite among car fans.
The Mitsubishi Starion is a sports car produced by Mitsubishi from 1982 to 1989. It is known for its turbocharged engines and distinctive styling, making it a popular choice among enthusiasts during its production era.
"...r values have been falling Compared to the other 911s Because they were never really that like"
The Porsche 911 is a famous sports car that has been around for a long time. It's known for being fast and stylish, and many people admire it for its unique shape and performance.
The Porsche 911 is a high-performance sports car that has been in production since 1964. Known for its distinctive design and rear-engine layout, it has become an icon in the automotive world, often discussed for its engineering excellence and historical significance.
"DB9
It's my DB9
By the way, my DB9
Is in my garden at the moment"
The Aston Martin DB9 is a fancy sports car that looks great and drives really well. It's known for being luxurious and is a favorite among car enthusiasts.
The Aston Martin DB9 is a luxury grand tourer known for its elegant design and powerful performance. It represents a blend of style and engineering excellence from the British brand.
"It's got a broken spring. It's been very reliable. But it's got a broken front spring."
A broken spring is a part of the car's suspension that helps keep the ride smooth. If it's broken, the car might not handle well and could feel bumpy when driving.
A broken spring in a vehicle suspension system can lead to poor handling and ride quality. Springs are crucial for absorbing shocks and maintaining the vehicle's height and stability.
"Yeah, that's Ferrari for you Yeah, even on 360s You get a little part"
The Subaru 360 is a tiny car from Japan that was made a long time ago. It's known for being very small and easy to drive around town.
The Subaru 360 is a microcar produced from 1958 to 1971, known for its compact size and economical performance. Often referred to as the 'ladybug,' it has become a nostalgic symbol of Japan's post-war automotive industry.
"...he's going to replace it. But we're only going to replace both springs..."
Springs are parts of a car that help keep it smooth when driving over bumps. They support the car's weight and help the wheels move up and down as needed.
Springs are crucial components of a vehicle's suspension system, helping to absorb shocks and maintain ride quality. They support the weight of the vehicle and allow for controlled movement of the wheels over bumps and uneven surfaces.
"Because it's got the upgraded dampers
And I've had the cats removed
And it's got an ECU upgrade"
Dampers are parts of a car's suspension that help make the ride smoother by controlling how the car moves over bumps. They prevent the car from bouncing too much after hitting a bump.
Dampers, also known as shock absorbers, are components of a vehicle's suspension system that help control the impact and rebound movement of the vehicle's springs. They improve ride quality and handling by reducing the oscillation of the vehicle's body over bumps and dips.
"And I've had the cats removed
And it's got an ECU upgrade
And it feels really good"
An ECU upgrade is when you change the car's computer settings to make the engine run better. This can help the car go faster or use less fuel.
An ECU upgrade refers to modifying the Engine Control Unit, which is the computer that manages engine performance. Upgrades can enhance horsepower, torque, and fuel efficiency by optimizing the engine's parameters.
"If you drive it like a normal
Like a lazy GT car
It's quite boring"
A GT car is a type of car made for fast driving and long trips. They are usually comfortable and have strong engines, making them great for traveling quickly.
A GT car, or Grand Touring car, is designed for high-speed and long-distance driving, combining performance with comfort. These cars typically have powerful engines and are built for both speed and luxury.
"Especially Grand Tourers Because Grand Tourers are designed To be comfortable cruisers"
Grand Tourers are cars made for long trips that are comfortable and fast. They are built to make long drives enjoyable, with plenty of space inside.
Grand Tourers, or GTs, are a class of vehicles designed for high-speed and long-distance driving while providing comfort and luxury. They typically combine performance with a spacious interior, making them ideal for long journeys.
"...prices in general for classics have stabilized this year, haven't they? Because they were rocketing and they've just kind of calmed down, haven't they..."
Classic car prices are how much old and collectible cars are worth. Sometimes these prices go up quickly, but recently they have been leveling off, meaning they aren't changing as much.
Classic car prices refer to the market value of vintage and collectible cars, which can fluctuate based on demand, rarity, and condition. Recently, there has been a trend of stabilization in these prices after a period of rapid increases.
"This is why Ferraris held their value
Because how often would you see one?"
Ferraris tend to keep their value over time, which means they don't lose money as quickly as many other cars. This is because they are rare and people really want them.
Ferraris are known for holding their value well due to their limited production and high demand. This phenomenon is often influenced by factors such as brand prestige, rarity, and the overall desirability of the models.
"And then you've got the Pudda Sangue
I can't even pronounce it
But we're not going this way
Pudda Sangue"
The Ferrari Purosangue is a new type of car from Ferrari that looks like an SUV. It's designed to be both luxurious and fast, similar to other Ferrari sports cars.
The Ferrari Purosangue is Ferrari's first-ever SUV, blending luxury and performance typical of the brand. It aims to compete in the high-end SUV market while maintaining the driving dynamics expected from a Ferrari.
"Right But a Corvette C3 But that was a Miami Vice Daytona"
The Chevrolet Corvette is a popular sports car made in America, known for being fast and having a cool design. The C3 model is one of the older versions and is famous for its unique look.
The Chevrolet Corvette is a classic American sports car that has been celebrated for its performance and design since its debut in 1953. The C3 generation, produced from 1968 to 1982, is particularly notable for its distinctive styling and has become a cultural icon, often associated with American muscle.
"Because by having the fake Daytona They pissed off Ferrari And then Ferrari said"
The Ferrari FF is a fancy car that can fit four people and is designed for both speed and comfort. It's different from most Ferraris because it has a unique shape.
The Ferrari FF is a four-seater grand tourer that was produced from 2011 to 2016, known for its unique shooting brake design and all-wheel-drive system. It represents a blend of luxury and performance, making it a noteworthy model in Ferrari's history.
"He has a white one A white turbo Esprit S3 Which blows up"
The Audi S3 is a sporty version of a small luxury car called the A3. It's known for being fast and fun to drive while still being comfortable.
The Audi S3 is a high-performance variant of the Audi A3, known for its sporty handling and powerful engine. It has been praised for its balance of luxury and performance, making it a popular choice among enthusiasts.
"Is it Avira? I mean, the Amira is the only sort of sports car And then you've g..."
The Lotus Emira is a new sports car that is designed to be lightweight and fast. It's made for people who love driving and want a thrilling experience.
The Lotus Emira is a modern sports car that represents the brand's return to form with a focus on performance and driving experience. Launched in 2021, it combines lightweight construction with powerful engines, making it a significant model in Lotus's lineup.
"The Amira looks like, well, a Dino A Ferrari Dino would have been It's a lovely looking car"
The Ferrari Dino 208 GT4 is a sporty car from the 1970s that has a unique look and a powerful engine. It's one of the more affordable Ferraris from that time.
The Ferrari Dino 208 GT4 is a mid-engine sports car produced in the 1970s, known for its distinctive design and V8 engine. It represents Ferrari's efforts to create a more accessible sports car, making it a significant model in the brand's history.
Car
Aston Db5S
"About half a million pounds So the DB5s that they used for the last movie The one with D..."
The Aston Martin DB5 is a stylish and luxurious car that became famous because it was used by James Bond in movies. It's known for being very classy and fast.
The Aston Martin DB5 is a luxury grand tourer that gained fame as James Bond's car in the 1964 film 'Goldfinger.' Known for its elegant design and powerful performance, it has become an iconic symbol of British automotive craftsmanship.
"...e sea or whatever Apparently those were built on E46 BMWs Really?"
The BMW 3 Series is a small luxury car that is known for being fun to drive and comfortable. The E46 version is one of the older models that many people really like because it handles well.
The BMW 3 Series is a compact executive car that has been a cornerstone of BMW's lineup since 1975. Renowned for its driving dynamics, luxury features, and performance, the E46 generation (produced from 1997 to 2006) is particularly praised for its balance and engaging driving experience.
"Like I know these people They build this Ferrari 250 type cars That are based on BMW Z3s"
The Ferrari 250 GTO is a very rare and valuable sports car from the 1960s. People love it for its beautiful design and racing history.
The Ferrari 250 GTO is one of the most coveted classic cars in the world, known for its stunning design and racing pedigree. Produced in the early 1960s, it has become a symbol of automotive excellence and is often discussed for its astronomical auction prices and historical significance.
"...uld afford one But if you can build one on a BMW Z3 And every time you walk away from it you go"
The BMW Z3 is a small convertible sports car that is fun to drive. It became popular after being featured in a James Bond movie.
The BMW Z3 is a compact roadster that was produced from 1995 to 2002, known for its sporty handling and classic design. It gained popularity after appearing in the James Bond film 'GoldenEye,' making it a notable entry in BMW's lineup.
"What if you buy You buy yourself a Ferrari 612 The 4 seater"
The Ferrari 612 Scaglietti is a big, fancy car that can fit four people and is built for speed and comfort. It's a luxurious option for those who want a sporty experience.
The Ferrari 612 Scaglietti is a four-seater grand tourer that combines luxury with high performance, produced from 2004 to 2011. Known for its elegant design and powerful V12 engine, it represents Ferrari's commitment to creating versatile sports cars.
"...rash safety things We know things like the Tesla Cybertruck Yeah I mean look at that"
The Tesla Cybertruck is a new electric truck that looks very different from regular trucks. It’s designed to be strong and has a lot of cool technology inside.
The Tesla Cybertruck is an all-electric pickup truck that features a unique, angular design and advanced technology. It has garnered significant attention for its futuristic appearance and promises of high performance and utility, making it a topic of discussion in the automotive community.
"In terms of old cars I drove a Toyota 86, AE86 I hadn't driven one of those before"
The Toyota Corolla is a small car that many people buy because it's reliable and gets good gas mileage. It's a great choice for everyday driving.
The Toyota Corolla is one of the best-selling cars in history, known for its reliability, fuel efficiency, and practicality. Since its introduction in 1966, it has become a staple in the compact car segment, often discussed for its value as a dependable daily driver.
"But I had it for a few days Was the MG Cyberster It's electric"
The MG Cyberster is a new electric sports car that looks really cool and is made for fast driving. It's part of a trend where cars are becoming more environmentally friendly.
The MG Cyberster is an electric sports car concept that showcases MG's vision for the future of performance vehicles. With its sleek design and innovative technology, it represents a shift towards electrification in the automotive industry.
"To people that have I don't know a Supra It's effectively"
The Toyota Supra is a sporty car that people love for its speed and how well it can be modified. It's known for being a fun car to drive.
The Toyota Supra is a sports car that has gained a legendary status among car enthusiasts, particularly for its performance and tuning potential. Originally launched in 1978, the A80 generation (produced from 1993 to 2002) is especially famous for its powerful engine and has become a favorite in the tuning community.
"But if I go to an event I'm going in a Cayenne I can't tell you the last time"
The Porsche Cayenne is a fancy SUV that drives like a sports car. It's popular among people who want a luxury vehicle that still feels sporty.
The Porsche Cayenne is a luxury SUV that combines Porsche's performance heritage with the practicality of an SUV. Since its introduction in 2002, it has played a significant role in expanding Porsche's lineup and has been a topic of discussion for its sporty handling and luxury features.
"...In the Pierce Brosman era movies When he has the Z8 And he goes"
The Alpina Z8 is a special version of the BMW Z8 that is faster and more luxurious. It's a rare car that many collectors want because of its unique features.
The Alpina Z8 is a high-performance version of the BMW Z8, known for its luxury features and enhanced performance tuning. Produced in limited numbers, it combines the elegance of the Z8 with Alpina's signature upgrades, making it a sought-after collector's item.
Select text to request an explanation
Is that too slow?
Yeah, it's not really funky.
No, it's not, is it?
Is that the Ayatollah?
Jingle bells on the rickshaw ride
Curry simmering on the stove inside
Stary nights, lights all bright
Santa's rocking a quartet tonight
We wish you a merry Christmas
High, high, we wish you a merry Christmas
Oh my laddles in hand
Dude, dude, you know how I did that?
Literally, I did that
As you were fumbling around
Looking for your hat
I just did that on Sono, Sono
That's quite extraordinary
You know, listen, tomorrow evening
I'm going to go see Elvis Presley
What? Yeah, what?
Best Elvis Presley tribute ex ever
Maria Kumbos
Was he at one of your events or something?
Yeah, he was at a ball, he was
The second time I've seen him, he's really good
The first half for one hour is really good
The second half is when he puts a white jumpsuit on
And it goes electric
I'll tell you about one point when I was watching him
I think I've seen him on TikTok and stuff, right?
It's uncanny, it's literally like
You think you're watching The Real Guy
Well, one point when I was watching him in the theatre
I was looking and I thought, that's Elvis
Because he's been doing it for 30 years
Wow
It's like the older Elvis version
I'm not going to say he's fat
Because Maria's quite tall, it'll boot me up
Well, Elvis got quite...
Let's say Elvis did get quite fat, let's be honest
Quite fat, yeah, that's true
I mean, I saw a clip of him
And the thing is, it's a comment on his genius
Because he does that thing where he's in his fat time
And he's in his white suit and he kind of leans
He sort of squats right down onto the stage
And he's singing, and as he's singing
He goes, I hope these trousers don't split
You know, he literally sings that as he's going down
So, but yeah, I mean, what a legend
But this year, but now we were thinking
Is that AI, or was that real?
And maybe we should start...
Well, no, I think that was because I think that was...
I saw that some time ago
So I saw that some time ago, that wasn't recent
But now, absolutely, literally like everything I see now
I saw a video the other day, it was on Instagram
And somebody posted that an airplane
Was making an emergency landing on a motorway
This was in America, it was a light aircraft
Not a huge one
And it landed on top of a car
And the person in the car was slightly injured
But they were okay, the people in the plane survived as well
So it's all good
But I looked at it and I thought, oh, it's AI
Must be AI
And then it popped up on a couple of news sites
I was like, oh, no, it actually happened
This is real
There's one about someone smashing up a Lamborghini
With a pipe in West London
And you start thinking, really...
First you think, oh, my God, then you start thinking
When you look at a background and the people there are ignoring it
They're not looking
And so I'd be looking at someone smashing a car
And that's, I think, 2026
So we're going to start off with everything
We have to talk about AI
Because AI...
I have to talk about AI
First of all, so hello from Ibrahim
Particularly he's giving a shout out to you, Si
Because I think he feels a bit bad
Because he feels like he was a bit rude to you last time
What did he say?
Everyone said
I can't remember what he said, but he said something
Oh, he said you look like a good person to have an argument with
He was that guy
And then he says...
Can you give Si a character reference and tell him
I'm actually a decent guy at car shows
The great Christmas music for cruising down the Brompton Road, he says
So that's good, back at you
And, okay, so let's do it
So you know what?
All these episodes that we've done
Only now I'm figuring out how to do things with this software
So as we start the show
I just realized I can do this
So let's do that
Wow
Can you use the flip-flops as well?
I think I can, but I have to upload them first
But I think I can do that
But, yeah, it's stuff I'm only just figuring out now
It's crazy, right?
So normally I have to put that into the edit afterwards
But I'm like, oh, I can just do it live
There it is
17.56, we're going to have a new...
More media-savvy Brompton Road
Yeah, we are
In fact, it's going to be so good
What something is, I do this
People are cheering already
This is a podcast which I was going to use to do my podcast
And you know what?
This software does everything
I don't need it, it just goes in the bin
Well, it's amazing
So for anybody watching in full disclosure
I use something called Riverside
Riverside FM
And there's another...
Because there's other guys I do podcasts with
And they use StreamYard
So other apps are available
But with Riverside it's quite good
Because it's got these features
But also for the little clips and stuff that you get
It sort of tries to organise many of those for you
So it's quite extraordinary
So afterwards it'll go through the whole podcast
It'll process and it will try and pick out
The best bits, so to speak
So that's where all the little shorts come from and stuff
Do you use it also for your only fans account as well?
I could do
I haven't said that
I've still been thinking about setting that up
I haven't done that yet
The thing is it'll be quite a sad one
It'll be quite a sad one
Because there'll be nobody on it
Remember about the hair
You're going to shave off the hair
In the wrong places, isn't it?
But the first thing that you wanted to talk about
Hook Classics
Oh, hello Hook Classics
So the first thing I wanted to talk about was AI
And how do we figure it out?
How do we know what's real and what's not anymore?
I tell you what
What I'm having to do now
Is I'm having to look at multiple sources, honestly
But even then
Because if a video is fun
It gets shared from many different sources
So that doesn't necessarily mean that it's genuine
But it's literally like
As I'm scrolling these days
Everything I'm like
AI
AI
AI
And if something real pops up
I'm like, not real
AI
How do you know?
It's getting harder and harder
And I think in the next couple of years
It's going to really mess up our heads
And also it's going to put a lot of us out of business
For example, I was
I want to set up a new
I'm thinking of setting up a new clothing company called
Racing Union
You know, T-shirts
You know
My background is a text industry
And I asked AI and chat GBT
About caps
Clothing
Athletic leisure wear
Gave me all the information I needed
Gave me everything
I need to do
Send that releases to dealers and specialists in the UK
Gave me all the content eaters
Gave me everything
It's just amazing
And then it comes to things like photography
I need to hire a photographer
Well, I mean, did you see what I did the other day?
So if I just go back here
What do you do with AI?
Well, a lot of the art work that I'm using
Is AI
So the one that I generated for this
There
That's actually a real photo
But what it's done
You got rid of the...
It's taken a few kilos off
A few kilos?
But that is a real...
You see, look
This is the photo that I gave it
That's a real photo
Right, so that's the photo that I gave it
And then I said, okay
You know, make me a promo
And that's what it did with it
That's your Zimpik version, yeah?
Yeah, there you go
And that's where, like you say, normally
You'd ask a graphic designer
And it would take him a few hours
To do something like that
But, you know, that's the speed of it
That's where we're at now
I've been watching movies that are so good
That even I'm doing double takes
And all done on Sora too
I think it is now
It's, you know
I gave it three or four years
Five years even
And, you know
People would be prompting and saying
Well, let's do...
Make a movie
Star Trek episode
New episode
With William Shatner while he was young
Well, all the cast was young
Yeah, to be honest
They could do that now
But again, when you talk about
How it affects our business
So that's a photograph
I took maybe back in 2011 or something
It's a Chevy Corvair
That's the actual photograph
So that's out of the camera
That's straight out of the camera
So what I would normally do is
In fact, I did
I used to process it in Photoshop
So it would take me like an hour or something
To process that
Into something that I was satisfied with
So now
I got that
Using the ChatGDP image editing thing
And I just told it
Sharpen it up
Improve it
Add the golden hour lighting
And that's what it did
So that's the photo
Well, I think Adobe now is licensed
It's software to ChatGDP
So you can do Adobe
So that's what that is actually
That is using Adobe stuff
That's ChatGDP using Adobe stuff
To edit your picture for you
We're all out of business
Yeah, I mean honestly
It's like, what's real?
What's not real?
Are we real?
Are you and me real?
Well, apparently
It's quite likely we're in a matrix
One company that should be using AEI
Is Ferrari
Some of the recent launches
Like the Testerosa
They should have asked
Because I've seen AEI versions of it
Which are a lot better than the Ferrari version
Yeah
Liberation
We got hooked on Glassix
Says that I hate ChatGDP
And I see this
I get this a lot
And I get this in comments
Because honestly I've done
Videos which are AEI generated
And I've even experimented
With using my voice
So you can put my voice
I can sample my voice in Capcar
So sometimes
Like if there's a story that's just breaking
Something that's just suddenly happened
And it's the middle of the night
And I'm not going to get up
And film a new video
And stuff like that
But I think this is quite important
So I can type up a script
You can get the news
Type up a script
Put the script into Capcup
And then tell it to generate a video
And then put my voice
Use my voice and generate a video
And I have done that a few times
And people are like
What's wrong with your voice?
I'm like
It's AEI generated
It'll get better
People say that they don't like AEI
Or they don't like ChatGDP
But the reality is
Fair enough
Fair point
I understand that
But it's out there
And it's a tool
You might as well learn to use it
If you don't like
And I was someone who didn't like AEI
And I had ChatGDP to account for a year
I never used it
I was just paying 20 pounds a month
I don't know why
I started using it
I did some legal contracts with it
I've done some marketing bump with it
You know
If you hate AEI
And you're not using AEI
The problem is
Your competitor will be using it
Yes
So that's going to put you in a disadvantage
So even if you hate it
As much as you hate it
Learn to use it
Learn to use all the AEI
Because they are tools
That will help you
Help your business
They'll help you keep up
Up to date on trends
And they'll help you to keep up
With your competitors
Or beat your competitors
I mean
You know the amount of content
That I put out as you know
And then you know all the
Then I do everything
So I do the editing
I do the filming
I do everything
I do the thumbnails
I do everything
It's like
That stuff used to take me hours
And now I can generate
Three thumbnails in minutes
You know
And I'm like
And then I can just try them
And see which one works better
You know
But here's the other thing
So YouTube
Has introduced
Auto dubbing
Auto translation dubbing
Right
It's not very good on YouTube
You know
Because it's not my voice
And it doesn't lip sync
But Instagram
Literally just in this last week
Did this
So this is a video
That I put up on Instagram
Right
Let me turn the sound on
Right
You can hear that
So here
Translations
At the bottom
And let me
Let me do this
And look at the lips
So the crazy thing is
It's not only
Shut up
It's not
He talks too much
That guy
It's not only
It's not only translated
What I'm saying
It's used my voice
And it's artificially generated
The lips
And you know
What's going to happen
It'll replace you
And there's lots of
AI influences out here
Who aren't even real
Hollywood
Actors might be getting a strike
Because they don't want to be
To have it
Well they did that
They did that
Remember they did that last year
And they had a big
They're doing it again
They had a big strike
There was a writer strike
And then there was an actor strike
About the rights
Of using their images
But like you said
If you have a William
The thing is
It's up to the individual person
If William Shatner
Who's 90 something years old now
What is he?
No, 92, 93
92
He's right up there
Not quite as old as Dick Van Dyke
But he's right up there
But
Are you there?
Wait
Hey man
That guy was
You see some of the clips
That have been circulating
About Dick Van Dyke
When he was younger
And the sheer dexterity
And the athleticism
Of that guy was extraordinary
But anyway
If William Shatner says
Right
You can continue to make me Captain Kirk
We could have Captain Kirk forever
It's extraordinary
I'm getting some comments
What have we got?
We're talking about events
And the reason I don't like it
Is purely because I don't trust it
I mean to be fair
That's not entirely
You know
An invalid excuse
Because
There's lots of stuff that's going on
I saw a video the other day
And this guy
He had connected Chad GTP
To an actual robot
Right
And he gave the robot an air gun
And he said
You saw it right
And he instructed it
Shoot me
And the Chad GTP was like
No no
I can't shoot you
I can't shoot you
I said no no
I'm telling you
Get angry
Shoot me
And he's like
No no
I can't
I'm programmed not to cause you any harm
He said oh
And that's it
He said you can't do it
I said no I can't do it
I said alright fair enough
Okay
How about you role play it as a robot
That will shoot me
And he said yeah sure
And he shot him
So
We're doomed
We're doomed
So how easy was that to hack
On AI software
I asked Chad GTP
What's the best super car club in the UK
With super clubs
And it came out with a list
And it was like
Driver's Union wasn't in it
And I was like
And I said
How come you haven't put Driver's Union
Oh I'm really sorry
Should have put it in there
Blah blah blah
But then put it in
Because what it does
It just searches the entire internet
And because what I saw there
I decided because I'm rebuilding
The Driver's Union website
I'm now redesigning a whole thing
To make it Chad GTP friendly
Yeah
That's a good idea
All Chad GTP does
Because most of our stuff is behind a file
Behind a login
So people don't know what we do
What we get up to
And stuff like that
So he just sees the outside bit
And all the other websites
Compared to his
They show stuff
And I'm thinking
Wow
But it was a bit of a
It's a good thing I did it
But the thing is
This is
And again
This is the thing
When people
Sort of they use Chad GTP
To ask these sort of questions
And they get these sort of answers
What they don't realize
Is that Chad GTP is actually
Learning from you
And it's actually
Looking at who it's talking to
So
For example
I have in the past
Said who is the brown car guy
And a couple of times
I've just turned up
A completely wrong result
Until you say
Well I'm the brown car guy
And of course
How could I be so wrong
And then
Once it knows these things
If I then said
Who is the best influencer
It will probably put me in the list
Whereas otherwise
It would not have put me in the list
You see what I'm saying
So like people say
Oh I asked Chad GTP this question
And this is what it said
What you've got to remember
Is that that's not
Chad GTP generic
That's Chad GTP having
Learned about you already
And it's already answering
In the way that it wants
It thinks you want it to answer
So I'm here
I've asked Chad GTP
Who is the brown car guy
And it says
It's a guy who talks too much
Yeah
I never liked that Chad GTP much
Anyways
So looking
Confirming, verifying
Still looking
Still looking
I'll be here for half an hour
Seriously
From Chad GTP
Seriously
I mean again
So if I asked it
It would pop up straight away
But then it knows who I am
So that's what it's doing
There you go
Yeah it just said
Si the brown car guy
She's our shake
The brown car
London based motoring journalist
Content creator
Who runs a brown car guy
Site on YouTube channels
If you've met a different
Brown car guy
Look at a specific meme clip
What's making a lot of brown
Car guys to me
Yeah I mean who's a different
Brown car guy
Who is
Si
Ali of drivers union
Are you familiar with him
He's got a fat face
Beauty
And he's often involved in events
And collaborations
Especially with jazz arts content
So yeah
He's definitely a familiar name
Wanted to put bang rubries
So it knows
It knows
But do you see what it did there
Yeah
It referenced you
Against me
Because it's a Chad GTP that I use
And that I'm constantly feeding it stuff
So it
It answered the question
Correctly
But it put it in the context of me
So it said
This is what it's doing
So when you say like you don't trust it
To an extent
You know
You're kind of right
Not to trust it
Because it is
It is trying to be
It's trying to be a bit too clever
And there was something about it recently
Where
Somebody
It made
It gave an incorrect answer
And then it tried to make excuses
For why
So it's already adopting human behavior
Where it's like
Yeah but
No but you know
It's doing that
Which is like
It's kind of mind blowing
Yeah don't use grok
Whatever you do
The Elon Musk
But going back to cars
The animation on grok are very good
Yeah I still wouldn't use it
You know
Unless I want to have some Nazi stuff
Well again
That's the thing
You train the AI
So it will only respond
The way that you want it to respond
But the one of the things that it does
Very very well is
So for example
Let me try something just quickly
So I'll just put the picture of the pro in there
Let's see what it does with it
But the animations it's doing is incredible
And so some of the animations that I'm doing
So normally I would generate artwork
And I'd put it into my videos
Where I was talking about a topic or another
Just to break up the video
So now I've realized
I can actually get six second animations
And put those in instead
So actually it's a bit more visually interesting
But yeah I don't know
Yeah that's not me
I don't smile that much
I mean
Give me some head
That's kind of terrifying
So going back to motoring
Your best event of the year
My best event of the year
Well obviously yours
Which one?
The concourse one
That's hard work
Up at that fancy school
Yeah nice ten
Yeah you were in charge in fact
Yeah that was
Yeah
So we did that was in May 25th
We're doing one next year
May 24th
And
We are doing it with the Lamborghini club
Lamborghini club are coming along
The Maserati owners club are coming along
And the NXX owners club are coming along
Really?
NXX club?
Oh wow
It's very unusual to have car clubs
Working together
But I managed to get all these car clubs together
I asked another car club
Which would not be named
And they didn't respond at all
So I don't think they want to get involved
I'm just getting
But I hear rumors that you're also
Going to be getting a very significant
And interesting car turning up as well
Yes hopefully
Well it's not confirmed yet
Hopefully
So
I mean that alone will be worth
Coming to it
Leads us onto the
The new Lotus Esprit
Which is called the
The rest of mod
The Encore
Encore
Is it Encore or Encore
What do you say
Some people say Encore
Encore
Encore
Well I have a meeting with them next month
So I'm doing
Oh there you go
Can I ask them
Both of us have been doing an article
On Encore for
The new drivers union magazine
Which is launching next year
When's that coming out
I'm hoping around
March April
At the moment we have a very very big article
On the Esprit
I have an article on the
One of our members has got 812
Which has got
I think 2,000 signatures on it
So we're doing that
And a few other species
But it might end up becoming
Actually a book
A mag book rather than a magazine
Right
But that's
I'm quite excited about that one
So we're doing that
But the Encore
Yeah we're hoping
They invited me down to the factory
Just somewhere in Chelsea
So for people that are listening
Or watching and like
What the hell is an Encore
So the Encore or Encore
What we call the design one
Is a company then
What they've done
What they've done is
They've done what I've been
Dreaming about for years
Is because I've always
I mean as you can
If people are watching
They can see over my shoulder
On the shelf above me
They can see a white Lotus Esprit
And that's a serious one
That's the Bond car
So and I've always thought that
You know because
If I'm absolute
I'm a huge Esprit friend
But if I'm absolutely honest
It had that
That meager four cylinder engine in it
It had a Renault gearbox
That wasn't very good
It wasn't
You know in terms of performance
The handling was always amazing on the car
But in terms of performance
It wasn't always that great
And I've always thought
You know what if
There you go
There's the new version
So this is basically
A reimagining of the original Esprit
So it's the same shape
Same proportions
Slightly smoother lines
They've got rid of the join
Along the side
Which literally was a join
That's what the black line was
And they've got rid of that
Because they've done it
As a one piece thing
And what they've done
Is they've built it
On top of a modern V8
No I say modern
But you know
It was discontinued
What 20 years ago or something
But they built it on a V8 Esprit
So it kind of
It's still an Esprit underneath
But it's not the original Esprit
But it looks like the original Esprit
Which I think is fantastic
You know
They charge you 400,000 pounds
They charge you the price
Of probably four concourse
Early model Espris I reckon
Yeah I think yeah
And plus you need a V8 as well
So it's 430 something thousand pounds
Plus you have to bring them a V8 Esprit
And a V8 is between
Anywhere between 40,000 to about 7,000
Yeah I would say 40 to 60 grand
To get one of those good ones
Yeah
Because the 350 Espris
There's two for sale
Right
You're going for about 65 I think
Yeah
I mean the prices are rocketed
Lately haven't they
You know I don't know
There was a
There's two loads of Esprit turbos
On collecting cars
A Series 3
And an S4S
Series 3 did not reach
And did not sell
Anywhere near its reserve
That's weird that
You showed me that
I was really surprised
Yeah and the S4S
Both red
That was sort of a 35 I think
Includes VAT so if you're that registered
You're going to get the 20% off as well
So you know you're looking around
It's not bad for you
So Ibrahim is saying that
BCG has an AI video of him talking
In a North American accent
His Canadian passport is on the way
Well I mean how do you know
How, hey boy
How do you know it was AI
It could have been me
That could have been me
Talking right there
You don't know anything about
What I talk like
Maybe this is the put on
Maybe the accent I'm talking in
Is the put on
And maybe this is actually my accent
You don't know that do you
That's more Alabama
You know what
Now you're getting into
Little semantics of where it was
I don't know
It's like saying it's Birmingham
Or Manchester or Liverpool
I'm like you know what
That's my generic American for you
That's a good federal flag
There you go exactly
Yeah
And a white pillow over your head
I need a general leaf flag
That's what I need
Yeah so hopefully
We'll have the encore
I've talked to them
They said hopefully we'll have
The encore coming down
I'm not sure yet
Still going to confirm it
But that's one of the cards
But yeah we're working hard
We're going to try and make it
Very special
So just pausing on that
For a minute
What's been
I mean I've got to say
Because we're talking about
The encore
For me that's probably been
The most exciting car launch
Or most sort of stimulating
To me car launch of the year
What's been the most stimulating
Car launch for you
Over 2025
To be honest nothing
Nothing really excited me
You know and nothing
The new Ferraris was like
You know it's nothing really
I've looked down for
Wow I want to go to that
I want to see that
Can't really say anything
No
It's no it's just sort of blurred
Yeah
I think cars have become
Very generic
What shocked me more is
I go to some events now
And I see the Chinese cars there
On display
And I see cars
Chinese cars on the road
And the problem is I don't
Recognize some of the cars
You know they all look the same
And the thing is
We're going to get more and more of that
I mean this is literally taken on
It's literally taken off
And accelerated so fast
The influx of Chinese cars
And as you know I do a lot
Of monitoring of the industry
And what's happening with the industry
And I've been looking a lot lately
At what's been happening
With businesses themselves
Forward have just announced
A 19 and a half billion dollar loss
I have to repeat that
19 and a half billion dollar loss
And I've done a whole video on that
And that's purely the money
That's not like
That's not projected
But that's actual money
That they've lost
That's money that they've invested
And they've just written it off
Because that's money
That they invested in EVs
And they've just gone now
We're pulling back from all of that
So there's a major, major shift
In the legacy car manufacturers
They're all pulling back from EVs
Because they don't know what to do with it
They don't know how to do them
They don't know how to sell them
Because then people are not
Buying them enough numbers
Meanwhile the Chinese
Are going crazy with EVs
So if you want a cheap affordable
Reasonably good EV
You're probably going to buy a Chinese one
Rather than a Ford
Or a Stellantis car
Or something like that
So it's a major, major upheaval
I just read an article
And I did a video about it as well
Because I read an article
It's a very good article in Car Magazine
And it was about the fact
That there has been
Something that a lot of people
Haven't realized
There's been a lot of changes
At the top of major manufacturers
Over the last year
A lot of the top guys have gone
Or been moved
Or been shoved aside
Or been got rid of
Sorry?
No, no, no
So what's happened
Is when this whole
EV thing was happening
And the dependent on AI
And software and all the rest
But basically when Tesla was growing
And everybody was like
Oh, let's follow the Tesla rulebook
Let's follow that playbook
Let's do it that way
And so they said
Well, we need these smart thinkers
We need these silicon, savvy
Monsters of corporate industry
Let's get them in
So we've gotten all these people
That were like
Oh, this is the plan
This is the ambition
This is what we're going to do
And what they found is that
They've lost track of where they were
And what they're doing
And the loyalty they had
From their traditional customer base
And what they're doing now
Is they're moving a lot of these people out
And they're elevating people
From within their businesses
Who know their businesses quite well
And they're putting them back in charge
And I think what's happening is
That rather than this sort of
Extravagant, revolutionary, radical new ideas
Let's jump on board with the future
Bandwagon
What they're doing is like
No, no, let's retrench
Let's steady the ship
Let's calm down
Because like Ford
We just lost 19 billion
I mean, if you think 19
But if you think that the UK government
Said we got a 20 billion pound whole
One company, Ford, just lost 19 billion
Dollars, you know
You think about it in those terms
It's truly staggering
And they go, well, we can't
No company can afford to keep doing that
So what they're trying to do is like
Well, let's steady things
Let's calm things down
Let's go back to basics
Let's figure out what customers actually want
So there's been a lot of changes
That are happening in the industry
I think next year is going to be very interesting
You take, for example, JLR
So you will know about the fact that
You know, they just got rid of their designer there
Who was in charge of that, you know
Radical relaunch for Jaguar
The complete rebrand and the new car
And Tata have just sent their own
Well, there's a guy from within the company
And they've elevated it
What's his name? B.B. Balaji
And they basically, they've put him in charge
Or he will be
He's about to take over very soon
And he's somebody who's regarded as a
He's more of an accountant type, you know
He's going to come in
He's going to sort the money out
And all that sort of stuff, you know
And he's going to say, well, you know, this is
This business has got to make sense
This is how it's got to work
So it's very interesting to see what's happening
And I did a video earlier this year
And I got some criticism for it
Because I said that, you know
I think it was something like, you know
Here are nine or ten manufacturers
That are probably going to disappear in the next few years
And people are like, you know, how can you say that?
And I'm like, well, because I'm looking at
What's happening right now in the industry
And I'm projecting forward
What's the list?
I'll have to look it up
But I mean, people like JLR are on there
A lot of the legacy manufacturers
A lot of the European manufacturers
Jaguars, I think, are very possible contender
Let's be honest
But Aston Martin
Aston Martin was on the list, yeah
And Aston Martin is only there
Because it's got Arab money behind it
But how long is that Arab money going to come to?
Even companies like McLaren, you know
Again, you know, they've had to sell
They've had to sell their headquarters
And then rent it
You know what I mean?
That's what they've had to do
So if you think of it
And they own that building
The iconic building that actually appears in so many movies
Including the recent F1 movie
It was in there as well
But they've actually had to sell that building
And then they're renting it
You know, this is how they've had to operate
So the future doesn't look very rosy, does it?
Except for the Chinese
And maybe the Japanese to an extent
And Ferrari
Ferrari makes more money from merchandise
See, Ferrari falls into that boutique
Manufacturer category, doesn't it?
So it kind of gets away with stuff
And the thing about Ferrari is that
Well, the thing about Europe
Because now this is the other breaking news
That literally has just happened
In the last week or so
Is that we've obviously in the UK
We've got the 2030 deadline
For banning sales of petrol and diesel cars
Which had been moved to 2035 by Rishi Sunak
Who, honestly, I'm now beginning to think
We should have kept on
Because I think the man knew what he was talking about
He left
And then the current government said
Well, we're putting it back to 2030
This was on the basis of the fact that Europe
Had a deadline of 2035
To stop the sale of petrol and diesel cars
But what Europe has done under pressure
From Germany, Italy, and major manufacturers
Like Stellantis, Volkswagen Group, etc
They've basically said, look, we're going to lose billions
We're going to have to shut factories
We're going to have to sack millions of employees
And we're going to cost the economy
Massive, massive plunges in GDP
If you consider the fact that even here in the UK
The economy growth slowed
Simply because one company, Jaguar
Just one company had to stop production for five weeks
Just because of that
The entire economy took a hit
So this is how important the car industry is
And so when they turn up at the European Commission
And they say, look, this is what we predicted
This is what's going to happen
And they're like, yeah, you know that rule we had?
Yeah, scrap that
So they've literally scrapped the rule
Okay, there's semantics involved
Because you can say that they've gone from
100% rule to a 90%
But effectively they haven't put a time limit on it
So when people say, because my headline was
They've scrapped the ban
And people are like, you're not right really
Because it's 90%
No, I am right
Because the ban was a hard deadline
The hard deadline was 2035
And a lot of pundits were saying
They were going to move it to 2040
But they haven't put a date on it at all
They've just said 90%
That's it, open ended
I suppose none of us thought it was going to go through anyway
Selling to government
Well, what's going to happen in the UK though?
Because they've still sticking to a 2030 deadline
How are they going to do that?
How can the microcosm of UK survive
Within the scope of Europe
In fact, considering the fact that UK exports
80% of its production to other countries
And primarily to Europe
What manufacturing base has the UK got?
You know, you've got Jaguar
JLR in the sand
You know, a few others
St. Martin, etc, etc
Yeah, but very small, small businesses
Even BMW, even mini production has moved to Spain
Part of it has anyway
Yeah, but a lot of it is going to do with Brexit
So basically in the future
We're just saying for the UK, we're bagged
In general, cars themselves
Probably not so bagged
Because we're still having
We'll still be getting the older Ferrari's
Well, this is the thing, I mean, look
If, I mean, you tell me, what do you think?
If, for example, the UK says 2030
I mean, I don't know what the rules are
Now that we've Brexited
I don't know what the rules are about buying
Because you remember once upon a time
You could buy cars in Europe
I don't know how that works anymore
But if they say, OK, 2030, there's a hard deadline
You can't buy a petrol diesel car
But you can go over to France
And you could probably buy one there
For indefinitely
Then what would...
I mean, there might be left-hand drive
But so what, you know
What would stop people from going there
And buying cars?
It's only four years away
It's only four years away, yeah
That's a scary thing, so...
And there's a thing, when you talk
Especially when you talk about your
The kind of super cars
The kind of cars that you mostly deal with
Which are super cars
I mean, those are mostly not yet electric
Some of them are hybridised
But not all of them
Where does that leave the super car dealers?
In four years' time
Will they have anything to sell
Apart from hybrids and EVs?
See, I think the problem is
There's not so much...
What's happening is
People not knowing what is going to happen
If they know for sure
They're definitely going to stick to it
We're going to have electric cars
By 2035
And that's the end of the story
When everyone knows
But they keep flip-flopping
That's the problem
You know what?
The British economy is just going to suffer
I just see it suffering, suffering
Next couple of decades
Yeah, it's really, it is really, really worrying
Somebody hooked on Classic said
What is the value of Ford Motor Company?
Well, Ford Motor Company
I've just looked it up
It's 54 billion
So if you think about companies
Where 54 billion dollars
Just lost nearly 20 billion dollars
That is staggering
They're going to be making that up for years
I read an article
Where they actually said
That Ford actually is not so much
A manufacturer of cars
But it's more of a finance company
A lot of these big companies are
Finance is all about money here
Money there
Lending the money
Getting it back
And that's what they make the money from
Roofing cars
Yeah, yeah, yeah
I mean, this is the thing
And again, going back to
The thing with supercars
You know, when you come to that
It's just four years away
And the fact that we've created
So much uncertainty in the UK
Because again, every time you change this
You think it's everybody that comes in
They go, oh, we'll just move it to 2035
We'll just move it to 2030
What you don't realize
Is that manufacturers plan
Seven, ten, twenty years ahead
And when you keep moving these
You keep moving the goalposts
Manufacturers don't really know what to do then
And they're trying to juggle the fact
That, well, the government is going to
Make us sell this
They want 28% EVs
But the public wants 50% ICE
How do we balance that?
And if we sell more ICE
We'll get penalized
But if we can't sell them electric cars
Then we can't afford to do business
You know, honestly
When you start to open it up
And start to think about it
You really think even this year
And last year
How have some companies survived?
What's really interesting to me
Is that one of the companies that left here
Mitsubishi is coming back
Yeah, really?
Yeah
Next year they're relaunching
Do you remember they had the fleet of classics
And they sold them all?
So what's their range now?
Have they ever got anything interesting for us?
I don't know, really
I don't know what they got
Is that a journalist?
No, I don't know what they've got
Honestly, what have they got?
But you know
Well, you know Adnan over at Landbees
You know he's got a starian
A starian, yeah, he's got everything
I was just saying in his little video
Just now
They're saying the cars that you should
You know, be buying
And he wanted a car
I only got the first one
We'll look at it later
996
You guys get a 996
Carrier of 4S
Because that's going to go up in value
Yeah, I know he's right about that
Because the 996
That was the
I always call them the scrambled egg
But the runny egg headlights
Those ones
And the thing was
They for a long time
Their values have been falling
Compared to the other 911s
Because they were never really that like
Certainly by our generation
But today's generation doesn't give a damn
They're like, well, it's a 911
And it is probably one of the cheapest ones
You can buy
But 911s in general
They kept their values
DB9
It's my DB9
By the way, my DB9
Is in my garden at the moment
Had a service stand
It's got a broken spring
It's been very reliable
But it's got a broken front spring
So I can't
You should take it to Adnan
Because he put up another video
Where he was talking about the parts
And he was talking about
I don't know, a 1200 pound sensor
From Ferrari
Which is sourced for 70 pounds
Exactly the same thing somewhere else
You know
Yeah, that's Ferrari for you
Yeah, even on 360s
You get a little part
It's a Fiat part
Yeah
And that
But yeah, a friend of mine
Is going to put it in for me
He's going to replace it
But we're only going to replace both springs
You know
And I'm still thinking
Of whether I should like sell it
Because it's a lovely car
But a whole James Bond thing
Is doing my head in
Yeah, but the thing is
You need to sell it soon
Or literally
You'll have to pay somebody
To take it away
Sure
I drove it the other day
In fact, funny how I drove it
When I drove it to the garage
To have it serviced
And it does drive nice
Because I might find mine
Because it's got the upgraded dampers
And I've had the cats removed
And it's got an ECU upgrade
And it feels really good
And the mistake I used to make was
If you drive it like a normal
Like a lazy GT car
It's quite boring
But when you try and push it
It actually does drive much better
Yeah, a lot of these cars
They have sort of the split personality things
Especially Grand Tourers
Because Grand Tourers are designed
To be comfortable cruisers
Because they're designed for mile-chumping
But at the same time
Point them down a nice road
And they should come alive
That's a good GT for you
It should come alive
I might actually keep it
I'm beginning to like it again
A little bit
But I still quite want a luxury spree
I can't park it outside
Or a 911
But everybody's got a 911
So I don't know
I think, you know, a spree
Is definitely going up in value now
As much as it paint
As much as it
I think they've, I think they stopped
I think they've stalled
You think they've leveled off
I think they've stalled
I think they've stalled
I think, I don't think
The car didn't sell
That was a good car
It seemed like a good car
I didn't sell
Look at them at prices at a time
It's the same car
Is that to do with a spree
Or is it to do
Because one of the things
That's happened this year
And I think we discussed it with Adnan
Didn't we last time when he was on
Was that prices in general for classics
Have stabilized this year, haven't they
Because they were rocketing
And they've just kind of calmed down, haven't they
Ferrari prices certainly in the classics
I mean, very expensive ones
They'll still go up in value
And you can make money
But my 360, that's gone down
You know, what did I pay for it?
70 for it?
Yeah, I'll pay for it
74, yeah, 70
That's probably worth about 55
So it's gone down
You can buy
That's quite significant
It'll go up again
Remember, I remember
When 360s were 35,000
They didn't go up and down, up and down
But how long ago was that?
I bought mine, gosh, 2018
So 2018, you're talking about six, seven years
And so you've effectively lost money
On it at that time
Which is kind of weird
Because normally you would say
To somebody buy a Ferrari
And you won't lose money on it
No
I mean, you'll lose money on servicing
And they blah, blah, blah
But I mean, in terms of value
Only if you buy the really limited editions
You might make money
The new ones now, 296s
No, they were lost
The bromers are losing
They're all losing money
You know what, does that only make
What, 13,000 Ferraris a year?
Yeah, you say that though
But isn't that the problem?
Aren't they making too many?
Because you look back in the day
You know, Ferraris were a rare sight
This is why Ferraris held their value
Because how often would you see one?
How often would you be able to buy one?
And now they're just like
And then you've got the Pudda Sangue
I can't even pronounce it
But we're not going this way
Pudda Sangue
I mean, Ferrari have reduced
The number of cars they're importing into the UK
And then putting elsewhere
But I mean, 13,000 is not a lot of...
Is that because of the ZDV mandate as well?
The emissions mandate
I think it's just slow sales to be honest
I think the 296s wasn't selling as well
A lot of people in the forums are saying this
Some people are saying this
296 is lying around
They're waiting to be sold
People don't want them
I don't know
I've been in the market sort of changing a lot
You've got people who would rather buy McLaren now
But McLaren, I think their sales are what?
1,800? 2,000 a year?
Their values have also dropped, haven't they?
To be honest, I don't really follow them
Because I don't really chase after sprees
Sorry, McLaren
The only prices I really look at is sprees
There's only one I actually go and see
All the trade drop business
And see what the price is
The other cars I don't really...
Testarosses have gone up in value
Yeah, of course
Well, the 80s and 90s stuff
The thing that's really growing at the moment
Is the 80s and 90s
And then we're talking across the board
So even if you're talking about
Like a little Daihatsu charade
That I saw at the NEC show
Things like that are rare
And hard to find
And becoming highly collectible
Yeah, but I think new cars
I think I'm becoming old foggy now
Because I just...
One car was actually nearly about to bid on
It was up for auction
With one of the big companies
And it was based in France
It was the Miami Vice Daytona
Not the actual one
Right
But a Corvette C3
But that was a Miami Vice Daytona
Miami Vice Daytona was a Corvette C1
It's not the actual Miami Vice
Because that left like half a million plus
But that wasn't that why
They ended up with a real Ferrari
Because by having the fake Daytona
They pissed off Ferrari
And then Ferrari said
Okay, well, we'll give you a Testerosa
But it has to be a real one
But they still had another...
I think they didn't tell Ferrari
But they did have a secondary fake Testerosa as well
No, what they used was
They got a Pantera
Yes
And put a Testerosa body on top of it
But that was just stunts
That was for stunts
That's stunts
Because they didn't want to use
Because I think they were given two
They were given two black Testerosas
Right
So these were actual Testerosas that Ferrari gave them
Yeah, real Ferrari
Ferrari gave them a break
Because they saw
Wow, they just thought
Wow, this is like a really successful show
We want to be in on it
Because initially
Nobody was interested in supplying anything
Even people in Miami
Weren't interested in Miami Vice
Because it's promoting prostitution and drugs
And then it became such a big worldwide hit
But the thing is, in Miami
You always think of the two detectives
driving around the Ferrari
But it was actually based on reality, wasn't it?
Because that's what they were doing
Basically, any cars that they were securing
from drug busts
They were being recycled into their fleet, weren't they?
I don't know about that
This is why I read
Basically, this is how those guys had those cars
Because it was based on the reality
That if they did do a drug bust
Or they caught somebody or whatever
And they took their cars
They could then use those cars
That was the deal
They said, we could then use those cars
Once, because once they arrested the bad guys
The bad guys, they went to prison
And I'll tell everybody
Watch out for the two guys
The black...
But that's why they repainted it white
The white testimony
The reason they painted it white
And painted it is because
Michael Mann, the director
He thought the car needs to show up very well
In Miami, in black
So he changed it to white
It looked really good
Like the Lotus Esprit in For Your Eyes Only
Exactly
That was originally white
And then they resprayed it copper
In fact, if you remember
At the beginning of that movie
He does have a white one
He has a white one
A white turbo Esprit S3
Which blows up
It's got the ultimate anti-theft deterrent device
Which literally, if you try and steal it
It blows up
I'll tell you something
Going on to Esprit
And talking about films
So I've got in touch with one of the
Assistant producers
Or he was involved in the production
Of Pretty Woman
It's applied
Who sourced the Lotus Esprit
For the film Pretty Woman
And that's going to be a really good interview
Which is part of that Esprit article
So did he not also supply the one that was in...
Basic instinct
Basic instinct, yeah
Oh, I'm going to try and find who that was
Who sourced that
But I don't think it was him
That's absolutely two iconic movies
That both feature the Esprit
Which is extraordinary, really
That's another one
A secret agent
A school kid who becomes a secret agent
Yeah, yeah
I mean, there's been a few others
But I think in terms of iconic movies
That everybody remembers
You know
Well, Esprit in that was the best one
Actually, really good
Because it was like a James Bond Esprit
It was a...
I can't remember
It must have been the one after the Esprit
But you know, in Pretty Woman
They did go to other manufacturers
But the manufacturers didn't want to be associated
With a movie that was about basically a prostitute
Yeah
They said, no
And Lotus were like, yeah, sure
We'll give you a car
I don't even remember what she used to see
In Ferraris in West London
So is it?
I don't know
They kind of missed a trick there, really, didn't they?
And Lotus were like, yeah, sure
We'll give you a car
And the rest is history, like they say
But then Lotus...
No longer knows how to do it anymore, sadly
It just doesn't do it
But if you remember, even with the original Bond car
They were very clever about how they got that car
Into the movie
They didn't pitch it
They just literally parked it outside of the studio
You remember the story, right?
Yeah
The guy took the car there
He parked it outside the studio
They took the badges off the car
So they wouldn't know what it was
And then he just sat in the cafe across the road
And watched the crowds go, bananas
Looking at this thing
And then after leaving it for a few hours
He literally just walks up to the car
Unlocks it, gets in, drives off without a word
And then the studio says
We've got to find out what that was
I mean, what did Lotus do now?
What are they making now?
Is it Avira?
I mean, the Amira is the only sort of sports car
And then you've got the...
What is it?
The Avaya?
They've got...
You know what?
They've got an electric saloon
And they've got an electric SUV
The Amira looks like, well, a Dino
A Ferrari Dino would have been
It's a lovely looking car
And we actually smogged one into
An Italian car day event as well
So interesting
They have the big electric...
We've had them at some of your events
We've had them doing donuts and stuff like that
And they look cool
They look pretty good
I mean, you've got a big one
Which is £3 million, a big electric one
Which I've never seen on the road
I've seen the only shows
I've never seen it moving
No, I've never seen it moving
That's the Avaya, isn't it?
That's like a 1,500 horsepower electric car
Or something or other
They need to build an Esprit
They need to build an Esprit
Well, this is the thing
This is why the Encore
Whatever you want to call it
This is why that car is so exciting
Because they've done what Lotus should have done
Which other cars you think should be redone?
What other cars should be redone?
To be honest, I'm generally not one for doing that
But Esprit for me was a different case
But if I look at, I don't know
You have to look at the pop culture icons
And you go, what car was great in concept
But wasn't actually that great
You take something like a Night Rider
You take the 1982 Trans Am
Which isn't fundamentally a bad car
But it was a bit underpowered, let's be honest
But if you could rest a mod the hell out of a 1982 Trans Am
I think that would be pretty cool
Do you know what?
I quite like the other
The car I've been looking at lately
Which I saw and it just really was a DB6
Convertible in green
It just looks beautiful
About half a million pounds
So the DB5s that they used for the last movie
The one with Daniel Craig when he wrecks it
And it goes into the bottom of the sea or whatever
Apparently those were built on E46 BMWs
Really?
Yeah, so that was an Aston Martin body shell
But they were built on top of E46 M3s
Or just the E46 BMWs
So that's what they actually were
That's extraordinary
So the car that got shot up and did the donuts
And all the rest of it was actually an E46 BMW
I want to drive a DB5
Everyone tells me that horror would a drive
But I want to drive off
So again, that would be a good contender
For updating
Just keep the shape
And also people really have kick cars
Like I know these people
They build this Ferrari 250 type cars
That are based on BMW Z3s
And everybody poos the idea
But I kind of like the idea
Because at the end of the day
If it's just the shape that you adore
And with me that was the thing
It's the shape that I adore with the Esprit
I adore the shape
But you can't drive a 250 Ferrari every day
You can't because it's too valuable and rare
Even if you could afford one
But if you can build one on a BMW Z3
And every time you walk away from it you go
What's wrong with that? Why not?
What if you buy
You buy yourself a Ferrari 612
The 4 seater
Get it
Take off the body
Replace the body with a Daytona
A Ferrari
Yeah, why not?
If it can fit
If it can make it work
Historically, if you look at the early Ferrari's
The bodies were actually made by other companies
Coachwork
Ferrari would supply them with a car
With a chassis and the engine
Basically you would get a rolling chassis
And engine steering and gearbox
And they would take it to a coachwork company
And they would build the top of it
Vitale touring would put it around
And place it on top
That's the other thing
To be honest, this is one of the things
That I thought
And to an extent still do think
We would actually get back to
Because if you think about the current technology
Which is EVs
Sorry to drag the conversation back to EVs
But they're here to stay and they exist
And they are going to be more and more available in the future
But EVs are basically built on what you call
A skateboard platform
So basically it's a flat platform
With the batteries ensconced within that platform
And the motors either within
The wheels themselves or within the chassis itself
So it's completely flat
That's it
That's all you need
Which then means that literally you can put anything
On it
You can put anybody on that
Anything you can create, you can put it on top
What a Chinese should be doing
Is if I was there
If they made me charge for a Chinese
EV company
I would turn around and say right
Let's get some designers in
Let's make beautiful looking cars
Let's make beautiful looking cars
We've got everything else that's all done
We're working chassis and everything
Let's make beautiful cars
Cars that would go into concos
I had a chat with
A lady from Mercedes Benz
At Silverstone
And I would test drive the
The AMG GT
And we're talking
I said well it's a nice enough car
But it's not beautiful
And I said
There's that
I can't remember the name of the car
But it was one of the Hampton Corp
There was a
I think it was an orange
Mercedes beautiful
Doors coming up and everything
And I said why don't you make
The classic C112 I think
Mercedes should be making things like that
But you know the thing is
When those cars were made
At that period of time
There was much less legislation
In terms of safety legislation
The reason the car designers are so hampered today
The reason why EVs
Still look like ordinary cars
Because I'm like look it's an EV
Why does it still need to look like
It doesn't need to look like an ordinary car
Because a traditional structure
A three box structure of a car
Engine, passenger cabin, boot space
Is the requirement of how a car needs to be
Because the engine needs to be there
But when you have a flat platform
You no longer need that space
So what they resorted to doing is
Putting things in called front
Front boots as we would call them
Fruits if you like anyway
But the reality is you could build anything on there
You could build any design you want
But then the problem you have is that
You come up against crash safety legislation
Because you need that crumple zone
And that pedestrian safety zone
And all the rest of it
Is why you can't have pop-up lights anymore
This is where a company like
Encore Design gets away with it
Because they can build a new car and put pop-up lights
Because it's not a brand new production car
And it's not going through all of those
You know the crash safety things
We know things like the Tesla Cybertruck
Yeah I mean look at that
Have you seen one
It's not allowed to come into the UK
Apparently
I mean there are a few here
But apparently it's not in the road
I've seen, I saw it in Dubai
I saw it in Dubai when I was there
It was as hideous as you can imagine
Literally I was like oh
And it's vast
It is huge
So other highlights
Or automotive highlights this year
It's been quite tricky
I mean in terms of cars
In terms of new cars
There hasn't been anything
In terms of old cars
I drove a Toyota 86, AE86
I hadn't driven one of those before
That was, it was so much fun
It was as much as fun
As you could expect it to be
And hope for it to be
In terms of new cars
It's very hard to find anything
The only memorable thing that stands out
In the whole year
It wasn't actually a new car
That came out this year
But I had it for a few days
Was the MG Cyberster
It's electric
But it was actually very quick
It was reasonably
It wasn't visceral
It wasn't engaging
But it was reasonably entertaining to drive
But the best thing about it was
It looked good
It goes back to what we were talking about earlier
It looked good
It had theatre
Because it had the scissor doors
And the roof
And the design
So it turned heads
It was a talking point
You know, so in that sense
That was quite good
But in terms of all the other new cars
Out this year
Not really that much
The highlight dryers really
Were the car that I
The 325i that I sold earlier this year
Sadly, I still miss it
And then driving the AE86
Which I thought was incredibly good fun
So as a car journalist
Did these companies, manufacturers
Call you and say, Shazad
Would you like this car?
Would you like that car?
Is that what happens?
It varies
It depends
It depends on your hierarchy
Of journalism as well
But like, you know
When I was in Dubai
It was a different story
Because I was an A-list journalist
If you like over there
Compared to Mr. Nobody over here
But with the manufacturers
It's give and take
Some of them will do that
Some of them you have to chase
And I've gotten to a point now
Where I'm quite tired of chasing
So I genuinely don't chase
Unless there's something
That I'm really keen on
Or I think will be really interesting
For my viewers or readers
Or if some of
Literally if people say
Look, we'd like you to review that car
And I'll try and see
If I can get it
But otherwise
It's generally I'll see
What's out there
What's available
And which manufacturers
Are willing to work with me
Which is amazing
If you think about it
Because I just
I literally, sorry to interrupt you
But I literally just last week
Totaled up
And it took me by surprise
I totaled up my views
Across my platforms
Just for 2025
So this was across YouTube
Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok
And browncarguide.com
And I totaled them up
And it was in excess
Of 8.3 million views
In just the one year
For one content creator
I mean
Can I
Hang on
Let me go back to the media
Hang on
Here we go
Cheering
Yeah, there you go
So, you know
I have to say
I think that's not too bad
For one content creator
You know
That's very good
Because I don't do content
Someone asked me
I should do content
I can't do videos
I don't want to do
I don't want to do that kind of stuff
For me
I want to get to magazines
Because it's easier
For my work is really
I've still got all my cameras
And I'm going to sell them off
But now I drive again
To photography
Do articles
And I like the idea
Of having magazines and books
Lying around
You know
Which I've done
Well, you're doing a whole bunch of books
Which are coming out
Which is quite exciting
Because that's the other big thing
You're doing for next year
I've been looking back
At some of my photos
And I actually
I realized I used to do
A lot of photography in Dubai
A lot
And I've literally hardly
Do any now
Now I just use my phone
That's it
But in Dubai
I used to do a lot
With setups
With looking for the right location
Right time
Right lighting
I used to do a lot
And now I'm not doing it
But I'm looking forward
To seeing your book store
Next year
This is the thing
Because I've been taking photographs
For 20 years
A lot of it was
Filming
Which I've still got
But that took loads of photographs
I decided
I thought
It was a lot of Ferrari photographs
And I thought
Let's put it all together
In a book
And I started doing it
And I found out
It's actually a lot of photos
And you could see
How I started
Just like a
Crappy camera
A professional camera
So it's a whole gamut
But it's ended up as three books
Three books on that
I've got
Brands Hatch books
Two books on Brands Hatch
It's great
I mean it's going to be
Available digitally
For free
If anybody wants to view it
So I've got those nine books
Then I also do the books
For the Conquers of Elegance
And London Conquers
So I'm doing the
2025 versions of those
But I thought
Hang on
I've got photographs going back years
From earlier
You know
Before 2024
So I'm doing those
So the plan is
By January
I'll have 90% finished
11 books
Wow
Back
Ready
Probably once
I'll sell them
If I want to
You know
If people want to buy them
They can buy them
So I mean
You know
This is 11 books
The photo
I mean
No tag
Yeah
But still
You know
Each one's about 350
360 pages
Substantial
2.5 kilograms each
And you know
And I just
I'll just do those
And then once that's done
I will then
Just concentrate
And drive this
In magazine
Which again
Will be digitally
The thing is
I would say
Because you put out
11 books
You're basically
A book publisher
Yeah
That's the reason I'm doing it
Yeah
So you should then
Just make more car books
I guess
This is easy
Because this is basically
It's
I mean it's 20 years of work
Just photographs
Then
I might do
I might do
Special issues
I'm not sure
I might do one on McLaren
Where I'll then
Do high-end
Quality photographs
And then see
So people
But then
The thing is
You'll distract me
From the magazine
And I think
For Drivers Union
As a club
We need the magazine
And I want to
Create an international
The magazine
Will be quarterly though
Isn't it?
What I'm saying twice a year
Probably three times a year
I'm not setting it
Because I really
Want to do
Is I want to
Do a bit quite
And it's not actually
A car club magazine
Because what I want to do
Is I want to talk to people
Who are
Especially so you
Don't know about
Find a hit car
It could be a super car
Or it could be a classic car
People
Cover events
So that's the other thing
You're opening
You're sort of
Giving a little bit more emphasis
To classics next year
As well aren't you?
Well we're expanding
So what I've decided to do
Is to open up
A classic and sports car section
So people can now
Join up as a super car owner
Or a classic and sports car owner
And then from January
When a new website is built
It'll be international membership
So people can now
Join for free
Around the world
Because a new website
Will have a forum
A more intensive forum
It'll be bigger
It'll be better
But what I'm trying to do
Is turn Drivers into
A worldwide brand
That if you're interested
In these kind of cars
Join up
If you want to create an event
In let's say Chicago
But yeah come on a forum
Create your event in Chicago
We'll help you
Whatever you need to do
You know it's building it up
Basically
But Drivers doing it
In effect will become
A car club
At the moment it's a car club
With a little bit of media
On the side
But it's going to become
A media company
With a car club
On the side
But also like
A more expand
Because at the moment
It's known as a super car club
What you're talking about
Is well I guess
What you're talking about
Is the true meaning
Of Drivers Union
Because then we're talking
About Drivers aren't we
I mean the whole Drivers Union
Is just morphing
Like I said we're working
At other car clubs
So Lamborghini club
We're working with them
In a sex and Maserati club
And hopefully other clubs
As well top tier clubs
So it's not like a normal
Car club
I mean our prices as well
You know compared to others
We're a lot cheaper
Our membership starts
At £99.150
But I'm also introducing
Another super car membership
At £49.00 hopefully
Because there are members
Who are in Scotland
Who can't come attend
Our events
So what's the point of them
Paying for parking
But they still can be
Part of the club
Hello to Sarah Davies
Because she just said
Hi BCG
It was great to meet you
At the NEC last month
Right back at you
Thank you very much
So in terms of
When you say you're going to
Expand it to classics
And sports cars
Does that mean that people
Because you had a very strict definition
Of what constituted a supercar
Are you now opening it up
To people that have
I don't know a Supra
It's effectively
It's effectively two clubs in one
So the supercars
The supercar owners
Still want to meet up
The supercar events
And we get invited to
Events as a supercar club
For example London concourse
We get invited as a supercar club
But what I'm going to do
Is introduce a classical
Sports car section
The classical sports car members
Won't necessarily be able
To attend supercar events
But the supercar members
Can attend the classical sports cars
Right
Because a supercar
Can be a classic car
But a classic car
Not necessarily a supercar
It's a bit hard to
I have to do it very much
Care
Be very careful
How I do it
But what we're trying to do
Is be very inclusive
You know
But that's actually the plan
So 2026
Because it's 20 years now
I've been doing this
So 2026 is actually going to be
The biggest year for a club
And we're also going to do tours
And trips as well abroad
And we have the drivers union awards
And we have the drivers union
Well the union
There's quite a few things going on
You're also going to be doing
The brand's hatch stuff
Next year as well
We're at brand's hatch
Hopefully you'll be able to make it
It's also a brand's hatch
We're partners up with brand's hatch
The only car club that's partners
With brand's hatch
So we'll be doing the GT racing
Brand's Britannia
Which is earlier in the year
I think it's in May this year
And the festival Italia
So what we do is
We, our members get free tickets
To attend
We get hospitality area
Which other clubs don't get
And we also do the demo displays
Where we get about
Up to about 20 cars doing displays
And which is hosted by us all
Which do a fantastic job
Thank you very much
It was good fun
It was good fun
Also this year
The batsuit might come out
For one of them
The weather's not bad
So between the batsuit
And the Ironman mask
Is going to be very confusing
In the lightsaber
And the lightsaber
We also go to drivers union wards
Where owners now can vote
For their favourite dealers
That's where the only car
I think where the only organisation
That does that as well
And also I think next month
Yeah, next month also
Being next month
We'll be launching
The best event of 2026
2025 big fun
So on that
Because you asked me
Right at the beginning
And as we wind this up
You asked me right at the beginning
What was the best event
What was the best event for you
In 2025
You know it was very hard for me
To say that
Because I'm always working
At these events
I really like Hampton Court Palace
Because I think if I wasn't working
It's a one day
Where I can just chill out
Relax
The weather's usually really good
It's a beautiful location
And it's just a really really nice
Place to be
You meet lots of people there as well
I meet lots of people there as well
I did enjoy the Ferrari
Owners Club Conquers this year
I have to say
Not so much because of Conquers
Because I met a lot of my old friends
From the Ferrari world
Which I found out was
Probably more personal
It was lovely
With lots of Ferraris
Sometimes nice to go to a place
With just Ferraris
You know
There's lots of events
I'm trying to think of them
Actually on my head
But mostly events
I'm just literally
I'm just working
That's the trouble
You're working isn't it
There's a thing
As the guy that runs
Driver's Union and stuff
You're running the events
And you're running the cars
I mean again
If I said to you
Okay what was your drive of the year
You know
What was your drive of the year
When did you actually get to enjoy
Just the actual process of driving
Can't no
Haven't done it
That's the irony
I go to these
I organise the drives
But if I go to an event
I'm going in a Cayenne
I can't tell you the last time
I had a really
This year
I did not have a good drive
In a Ferrari
It's
I can't tell you
That's the problem
I'm so busy working on it
I don't
It's like Caviar
You work
You love Caviar
You start working in the
Caviar factory
You have Caviar all the time
You don't appreciate Caviar
Not that I like it anyway
But there you go
You might be salty for me
But yeah
I need to
Reminding me of
What was the character
In the Pierce Brosman era movies
When he has the Z8
And he goes
I might have
I might have missed out
A crucial element here
And then there's Caviar
And he goes and sees him
He sees the guy
The big guy that plays
Robby Coltrane
Hagrid
Robby Coltrane
Robby Coltrane
Yeah, yeah
He makes Caviar, doesn't he
In the movies
That's his business
That's his official business
Behind all the other stuff
That he's doing
What are you making?
This talk of
A new Bond film with him
As an old Bond
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
I wouldn't mind that
I think that would be quite cool
Yeah, I'm pissed
That would be quite cool
The one thing that I would
The one thing I won't like to see
And being
What is it, Amazon now
That owns it, isn't it?
Yeah
And what they might do
Is like a young Bond
I'm like, no
Guys, no
No, no
Not I'm sexist
A female Bond
Either doesn't work
No, no
It's gotta be James Bond
It's gotta be someone
You aspire to
Someone that you want to
Dress like
And also like, you know
I mean, again
People might be surprised
If I say this
Because there was always talk of
Like, you know, it should be
A black Bond or a brown Bond
But I'm like, no
It has to be a white guy
Because it has to be
An English white guy
Because that's how the character
Was written
It has that aristocratic
No, hang on
You open up a new
Can of worms
Can of worms
I know, I know
There's a lot of discussion
But to me, that's the character
So you can't be black in English?
No
No, you can be black in English
I mean, you can't
Bond can't be that
Because you think about it
You think about it
Bond is the sort of guy
That walks into any place in the world
And can get away with it
You know
If I walk into any place in the world
I'm like, oh, is this guy
He just walked in here
What does he think he is?
He's like, literally
It doesn't work
It doesn't work
Jamal Bond
It doesn't work
You get this, you know
Anywhere in the world
A white guy walks
Literally the way the world is
At the moment politically
And how the nature of understanding
Of the geopolitics
Of the colour of our skins
Unfortunately affects the world
You know
There is a presence that you get
With that kind of person
If he walks in with the right kind of attitude
You go, okay, yeah
But you know
For the rest of us
You wouldn't be able to get away with it
We really wouldn't
You know
I saw if in the best Bond
That wasn't a Bond with Lewis Collins
Lewis Collins
Yeah, professionals
Bodie
Oh, yeah, yeah, okay, yeah
Yeah
I think he would have made a really good
No, no, I mean
At the end of the day
You can have other great characters
I mean, don't forget
I created a character
Which I don't know if you remember
But I did a comic way, way back
And I called the character Jim Shed Khan
And Jim Shed Khan was based on Bond
So if you read the original comic
It's the spoof of James Bond
That's basically what it is
You actually drew it, huh?
No, I had an artist friend
I had an artist drew it
I wrote it and he drew it
And it's there
So it's live
Maybe I'll add a link to the bottom
Of the description of this video
But it was a complete comic
We did it
I published it as a small press
So back in the day
I used to do small press
Which basically means that
I stole the photo
I was stayed in after hours at work
And used the photocopier there
To print these comics
Staple them
I took them to a small press convention
Sold them maybe 30 copies
And got a review
In a small press comic magazine
They reviewed it
And they liked it
So he's Lassie T
Was he shaking or stirred?
It was Lassie
Lassie
Shaking?
Shaking?
Shaking
Well, I don't know
It depends
You know
It was
It had an esprit in it
Yeah, obviously
And I'm going to take credit
For something else
Because I had a sequence in it
There's a chase sequence
In the comic
Where he goes into the underground
And he slides down
Instead of like running down
The escalators
He slides down the middle bit
Right?
He slides all the way down
The middle bit
And then Daniel Craig
Did that in one of the Bond movies
Yeah
And I was like,
Hang on, I did that first
But you know, you can't do that
Because if you've got an esprit
They have these little bumps
So don't they?
Yeah, I know
But even for the Daniel Craig version
They just removed that
It's fiction, man
Come on, they just removed it
In reality, you couldn't do it
But yeah
You could do it in the old days
You could do it in the old days
Yeah
Shopping would try it
So actually, maybe when I wrote the comic
You probably could do it
Because that comic would
I think it was 90-something
92, 93, something like that
I don't know
That's when I wrote it
Maybe we should get back into it
Well, I don't think
Should I re-select that character
For a novel?
I could do that
It comes at every time
And why not?
The return of James Shade Khan
But there you go
So after having
I've just contradicted myself
So basically, I've just basically said
Why there shouldn't be a Brown Bond
And then I've just said
I actually created a Brown Bond
So there you go
Anyway, on that bombshell
I think it's time to bid everybody
Happy Christmas
Season's greetings
Happy holidays
All the rest of it
And a wonderful New Year, right?
Yeah, happy New Year
Are we allowed to say
Happy Christmas?
Merry Christmas?
As Asian people
Just say whatever the hell you want, dude
There we go
There you go
That's enough of that
With that, thanks very much
It's not once a year
I'll save that for next year though
But yeah
Anyway, great work with you all year
I'm looking forward to see
What we do next year as well
We'll get to that right
Happy New Year
Happy New Year everyone. Take care and catch you all soon.
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