Brown Car Guy Sep 13, 2025

Testarossa Flop, Fake Engine Noise & Knight Rider Fail – Car Guy Therapy in Session! w/ Darren & Sy

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Chevrolet Corvette

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So welcome everybody, and today we have two guests,

and I'll give you like 30 seconds each

to introduce yourselves, so Darren, start with you.

I am Darren Sullivan, I run Waterloo Classics,

I am a, I live in London,

and I organize things for cars,

like the Bloomsbury Classic Car Show coming up

and the Bettina Classic Car Show.

And that's not a Cockney accent, I doubt it here,

that you're talking about in golf,

that's not Cockney, is it?

What accent, where's you from then?

You're a foreigner, aren't you?

I am from California originally.

I've lived in the Netherlands for 13 years,

did a year in South America, living here for 13 years,

so I think I've been told,

well, I've been told I've got a mid-Atlantic accent now.

Yeah, yeah, you know what?

I've been told various things as well,

because, you know, because I grew up,

obviously I was born here, I grew up here,

but I spent so much time in the Middle East,

and I spent my formative years there as well.

And when I, the first time I lived there

in Saudi Arabia in the 80s, I came back,

I had a very American accent,

and everybody was like, you lived in America,

so I haven't even been there at that point.

So I had to, in Dubai, it got mashed up again,

but I've had to work a bit hard

to sort of not be so American,

but I do have a sort of international accent, I think.

I've been told the same, don't be so American.

Don't be so American.

So just not, it doesn't look good on you.

And everybody knows who Si is,

but just remind everybody.

Well, I don't know what accent to use,

because I can speak in a very poor accent

if I want to, because I went to private school.

Go on then, let's hear that, let's hear that, let's hear that.

Well, that's it, that was it, that was it.

Oh, that was it?

That was okay, yeah.

But actually, of course.

Of course.

Well, I used to have my telephone sometimes,

but I was actually born in Bow Bells,

so technically I'm also a cockney,

so when I lived in my old East London mates,

I'm like, in it mate, come on.

In it mate, yeah.

You know, apples and pears,

all that kind of stuff.

My name's Si, I run the drivers' union.

It was, it used to be a super car club,

it's a super car and a classic car club.

I organise loads of events,

I've done it for 20 years now,

next month it's 20 years of organising events.

Photographer, filmmaker,

a publisher as well, about to do the magazine,

they're basically jack-of-all-trades

and absolutely not a master of anything.

Aren't we all?

I'm actually going to be on my gravestone.

Yeah, aren't we all?

The very tall gravestone.

Yeah.

Brown God Guy.

So, lots been going on, lots been going on.

First, I'll tell you what, first of all,

let's give Darren a chance, you know,

because Darren being the token white guy on the show today.

We can't say that, we can't say that.

Oh, we can't, can't we say that?

We can't say that.

Well, you were both born in a country

and the foreigner, so I'm the token foreigner.

I call you the token foreigner.

The token, token, token foreigner.

Very good.

I'm okay with that.

So, hang on, so you know,

I've known you for quite a few years,

you know, you do a lot of stuff,

you do waterloo classics, you do the roof.

I've driven your cars, the cars that you build,

but also the cars you sell, which are electric helis,

which we'll talk about in a minute.

But first of all, just tell everybody,

because I'll be coming to this as well,

you're doing an event next weekend,

just tell everybody what that is

and where it is and how they can find out about it.

Next weekend, I'm doing the first

of the Bloomsbury Classic Car Show.

It's in Bedford Square.

It's Sunday the 21st of September

and it's just gonna be a garden

part of the Classic Cars.

There's live music, there's food, there's a full bar.

It's gonna be fun.

It's kind of, we based it

on the Bill Gravey Classic Car Show,

which- Is that still a thing?

It is not a thing anymore.

It won't be a thing.

They're not allowing cars into the garden anymore.

All right.

And so I decided, well,

if we're not able to resurrect it there,

we'll do it someplace else.

And the Bedford Estate,

who are amazing,

are working with us on this one

to bring it to make it happen.

It's a great location.

What's the Classic Car?

How do you define it?

Is there a cat's off the edge?

That depends on your age

and just your view of life, I guess.

But younger people think cars

from the 2000s are Classic Cars.

So it's, what is it, 20?

We're trying to say 30-year cutoff point,

but we're letting some cars in

that are under 30.

There's going to be a beautiful

Aston Martin's project car

that's going to be there,

that's new on display.

And so that's new,

but it does have a lot of old influences in it.

So it's quite special.

And there's going to be other things as well.

There's going to be some

electric Classic Converted Project.

Electric.

Don't get me started on electric Classic Cars.

Well, I tell you what,

I tell you what,

because we can talk about,

this is a safe space,

we can talk about everything.

We'll talk about London as well,

because I know Si wanted to talk

a little bit about London.

But anyway, before we do that,

I was very lucky when you were very kind enough

to invite me to drive these incredible helis

that you're converting to electric.

Which, to be honest,

I'm neither here nor there with it.

I'm okay with cars being converted to electric

as long as they make sense.

And I think that with the heli,

I think it did make sense to me.

Because when somebody converts

like a Ferrari to electric,

I have a little problem with that.

I have a big problem.

Because I feel that that's the heart of the car.

But with a heli and stuff like that,

I think in many ways,

I remember you and I,

we had quite a laugh driving it around London at the time.

And it was a good laugh.

It was good fun.

Yeah, so the, I mean,

the helis kind of makes sense

because the engine inside the heli

is just an old lorry engine.

There's nothing special about that engine whatsoever.

It was originally a four liter engine,

which was great.

That was a great engine,

I mean, not the four cylinder engine.

And that one had really good weight distribution.

But when they brought it up to a six cylinder engine,

it just kind of,

I mean, it made it faster or smoother or whatever.

But the engine is not the soul of the car whatsoever.

When people say you take the soul out of a car,

when you convert it,

it's like, are you serious?

Are you saying you're disrespecting the designer

for starters?

Because the design is what classic cars are about.

And they can make many different sounds,

but it's how they look

and how they feel on the road.

And to me, the way a car looks,

the way it meets your eyes,

that's the most important thing.

And then driving it,

we have to admit that driving a classic car

is a bit shit sometimes,

but we love it.

We love not knowing 100% if we're gonna get there.

I mean, what that sound might be,

or what that smell could be,

or what that new rattle is, you know?

The classic car experience is a lifestyle

and not a comfort thing.

I mean, there's Bentley's and Rolls-Royce's

from the 80s and 90s

that are super comfortable and stuff like that,

but you're still not entirely sure it's gonna get there.

But we love our classic cars

and we love driving them

and we love tinkering on them.

And so if you convert one to an electric,

well, you know the motor's gonna work.

I'm gonna let Si come back on that.

Before Si comes back on that,

I just wanna shout out to,

I think it's Tim who's just joined us,

because the insurance guru for all advice and information

is, he's been on my channel before.

He's an absolute legend.

He knows inside out workings of everything insurance.

So welcome to him.

He's just watching and putting it right now.

Yeah, Si, over to you.

Darren, do you actually,

I mean, is that your business

converting cars to electric, taking engine?

It's not my own business.

It's called Revival Autos

and we just work on Austin Healey's

because there's a whole bunch of Austin Healey's

that are states that are just sitting there

waiting for someone to rescue them

that are not being restored.

To be fair, they've gone far and wide

because you've got one or two of these in Dubai now, haven't you?

Yeah, we do, yes.

And some in Florida, some around.

Yeah, they're around.

Well, you're gonna have to let me drive one at some point

so I can actually, then I'll team up.

You can, that's right, absolutely.

But I have to disagree with you about the engine.

For me, the engine is the heart.

You can drive around.

I want to hear that sound.

I don't want to hear a recorded sound.

I want to, I like to smell a petrol in the morning, you know?

I love, I love, I just love it.

I think you're culling for that.

Yeah, I get culling for that.

You're culling for that.

Are you still using old spice?

That's how old you are.

You can add some petrol and oil to it

if you like its color.

Yeah, for me, you know, the look is really,

it's, you know, most, I don't mind about other cars,

but when someone takes a Ferrari

and takes the engine out,

I just have this urge to get, you know, canisters of petrol,

pour it over the car and set it on fire.

But Ferrari's doing that.

Sorry?

Ferrari themselves are doing that.

Well, that's why I'm not going to buy one of their Ferraris.

You know what, this is a nice segue

because I did want to ask you guys what you thought,

and I have my own views about it,

but what you thought of the comeback

of this alleged Tester Rossa?

Deep in take a breath there.

Found you of the Supercar Club there.

Can I just give a four, four answer,

four word answer to that?

Got it.

My honest opinion.

Looks a bit shit.

If I was to be honest, you know,

Ferrari's supposed to be beautiful.

It works a lot, you know.

My newsletter that I sent out the other day,

you know, I had some information that's,

it looks good from the top.

I have to say, it does look from the top, you know.

From behind.

Yeah.

But, you know, if I was a bird, I'd love it,

but I'd been out and upshitting on it.

Then the nose doesn't work for me.

The nose is too.

The nose, it's like a showbook.

The whole thing, it's like,

why even call it a Tester Rossa?

What are they running out of names?

There's no Italian names.

They run a dictionary.

You know, you know,

this is the third incarnation of the Tester Rossa.

The first one was beautiful.

The second one is iconic.

I don't see Don Johnson wanting to drive this one.

Yeah.

It looks angular.

What's happened to Ferrari?

Ferrari, please get back.

You know, I could say, you know,

you know, go back to Pininfarina,

but apparently most of the Pininfarina guys

are now working at Ferrari anyway.

Yeah, yeah.

I don't know if they're designing fossils.

I think their cars are going to wave their clothes.

They look absolutely shite.

Sorry, Ferrari.

Are you saying that you don't want

Ferrari clothing in H&M anymore?

I...

Oh, Primark?

Primark.

Lamborghini have a cool list of Ferrari clothes.

They have a cool list of clothing

because they look really cool, you know.

McLaren's not bad either,

apart from it's a bit bright orange,

but Lamborghini has the coolest.

The Ferrari, if you ever look at the Ferrari website,

when we make fun of the Ferrari clothing

all the time and I want their Ferrari, what's that for?

And this is one of these.

I don't mean to...

That's my opinion on the Ferrari.

I want to just interrupt you on that one

because Petina has got better clothing than Ferrari.

There you go, there you go.

Show me the areas down in the model.

There in the model.

The classic car show.

How much is that?

Go on, you can plug it.

Go on.

Why only?

You're going to be selling for just 20 pounds.

I'm just ordering from Google now.

He's doing it right now.

Okay.

We're inexpensive.

All right, before you get it,

sorry, can you send to yourself

in the screen please?

And Desi...

It's so exciting.

...somebody is watching.

There you go, just hold it there.

Desi says, he's asked two questions.

First question he's asking is,

what would you say is the ultimate classic car

which had the most amazing sound?

And then the second question is,

what you guys make about electric cars

that have synthesized sounds?

So let's talk about the first one.

What is the best classic car sound?

I would say any Ferrari Lamborghini,

particularly Countash,

come back in the day.

What did you say?

Heely Sprite?

Heely Sprite.

But you've just been,

you've just been championing the cause

of ripping the engine out

of the damn thing.

Oh, the Sprite.

Oh, okay.

So what did that have in it?

I went to Sprite

and I absolutely love the sound of it.

It's a cute little tiny exhaust

when you go through a French village

with the houses on both sides

and it just echoes back and forth.

It's that cute tinny sound.

It's just so cool.

Especially if it's tuned well,

it's got the little gurgle at the end.

I love that.

It's not too much.

It's just cute.

It's adorable.

So that'll be my iconic one.

I'd have to agree with you.

I'd have to say the old Ferraris.

I mean, that's what I tend to hear.

I find they sound great, fantastic.

Old Lamborghinis, the old supercars, really.

I want to say,

and I hope that nobody's going to comment

and say that I'm completely wrong about this,

but I do hope,

because I say that one of the all-time best

opening sequences of any movie ever.

There's two, actually.

There's one as the Italian job.

I would actually put that second, this controversial.

Some people would say that's the best one.

But I put the best one as the cannonball run.

The original cannonball run.

And that starts with that sound

of that Lamborghini V12.

And I hope it is.

Nobody's going to say, actually, that wasn't real.

But I hope that is the actual sound.

I've heard the V12,

and I think that is the actual sound.

And to me, that is just ingrained into my,

it's just embedded into my soul.

Yeah.

But I love the sound of an A-Series engine.

And I love the sound of a B-Series engine.

I just love that.

It's this nice little engine

that just makes a lot of noise.

The noise is much bigger than the engine.

And I love that.

It's the iconic little British car sounds.

I love it.

I'm going to stick with you, Darren,

for the next part of his question,

because when we drove your car, the Healy,

you did actually have synthesized

or artificial sound in it.

So he's asking, what do you guys make

about cars with synthesized sound?

Should this be illegal?

Well, actually, let me start with that.

It's a legal requirement.

Yeah, that's what I was going to say.

It is actually a legal requirement.

So in all electric cars now,

you do actually have to have some sort of sound in there,

especially at lower speeds so that people can hear them.

Think about, you have it in your car

and then I'll aside what he thinks about artificial sound.

Darren?

I personally think it's rather silly

to have these big engine sounds on it

when you've got just an electric motor

or something else.

One thing I enjoy is being on the motorway

and not having a sound coming from the car.

So I can listen to music.

I can talk to my passenger or things like that.

There's so many classic cars

where you cannot talk to your passenger

and it's just like when you're going fast,

it's like, oh, it's so irritating.

When you get out of it, your ears are just ringing.

It's like, I love the sounds of the cars,

but, oh, God, I wish I could turn the sound off sometimes.

And that's what you can with these converted cars.

You can just turn the damn sound off.

So I would argue that surely,

even in cars with actual sound,

we do kind of synthesize it a little bit.

Manufacturers do that.

So for example, with the Golf GTI,

they had the sound resonated,

which is piping artificial sound into the cabin.

I know that Kia did that as well.

I know a number of manufacturers do that.

But also you modify your exhaust.

So you're kind of artificially changing the sound of the car.

Yeah, but the foundation is actually a real sound.

It's an organic sound.

My 360 is stupid loud.

I agree.

I love you.

I have a little switch,

which I can just press it and the valves close.

Oh, really? See, you can have that switch as well.

Yeah, it's great.

And, you know, I'm a bit nervous

about driving into Central London sometimes.

I do love it. I love the sound.

Artificial sound.

Why don't you just play diastrates or Genesis or something

while you're driving along in the loud music?

I just think it's stupid.

I agree with Darren.

So you can program it.

Oh, I want my Ford Focus to sound like

a Lamborghini Countach from the Cannonball Run.

Yeah, that's a bit sad, isn't it?

Really?

I quite like that.

If you have a petrol car and you want it to sound different,

change the exhaust.

Don't just add a little sound filter to it.

Yeah, that's true.

I'm just going to just one more question.

He's got another follow-up question, the same guy.

And I think this one is actually more for me.

So I think I have to take this.

By the way, he said great response guys.

So well done, you guys. There you go.

Just another one.

What do you guys make of the new electric Dodge Challenger

being in the Middle East and having owned the classic V8 Hemi?

I don't know if I would be a customer.

Well, to be honest, Dodge isn't finding many customers for that, sadly.

I would like to give it a go.

I'm just out of curiosity.

I would be quite interested in that.

What's the frat-zonic chamber sound that they've got and everything?

But I'm with you.

I'm a huge fan of the Hemi V8s.

I love those.

I've driven them at every opportunity I could get in the Middle East.

And I'm not 100% sure that the Dodge Challenger Electric

was the right thing to do.

And Dodge now knows that and they're back pedaling.

So I think that's what's happening with that.

I mean, do you guys have any feelings on that?

Maybe, Darren?

I have really no opinion on the Challenger, really.

So it's there. It's a new car.

It's a new electric car.

It's a bit like the Ford Mach-E, which I find offensive.

They call it a Mustang.

It's like teeth, damn badge off that car.

It's not a Mustang. It is just an SUV.

There was never an SUV Mustang.

I have a 66 Ford Mustang.

You do? Yeah, it's beautiful.

Oh, 64 Mustang. You're not going to put an electric motor in it, are you?

No, no, no. It's original.

We've had that car in the family for 45 years.

And it's original.

It doesn't even have idle-brock components in the engine.

So it's not loud.

It's just the original purring.

It's down that the car is a V8 purr, which is, I love that V8 purr.

I did have a 67 Mustang that had idle-brock everything in the engine.

And it was loud as hell.

And it sounded like you're supposed to feed people to the engine to fuel it.

And the prices of Mustangs are going silly now.

I think they're actually leveling off now.

They're actually leveling off now.

Yeah, because I think what's happening now is that there's a new generation

looking at the, I did recently cover the classic car market.

And what we're seeing is modern classics are on the rise right now.

And the older classics from the 50s and 60s are sort of settling into sort of a norm.

Because everything went crazy after COVID.

The prices just went ballistic on everything.

That's now kind of normalizing.

So those values are sort of coming back to where they should be.

And what's happening now is that we're seeing an increase in 80s and 90s classics.

And even some 2000 ones, early 2000 ones.

I've just Googled the Dodge Charger Daytona SRT.

It looks really good.

Yeah.

I would want to drive it if it had a petrol engine.

Yeah.

You know, but as it's electric, it's just, you know,

it's put you on.

Yeah, I can't.

No, you've got to be.

But the thing is, this is what they've done.

They've put an artificial V8 noise into it.

That's what they've done.

I'm going to close the page next.

It's offending you.

It's gone.

You were going to mention London and you were going to talk.

You said you don't take the Ferrari in because obviously in London now,

they actually have sound cameras for one to better way of describing them.

Yeah, Darren, a lot of people actually are getting caught with that.

Scooters, especially.

I don't have the scooters with that.

Some of the motorbikes, I think, are.

Scooters with the holes on them that make the loudest noises.

You just want to strangle them.

And those are electric ones.

Yeah.

Yeah, well, non-originators just to irritate people.

I mean, London's being landed today.

I was like, I was watching the news today.

It's slightly off-tangent from cars.

Yeah.

Have we gone back to the 1970s?

Yeah.

All right.

What's happened?

In the 1970s, there was no speed limits like they are now.

So no.

Yeah, straight.

No, it was, wasn't it?

I'm not that old.

There were speed limits, but there were less cameras.

Put it that way.

No, I just figured all these people demonstrated it far enough.

Yeah, I know.

I've had notices circulating on my WhatsApp and on other platforms

saying, do not go into London today.

I wouldn't go.

No.

It's terrible.

Today, yeah, because there's two big marches going on in London.

Really?

Where are you based, Darren?

I'm Elephant and Castle.

OK, but you're not central, central.

Well, Elephant and Castle is pretty damn central.

Yeah, I saw it.

It is central.

Yeah, you look at the map.

It's really damn central.

Well, actually, it's south of the river.

Is it really London?

South of the river, mate.

Don't go south of the river.

South of the river.

Why don't you bring yourself on there?

Well, Kensington is a new Kensington, obviously.

Elephant and Castle.

It's like many Manhattan here with all these new buildings on the part.

Oh, wow.

Like that.

It's changed so much.

Do you still have the Elephant?

The original Elephant is still here.

It's down in Elephant Square.

Do you have the big silver thing?

What's it called, a big silver monument?

Yeah, the transformer or something.

Right in the middle.

When I was young, I used to think there was a real elephant inside that castle.

Yes.

There is?

Still?

Yeah, that's where the elephant sculptures.

Believe.

I thought it was a real elephant.

Believe, believe.

I was about 22 at the time.

I thought you said, I thought, I was going to say it regressed to 12 years old, but 22.

Okay.

Well, in reality, Rodenware's elephant inside that box.

And you know what?

The road structure, they've changed it now.

It's really confusing.

I just, I get lost in Elephant culture just going round and round.

He's just done what's going on.

What have they done?

It just, it actually works.

I have to admit it actually works.

I hated it when they did it.

It was awful, but now it's like, oh, well, actually, yeah, I can get to there pretty quick now.

We haven't been there in years, but I can relate to the fact that I used to live near Old Street.

And that whole Old Street roundabout shortage area has been completely changed.

Completely changed.

I remember the days of drifting into the shortage area late at night while I was,

not intentionally, I nearly got caught one night.

I used to take, I used to work at a newspaper and we were in West London and the printers were in East London.

So I used to do the sort of two or three AM run across to the other side of London.

And particularly did that area.

I'd end up coming around a little bit quick, a little bit hot in my old Supra round there.

But now it's all changed.

I mean, I can barely understand which way around you're supposed to go, et cetera.

That's London in general now.

Yeah.

It's not very car friendly whatsoever.

If you live here, like I do, then you know where you can drive and when you can drive.

So it's actually, you can still be fun and you can have fun between the cameras.

Not that I said that out loud, sorry.

Yeah.

But it's, you can still have fun in the city.

You just have to know when and where and how.

So you're having this event in pretty much Central London.

Yeah, it is.

The Bloomberg show.

It's just, just off, just the Tottenham Court.

I think Tottenham Court Road is the nearest tube station.

Tottenham Court Road and the British Museum.

That's it.

And so these guys are going to bring guys and gals.

They're going to bring their classics into London.

Are they all happy about that?

Because honestly, like nowadays it's quite nerve wracking just even driving in London.

I don't think people really care that much.

I mean, it's Sunday morning when they arrive.

So they're not going to be any traffic when they arrive.

Because, you know, cars need to be there by nine o'clock.

And some will get there by eight or before seven.

So there's not going to be any traffic for them whatsoever.

When they go home, they just drive casually.

Is it open to the public?

Anybody can walk in and have a look around?

Yeah, it costs 10 pounds for the general public to come in.

Because we do need to try to make the show break even at least.

Because it's the first year, so things like that are not the easiest things to do on the first year.

So it's 10 pounds for the general public to get in.

And we'll have live music, a full bar, food, lots of cars.

So there's going to be around 30 cars inside the garden with all the food and all the attractions.

And then on the outside, because it's...

Bedford Square's got a massive gravel area surrounding it.

So we're fitting around 100 plus cars on that.

Wow, that's a lot of cars.

Easily, yeah.

Do the drivers pay you a lot to attend?

It's 20 pounds for a driver, but then that includes two tickets to get inside.

So it's basically 10 pounds a person.

Do you get some drivers complaining and saying,

oh, why do we have to pay the part of this place?

Really rude email yesterday from somebody that says,

why do we have to pay to go into your show that you're charging

general public for and you're getting sponsors for and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

And he just went on.

He was really rude about it.

And it says, not so naive, explain.

And I was like, well, most shows charge more.

And so it's actually not that much.

And we're not doing this for free.

I mean, we don't want to pay out of our own pocket for you to have a show.

We want it to break even.

That's the goal.

I think, as Sai discussed in the last show, actually,

I think we were talking about the rising cost of actually putting on the shows.

Exactly.

And how expensive it is.

Insurance, marshalling.

Yeah, exactly.

It's okay.

And I get people saying to me, all the time I've seen a post,

why are we at this event, you know, Conquers of Elegance?

Why are we at Southern Preva?

Why are we part of the show?

Yeah, but you know what?

It's expensive.

They cost money, you know, and they've got to make a profit.

No one does anything for it for free.

And if you want to go, if you want to partly, you know, at your event,

you know, you're not going to have a chance to do it another time.

Well, you can.

But as an event, no, you know, if you want to do, you know,

if you want to do, if you want it free, you know,

do an event at the same space car park.

I mean, my Waterloo Classics event is free.

I don't charge for admission to my club.

I don't because I just don't want to do, I don't want people have to pay.

So the Waterloo Classics, that's once a month, isn't it?

Yes, once a month.

And it's just, and it's, what's, where do you turn up?

It's basically all this turn up on this road, right?

Lower Marsh, just below Waterloo Station.

What day?

The third Saturday of every month, even in the wintertime.

I've been meaning to come to that for a long time,

but in the Saturday, I'm usually having a nap in the afternoon.

It's from 11 till around 8.30.

I'm going to, I will, I'm going to attempt to come down there.

I have to come down, I've been meaning for a long time

because I've heard a lot of great things about it.

I've heard a lot of great things about it.

So I'm just catching up on some of the chairs that we have.

I'm going to come down.

Actually, you know what, you mean you can go down together

because I've been promising Darren for like,

what, five years now that I'm going to come to that event?

I even had the sticker, you even gave me the sticker

and it used to be on the back of the E30,

but I've never actually come down to it.

I keep telling myself, come to my house,

pick up the Aston or the Ferrari, one of the other,

and we'll take both cars down and he's like,

I'm going to drive to Waterloo in a loud Ferrari.

You can immediately swing by your house

and pick up the Aston.

Sorry, what you're saying?

You know what, I'd actually, I'd prefer to pick,

I'd prefer to pick up one of your electric Heelys

and drive that into London

because that would actually make more sense.

So we're getting some feedback.

We've got the Poison Dwarf says,

does the E stand for excrement?

I'm assuming he means E as in electric.

We've got Hooke saying, hello gents

and public liabilities of things, sadly.

So yeah, I think he's referring to events

because that's also a cost that has to be considered.

And Desit, the guy who was asking us the questions,

previously guy, girl, I'm not sure.

He's saying, loving the show,

what do you guys make of the new Renault 5?

I would say if I do move to London

and need to buy something electric, I would consider it.

So personally, I'll just give my thoughts first.

I have reviewed it.

There's a review live on it

and I thought it was absolutely brilliant.

If you don't have a family

because there's no space in the rear seats,

but other than that, I thought it was fantastic.

The electric, no, the yellow version of it,

the sports version, it's pretty darn cool.

I think it's a good-looking car.

I don't know what it sounds like.

No, actually I do.

I saw that Goodwood Festival of Speed.

It was making a sound.

I can't really place one.

Yeah, they make the whirring sounds.

I think the best sound is from the BMWs

because it was done by Hans Zimmer.

The sounds from the BMWs,

they commissioned Hans Zimmer,

the guy that does soundtracks for movies.

They commissioned him to do it.

And that's why I really like the i4.

I think the sound is fantastic.

You only get it in the sports version.

To be honest, I've been secretly looking for the sounds.

I had to get the sounds from the Jetsons

onto the Healy's.

That would be fun.

Oh, the night rider sound.

Talking of night rider,

what do you feel about this news

that they're talking about bringing back night rider?

Because I recently did a video

where I examined all the things that made night rider great

and I concluded that it was impossible to bring it back.

Any reboot would always fail.

And now we're trying.

We're doing it just despite you.

Yes.

That's what it is, yeah.

What was that sound?

I was going to say, why?

Why don't you think there's going to be a good reboot?

Because you know, I think the elements,

there were several elements to that show.

You know what?

I'll give you a quick example.

I was watching, like, Good Morning Breakfast TV show

and one of the celebs on there,

a younger celeb was on there.

And they were discussing this in the news.

And the celeb himself, I can't remember who it was.

I don't know the names of these people.

And he said something that really struck me.

He said, first of all, he's like, what's night rider?

He said, what's night rider?

And I was like, bloody hell.

He doesn't know what night rider.

And he said, I've read about it.

It just sounds like a Tesla.

And I'm like, wow.

So this is the thing.

When night rider happened in 1982,

the idea of a talking car that drove itself

that had all this tech on it, mind-blowing, mind-blowing,

captured your imagination straight away.

Today, we kind of have those, you know,

with AI and with the self-drive.

We kind of have those.

So where do you go from there?

So that's one thing.

Siri Rider.

Sorry?

Siri Rider.

And secondly, I think, you know,

as much as people, and I agree,

David Hasselhoff made that show.

No question about it.

But equally, and perhaps even more,

and in many ways like the Enterprise makes Star Trek,

the 1982 Pontiac Fibre Trans-Am was the star of that show.

There's no question.

There's no question that as kids,

that was the model that we all wanted.

That was the car that we all wanted till this day.

You know, I've driven those.

They're not great, but I still love one

because just because of the iconic status of that car.

So I think for these two reasons,

I don't think Knight Rider can come back unless you somehow

at least bring the Pontiac back.

But they are bringing it back

because some kid finds it in a garage or...

Yeah, you've seen my content, haven't you?

Yeah.

That was my idea.

Oh, that was your idea.

That was my idea.

Yeah, that was my idea.

I was looking for a trailer for it,

and I couldn't find it.

No.

See, my idea that I proposed was to...

You remember the recent Ghostbusters movie?

And they actually did that in the Ghostbusters movie

where the younger generation,

they find the original Ecto-1,

you know, he pulls the covers off it,

and he finds it.

And I think that's how it's got to be.

You've got to rediscover the original kit.

Yeah, but that Ghostbusters film was rubbish.

So was the female version.

You know, the original, they were the best.

And sometimes some things should not be touched,

I think, you know.

I watched Night Rider the other day,

and I just watched it.

I used to watch it.

When I was younger, I used to watch all of them.

I really loved it.

Now as I'm older, I look at it,

and I think,

Oh, oh, really?

It's like $6 million, man.

Again, I used to love it.

Watch it now, and I think,

Oh, really?

Star Trek, I watch it.

Yeah, I still watch it, because it's great.

I love it.

Star Trek was always about the stories.

The sets and the effects are all shit.

I mean, I'm a huge Trekkie,

but I have to say they're all shit.

But it was because of the stories and the philosophies

and what they were talking about.

Exactly.

And to be honest, I've not read it,

come on, would I watch it?

No, I'm not really interested.

My Revice, if it came back.

Yeah, again, stories.

But it has come back.

My Revice has come back in many different parts.

Wasn't that great?

I saw a couple of episodes.

I didn't think it was that great.

No, it was great.

And just like the new Magnum.

I think they did a Magnum,

the new Magnum, didn't they?

That was just like,

Why didn't, why?

Why?

Magnums and Magnum in a relationship.

Oh, my God.

No, no, no, no.

I really don't think a talking car

can be interesting these days.

Because the problem in AI and stuff like that,

I mean, it's all just going to do is tell you,

keep your hands on the wheel.

Exactly, exactly.

And pull you off every now and then.

It's like, shut up.

And that's the thing.

Unless they grow back.

And this is why I think that if they,

if they go big on the nostalgia,

you know, then, you know, like,

nostalgia is big.

So the people are making this reboot.

There's some hope there because it's the same people

that made Cobra Kai,

which was a reboot of Karate Kid.

And then, and I watched Cobra Kai.

I thought it was absolutely brilliant.

I really enjoyed it.

But it really was,

went big and heavy on the nostalgia.

It really did that.

We're all the old characters back and bought the music back.

So, and I think that's one of the reasons that it worked.

And I think that if they did Knight Rider

and they were able to bring the car back

and bring the voice back

and maybe they would artificially generate it or whatever,

maybe it could work.

But I think, you know, we've had,

we've had the Knight Rider version

where they had the Mustang.

That just didn't work.

And then there's been other versions.

It just, it just doesn't work.

You know, even David Hasselhoff,

they brought them, they brought him back in Knight Rider 2000

with a red Pontiac,

was it a Pontiac or no, it was a Dodge concept car.

And it just didn't work.

It just didn't work.

It was like, no, it has to be the 1982 Trans Am.

Hope you enjoyed this video.

Make sure to hit like, share and subscribe

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But buying any of these books will certainly help.

Thanks so much for watching.

We've got, I've just had an invitation from Kuwait, by the way.

So the guy, the guy who's desert,

who's been commenting and asking the questions,

you've obviously really impressed him.

So thank you very much guys.

He's a petrolhead guy here.

Brown car guy, you should come and visit us in Kuwait.

We have a huge classic car scene.

Happy to facilitate, et cetera, et cetera.

By the way, I have been to Kuwait.

I've been to Kuwait twice.

I've been for the Kuwaiti Concourse.

And yes, you guys in Kuwait, you are car mad.

Absolutely bonkers.

They are proper, proper fishinados.

They love their American muscle.

They love their classics.

The Kuwait, the people in Kuwait, the car community,

love you guys.

You guys are amazing.

We have to say that because they just invited you over there.

No, no, genuinely, genuinely.

Us over, not him, us.

Yeah, we didn't get, yeah, we got no invites.

I mean, good to say back in Kuwait until again.

We'll wait to see if we hear back from him.

But I had a talking, was it Poison Dwarf's?

I've had a talking car for the last 39 years

when I got married.

Okay.

Right, no comment.

We just worked for that voice to turn the piece up.

I know how to drive.

So we were at the concourse and you sent me some really nice pictures

that you took of.

You said you were sending me some car pictures of the Esprit in concourse.

What you sent me was porn.

Paraporn.

I took a photograph nude and it was reflections on there.

I wouldn't call it strictly porn.

It's been a photo editing, but it's okay.

So anyway, Esprit celebrating his 50th.

Great car, amazing.

I think war history.

And I've done a couple of videos on car companies

that might be going bust.

And I did a separate video on Lotus.

But, you know, honestly, I think Lotus are in trouble.

And I think that they really should be looking back to their heritage.

And I think that, you know, on the 50th year of the Esprit,

wouldn't it be great to hear an announcement

that the Esprit is coming back?

It's not going to happen.

I mean, you were there.

You didn't see the cars parked up because you arrived late

because you overslept apparently.

But when I took those photographs, we'll be in the book.

I'm having to put a Congress of Elephants book.

And also I'll upload it so people can download it.

But looking at about 12, 11, 12 Esprit.

All different versions.

S4, S2, S1, S3.

You've got the 350 was there as well.

And we had an Essex version.

And it was just, you know, for me, the Lotus Esprit.

And I'm in the front room upstairs, my little room.

And down the road, and it must have been in the late 70s,

one of the neighbours used to have a white S1 or S2.

I can't remember.

It was the early one.

And I used to go out on my little bicycle.

We just, that's, you know, leaning against,

hopefully not leaning, but scratching it,

but leaning against it and looking inside.

And for me, it was so futuristic.

And that stayed with me.

And, you know, it's like, I want one.

I want one so badly when I want an S3.

That's what I want.

I want an S3 and I want it in copper

so that I can put a ski rack on top.

Or a white one.

There's going to be a white one at the Bloomsbury show.

Oh, I'm there. I'm there.

There's going to be a white one.

Is it Peter? Is it Peter?

Maybe.

I love Peter. He's wonderful.

There's an S3 coming tomorrow to the 96 Club event.

He's got the S3 turbo.

And apparently, he still has the original tyres.

Yeah, that's Peter's car.

That's Peter's car.

Yeah, and I've had the original, like, cigarettes in it

or something from Gamer or something.

And he's got this, like, in the back,

he has a display of drinks and stuff.

And he always sticks the fish on the side.

By the way, you guys have got your invite to Kuwait

because he's come back and he said

you are all welcome anytime.

Thank you very much.

Isn't that cool, dude?

I know, I know. You're committed, mate.

The binding contract. I'm an ex-lawyer.

I was just in Malaysia last week

and while I was there, I tried to visit

a couple of classic car restoration companies.

Oh, Darren, you should have told me.

I have a really good friend in Malaysia

who actually has quite a collection of cars there.

So next time you're heading over,

then I'll put you in touch with him.

But yeah, he's got Alfa Romeo.

He's got a police Alfa Romeo

and he's got the uniform and everything as well.

So he goes to car events.

In Malaysia, you have an Italian police Alfa Romeo

with an Italian cop there as well.

No, no, he's one of us.

Oh, okay.

He's a dissie.

Oh, that's fun.

Yeah, I really liked it over there.

I want to go back.

No, let me know when you're going then

because you should do that.

So hang on, so tell me a little bit about

the scene that you saw there because

I am fascinated because he tells me

that it's quite a vibrant scene there.

In Malaysia, I didn't see

any classic cars there.

They're all hidden away.

They're really expensive.

The tax is really high.

It's like 300% of something really silly.

Singapore, Malaysia.

I think Hong Kong, yes.

Singapore, I think.

So Malaysia, I'm not so sure

because I know this friend of mine,

he bought a Peugeot 205 GTI

which actually I reviewed it on the channel

and he shipped that over to Malaysia.

So it's with him now over there.

So he does occasionally buy cars

so I'm guessing that it's not

that prohibitive otherwise he wouldn't be doing that

too much. I didn't really see any classic

cars on my trip because I went to

Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia

and only in Taiwan did I see a few classic cars.

One was an old Trans Am that was just

derelict on the side of the road

and a Land Rover but that was it.

I was surprised that there was just

nobody had their cars out

and nothing.

Definitely next time you go

let me know.

So we've got a few cars

that this year

we have been saying goodbye to

and I've been looking at some of those

and there's several of the

top of my head, there's probably others as well

but we lost cars like the Nissan GTR

we've lost cars like

the Boxster Cayman

and also the Civic Type R.

Do you think that we are

we're in an era where we're losing

the last of the great combustion engine

cars? Do you think that that's what's happening right now?

Why is the Boxster Cayman

going away? Because they're still making the Boxster

No, Boxster Cayman

both have been discontinued

the official reason that they're being

discontinued

and don't forget that the current gen of the Boxster Cayman

the 718 has been out for

nine years now and the official

reason that it's being discontinued is because

of the Data Protection Act

in cars and the technology

required to make sure that you commit to that

Porsche claimed that it would be too

expensive for them to retrofit that into the car

so they're like, well

we're working on a new model anyway

so we're just going to discontinue it because it's just not worth how

well

My opinion, the golden age

of motoring

is dying

we've lived for it

future is just

I don't own a modern car

so I'm still living it

Well my car is old as well

but I think everything

all these cars are going to go

they're going to die down

the GTR as you mentioned that's going to come back to the electric

who wants an electric Nissan GTR

on a side thing

because I did actually look at your article

about the Honda Civic

Type R

and there was a photo

that really

grabbed my attention

do you can see it

Norman Wisdom

you met Norman Wisdom

I've had dinner with Norman Wisdom

that is like

I mean

forget the cars now

what is he doing there

well he lived there, he lived on the Isle of Man

and

my dad was a huge fan

we were all fans obviously but my dad was a massive fan

so at that time we didn't have iPhones and stuff

but I got somebody to take that picture for me

but Honda laid on this incredible event

where they launched that second gen

on the Isle of Man on the TT circuit

and as part of that they had two celebrities

they had the local celebrity who was Norman Wisdom

so he was there he was just hanging out with us

and he was there in the dinner as well

cracking jokes and he did that thing where he does

he does a handkerchief

he turned it into like a rat or a little animal

and he sort of runs around the table

but he was amazing he was absolutely brilliant

and we also had Dougie Lampkin

the incredible motorbike

motorcross rider

who was literally riding up a sheer cliff

like a mountain goat

he's like defying gravity completely

your brain couldn't understand

how is he doing that

but it was an epic epic event

and my abiding memory which I talk about in the video

but I'll just briefly touch on it

was that we were driving

people know the Isle of Man

there's no speed limit outside of towns

so you can actually go as quick as you like

but on this particular event

they also had the police

the police had a cord type R

at that point they said right

we're going to close off this section of the TT circuit

and it's yours

we're like wow just wait down here

we're going to close it off then it's yours

then I think there were seven or eight black

civic type Rs

so this police accord took

once they cleared the road the police accord took off

first one, second one

I think I was in the third one driving up this mountain road

and I'm giving it full power up the road

and then the journalist with me he says

you can use the whole road

I'm like oh yeah

so I cut the first corner

I was about to cut the third one

I think from memory was a right-hander uphill

blind

and a little Volkswagen Polo was coming down the other way

he missed the first two

he missed the first three

and when he got to the bottom he got arrested

he had the fright of his life

we all had the fright of our lives

but he was somewhere where he wasn't supposed to be

so he got arrested for that

but I think he was just lucky to be alive

but the greatest thing about that event was going to the next stop

where the police

this is the police

patrol cops

coming up to each one of us and saying

we hope that didn't spoil your entertainment of the car

we hope you were able to drive it as fast as you wanted

I'm like when does that ever happen

you know what a place

so there's no speed limit sir

how fast can you feasibly go

as fast as you dare

I mean you have got

small allows

because of your skill allows basically

because there are tricky roads

because if you've seen the Arlaman TT circuit

those guys on the bikes

they've either had their brain disconnected

or their fear gland disconnected

completely or they're just the bravest people on the planet

because if you've ever seen those guys

it's terrifying

because it is quite tiny

there are sheer drop offs

and when you get into the villages

because they go fast in the villages as well

it's narrow as hell and bumpy as hell

it's down to skill

but you can outside of town

there's no limit

I was on an event like that once in Italy

and it was for this best of Italy

hill climb type of thing

and they closed the whole road for it

it was like 20 kilometers of road

that they would close

and I was helping them organize it

I was supposed to get like a Fiat 124 Spider

one of the modern ones

but I ended up they ran out of them

and I got a Fiat Panda instead

but I was so surprised

at how well that car handled on those mountain roads

I called it the Panda Express

because I was shooting up and down these roads

knowing there's no one coming down

in the opposite direction you can use the whole road

and that Panda just glued to the road

I was really impressed

next Sunday

I would have come to Yoruba but I'm at Cop Hill

have you ever done, have you been at Cop Hill?

I really want to do that

so I'm doing it

they're doing a cop though right up there

giving a couple of charity rides

I've never done a hill climb

I thought I'd give it a go

I've never heard of that place

I did Shellsley Walsh

let me try and get that and I can never pronounce that correctly

Shellsley Walsh

I did that last year in the BMW E30

and it's a short run

but it's a quick run and it gets very tight

and scary towards the top

so that was pretty exciting

you should go to Yoruba because it shows you what

it's a Bradley Walsh

Bradley Walsh makes cars

you know

he makes Aston Martin copies

it takes a DB9

it changes it

the Poison Dwarf was talking about

the Maestro

if you remember the early Maestro

they had voices in them as well

and they changed it

they changed it to a male voice

and the warranty claim started to drop

what?

it was ruined

say that

Italian males wouldn't take

the female voice seriously

alright I see that's what it was

and then our Kuwaiti friend has come back again

and he says what do you guys make of the new

Honda Prelude

feel like getting the new Shell

and fitting a Mugen Spec type RV tech

into it

because the new Prelude is going to have a hybrid engine

have you guys had a chance to look at this

the Poison Dwarf

the Poison Dwarf says

the oldest UK hill climb

he's doing it on Saturday so you're going to see him there

now I would dispute that

because I was told

that Shellsley Walsh is the oldest

dedicated motorsports facility

in the world

there's a lot of caveats in that

maybe

let's see what he says now

but yeah, Honda Prelude what do you think of it

if you guys had a chance to look at it

it kind of reminds me

of a

just a modern Honda

that's damning with faint praises

I don't know

I have an S2000

an exciting looking car

S2000s are great cars

it looks like a car

it looks like a boy car

it's alright I suppose

yeah, okay

I think it's an important car

in the sense that

it could

be the

revival of coupes

because remember, coupes used to be such a big thing

in the 80s and 90s

and then we kind of lost them because everybody wants SUVs now

but if you remember

at one point the Japanese were turning

everything into coupes

you had a cord coupes, you had Corolla coupes

everything was being turned into coupes

Nissan Sunny coupes, everything

so do you think we're going to see a revival

in cars that are more interesting

such as a coupé format

hmm

sure why not

when I was, my first car

was a Honda Civic

but my first car that I bought knew was a

actually the only car I ever bought knew

was a Honda Civic CRX

which is a cute little thing

and I can still fit three people in

in only two seats

and then after that I was like

I really got tired of lifting the seat forward

to get somebody in the back so I thought

wouldn't it be great to have four doors on a car

I got a BMW

325i

sit down, four doors, I thought that was great

and now it's like

everyone, and I didn't see the point of a coupé

for a long time, it's like

well it's the same car, it's just got extra door

I mean it doesn't matter, I mean it's just easier

and

and now I

it's cleaner lines and things like that

and bigger, wider doors, so it's kind of nicer

but that CRX

those are called classics now

and they're crazy right now, I wish I had kept mine

so I had my car

when we had our first kid, Jeanette

my son

and as you know it had a bench in the back

so it didn't have a seat, it just kind of like had a bench

but I figured out a way

to fasten the baby seat

into that bench in the back

Bungie cords

Bungie cords maybe

I don't know, various straps and things

but the thing was like you said

then opening the door to get to access to the back

we would just open the tailgate

and drop them in from there

the number of looks we used to get at supermarkets

was just dropping the baby into the boot

basically

baby and boot, there should be a little bumper sticker for that

baby and boot

I like the coupes

I mean I think they're great but

my first one was a Capri

lovely beautiful coupes

I had a golf kit, I had two door

Mark II wasn't very good

but I do like it, but then

maybe a golf now, two door or a four door

I'd rather get a four door, maybe because I'm old

and practical but

I don't know, I think

they should come back

whatever they're going to come back, I don't know

but I think they should come back

Do you want to get out of the car to have to get a passenger in the back?

I don't have many friends though, I don't have that problem

Yeah

I'm going to tell you one car

I've been looking out online

I think it's on eBay or somewhere

it's for sale, it's an auto trader

and

£20,000

it's a convertible

it's a Ferrari Daytona

Southern Roadcraft replica

What's it based on?

It's a Jaguar, it's based on a Jaguar

It's a Miami Vice car

and the original

the Miami Vice car was built by

I've got his name now

McMurray or whatever

and he

built the original ones for Miami Vice

Southern Roadcraft was an English company

based on the South Coast

and they built six

and it looks like a Daytona

but it's got a Jaguar engine

and chassis

£20,000

McMurray, buy one of those

drive around

find an old smashed up Ferrari with an engine

and a gearbox, stick it in

and what have you got?

You've got an engine that won't fit because it's the wrong chassis

There's that

I don't have a problem with that honestly

because I know these guys

they turn BMW Z4s

into like Cobra replicas

or Ferrari 250 replicas

and stuff like that

and okay, from a distance

they look convincing and close up

they're still beautifully done but you can tell

but I'm like most people

99% of people won't be able to tell

and you'll be driving around in London

and something that looks like a million dollars

but doesn't cost it

that's wrong with that

I have no problem with

recreations or something like that

I mean I've always

you know the Porsche 356

but I don't want to spend silly money on a car like that

I use it for other things

so why not, I was

really tempted to buy one of the 356 recreations

that you can get out of Florida that had the aluminium body

there's only $25,000

for a long time and it's like

and it's beautiful and it drives

it's just a better car than the original

it looks just like it except the only thing that you know

it's not the original is it's too clean

and too unblemished

but there's a point

that you just made there is where the original

cars are

they're very expensive, they're very costly

they're very valuable, you have to be

you have to be very precious with them

but if you say I mean I don't know what these kits cost

maybe 20 grand

maybe 20, 25 grand built up

maybe 5 grand for a donor car

you're talking within 30 grand you could have a car

that looks like something like a classic Ferrari or Cobra

and you could just beat up on it

because it's like you know what the heck

it's just a modern BMW right

what about the Conquest of Elegance last weekend

which by the way was a fantastic show

there was that Alpha

P33

remember the red one

did I miss it, where was it

it's

oh I know what you meant it was behind the main stage

behind the main stage

yeah that was a replica wasn't it

it was a very expensive replica though

it was built, it was built from scratch

and I'm going to interview the owner

it was beautiful

650,000 pounds

to be honest

to me that doesn't actually

make sense

it's just spending that sort of money

then you won an original car

the original cars millions

yeah but still why

tell me what you guys think about this

but when I hear cars

going up to 200, 300, 400 whatever

but when the cars get into the millions

and millions and millions to me

that doesn't make sense I mean it's just

as beautiful as the Ferrari 250 GTO

as gorgeous and amazing as iconic

I think it is but when you're saying it's 60 million pounds

I'm like come on guys

that's ridiculous

the question is are people buying the car

because they've always wanted one

or are they buying it because they're thinking

do you know what it's going to go up in value

I'm not going to take it

I'm going to buy a classic car

as an investment

I always buy it you know you can store your money

in a bit never expect it to go up in value

that's just bad bad ideas

unless it's a McLaren F1

but Darren do you think a car

is justified at a price

a car let's be honest at the end of the day

a car four-wheeled engine steering wheel

a car is it justified

at 50 million pounds plus

50 million you see the point

I mean stick it in the museum

or put it in the museum where someone can drive it

I mean if somebody's got the spare cast

for that and they want to be the caretaker

of that car temporarily

then great so it's still so it stays

valid and it stays usable and stuff like

that so that's good but

I mean you have to be

a very special case to buy a car

like that

it's very rich as well

but also then where can you use it

how can you use it

amazing deli haze from

that you know art deco designs and stuff

I would love to have one of those as a daily driver

but could you use it as a daily

driver

the most valuable car in the world

what do you think it is

I thought the 250 was it

like the most which could be a more

smaller that's a very good point that's a very good

answer actually Darren yeah the most valuable car

is a car that means the most to you

yeah I was thinking more about money wise

yeah

you're a better man for me Darren

yeah I had an argument with someone online about this

and because I said it was a

BMW M1

that yeah a BMW M1

the mid-engined

supercar that was painted

by Andy Warhol

that would be the most

expensive

automobile ever because

it's owned by BMW they would never sell it

you know Andy Warhol

but I think the BMW

the BMW art car series

is probably diminished by the fact

that there's now so many of them

because they've painted

they've had major artists paint

their entire range of cars over the years

yeah they have yeah the BMW art cars are fun

they're lovely

you ever see them I saw them in shooting

did you go into that

I think I saw a few of them in the UAE

so I don't know if I've seen them here and there

sort of thing

I spent a day and a half

filming them

wonderful and

these are multi-million pound cars

and what separates the public from the cars

was some yellow tape

well it's just in a museum

you go to a museum and you've got paintings on the wall

it's separating you from them a piece of cord

that's true actually

this was in a

multi-story car park that smelled of urine

it was a multi-story car park

and that's a whole other level of patina we're talking about

that is

that is original patina

actually it just

smells of urine

they can afford to put in a bloody toilet

they just

rented out this massive NCP car park

you know it's short did you know it's the old street

the big car park with the American car wash

I don't know what you're talking about with this

I know I used to live there I don't remember this place

when you go from commercial road

commercial road

you go up on the left hand side is a multi-story car park

on the left

I was probably going too fast

around there to have a notice

you were too busy drifting the other way

you weren't looking up you were looking

sideways

we've had our friend from Kuwait

asking a question about

what we think about

he says folding lights I'm assuming it means pop-up lights

pop-up lights obviously

were essentially

outlawed because of pedestrian safety legislation

this is the reason why modern cars don't have them

but of course those of us that remember pop-up lights

we just love them don't we

you go first Darren

I was going to buy myself

another a new car

not a new but a new car so I gave myself

a couple rules buy myself a

it has to work has to go quick

and it can't be a project at all

so and I was going to buy it

I was looking for a 928

those are great

I ended up buying a BMW

a set up that's a project

so I broke all my rules I was an idiot

but it's still going to be a great project

you know the 928 though

I love the pop-up

but Darren the 928

from what I know

mechanics fear

that car

they run the other direction when they see

that's how you know because they're beautiful

cars they're lovely they were way ahead of their time

the design lives even today

it looks modern

everything I've heard is like it's a nightmare

people run the other way from it

and the lights

but I love them but it's like

I want to deal with vacuum

vacuum light system and stuff like that

it's like where's the leak

you have to submerge the car to find the leak

and it's like

come on

submerge the car yeah like a risky business

I was in December last year

I was rocking one in Dubai

because I had the use of one of those

I was working on the Millimilia

and I had one that belonged to

I think it was the Gargash family

so you know big family they owned the Mercedes dealerships

and stuff so they had lent some of the cars

for us to use and I had the use of that car

and it was just very cool

to be in that car

and drive around

but I have to say I was driving around going

is that noise correct?

should that sound like that?

all the time I was a little bit like

because we were doing lots of distances as well

because it was the Millimilia we were going all around the UAE

but it was very cool to get in it and get out of it

but when I was in it I was kind of

half the time I was like am I going to make it

there was an amazing hot potato

you're saying

I had a free foray

that had pop-up headlights

and some of them were still working

so you were driving around with one headlight up

and one down

you know

it was something like that

or they wouldn't come up and then you'd have to get them

and it was just

I like them as an owner

apart from when they go wrong

I love them

well a mutual friend of ours

and Darren might probably remember

Kevin had the BMW 850 right?

yeah he did

I remember

a few times when I was riding with him

he was like I got to put the headlights on

so pull over and get out and then actually wind them up

I like him as an owner

but as a photographer

I don't like him because it just ruins

the look of the photograph

unless I want it in front of the camera

I like him down

but you know

when the lights are up

you capture it from a low angle

it's tremendous

yeah but you know what sometimes I get people coming towards me

and they stick their headlights

the pop-up headlights come up and I'm figuring out

I'll put them down

it doesn't look right

it doesn't look what I want it

as a photographer I don't like him

but as an owner you can't go wrong with pop-up headlights

I don't know how dangerous are they

you can definitely go wrong with pop-up headlights

because they just don't work half the time

they weren't that dangerous

but the idea of pedestrian legislation

which obstructs the movement of a pedestrian

over the car

can cause further injury

so that's why you don't get bonnet ornaments

because again they can cause an injury

or you do on the Rolls Royce

and this is why they have to collapse in

so they immediately collapse in

they immediately fold

yeah

little Ellie in the 90

has to duck into the bonnet as soon as she sees danger

coming

focus of elegance

has very 1950

must be 1950s, 1960s Ferrari

and it had these

two circular

circles

really at the front

which basically are lights that come up

they swivel out

and that I thought was quite interesting

I didn't see them come up

but they were there and a friend of mine

who knows all about cars he goes he had actually lights

but in the 1950s and 60s

they had some tremendous

I remember Darren will know

some old American cars had incredible

mechanisms for lights

like the lights behind grills and stuff like that

oh yeah

there's some really cool hidden headlights

on some of these old cars

one thing I find interesting about American cars

even though I'm not a big American car fan

is that they had a really interesting

way of doing things on their cars

they're a bit like French cars where they just did things

differently

I didn't wonder why did they do it that way

I mean shifting gears by pressing buttons

on the dashboard it's kind of cool

and having

all these different types of

inventions they came up with and threw it in the car

having lights that are behind the grill

and the grill kind of like

does something so it can see the lights better

or just the covers

there's lots of American cars

that covers over the lights and they just

slide away which is kind of

I think the first pop-up lights were on an American car

I can't remember what it was

but it was in the Fenders wasn't it

I think it would come around like that right

I can't remember

maybe somebody can comment on that

but also am I imagining it

or I think because normal pop-up lights

just sort of pop up like that

but I think even in the Corvette

is it the C4 or the C5

they kind of do a rotational thing don't they

they sort of go round the other way

and then the lights sort of come up

the Corde 810 had amazing

pop-up headlamps

just stunning

yeah I think it is the Corde

I think that's the one I'm thinking of

yeah amazing

absolutely incredible

but you're not frozen are you guys

you're going very quiet

I'm just admiring the Corde

which is the Corde

I was looking at car porn again

I was looking at car porn

car porn

Corde is a C-O-R-D Corde

Corde

yeah I don't see any pop-up lights

on the Corde 810

Corde 810

they're in the wings

they're in the fenders, I think they come around like that

oh you're right, they're in the wings

so they kind of like somehow rotate

it's actually similar to the Ferrari ones

it's the same kind of thing

like the Ferrari one that we saw last week

hidden away, done these in lights

we're interesting

so guys we've run out the clock

and I'll tell you we could probably talk

for the rest of the afternoon

but maybe there should be

we should save some of that for the next time

we do this

but thank you so much

for taking the time today

I hope everybody viewing has enjoyed this

so I hope you guys enjoyed the show

absolutely, thank you

lovely, great, it's always, thank you very much

I feel lighter

the therapy session has worked

the therapy session is working

it always works, always feel better

that's good, I'm glad to hear

we've had great show guys, really enjoyed it

thank you so much for those of you

that have stuck with us through this hour

we hope you enjoyed it, we will be back again

stay tuned, keep it locked to Brown Car Guy

and don't forget to follow these guys

Sai on the Driver's Union

it's at the Driver's Union isn't it

on all the channels

and yours is at Waterloo Classics

for Darren

and of course you can see Darren and myself

Sai you might join us as well next Sunday

no, I'm at the Park Hill

you're somewhere else, okay

we will both be in central London

if you want to come down and say hello it would be great to see you

so until next time, thank you so much guys

thanks for joining us and thanks to you guys

see you gents for joining us today

shout out time guys

thank you so much

hey, if you enjoy my content, why not get involved

buy me a coffee, you can do that

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buy me a thanks or take out a membership

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About this episode

Darren and Si engage in a lively discussion about classic cars, electric conversions, and the future of automotive design. They share insights on upcoming events like the Bloomsbury Classic Car Show, debate the merits of electric classic cars versus traditional combustion engines, and express their opinions on the controversial new Ferrari Testarossa. The episode also touches on the nostalgia of pop-up headlights, the challenges of modern car legislation, and the cultural significance of classic models. With a mix of humor and expertise, the hosts provide a comprehensive look at the evolving automotive landscape.

Aston Martin DB9 Audi S3 BMW 3 Series BMW M1 (E26) Chevrolet Corvette Datsun Sunny Dodge Challenger Dodge Charger Ferrari 250 GTO Ferrari Daytona SP3 Fiat 124 GT Abarth Fiat 124 Spider Ford Capri Ford Mustang Honda Civic Honda Civic CRX Honda Prelude Honda S2000 Lamborghini Countach Lotus Esprit McLaren F1 Nissan GT-R Peugeot 205 CTI Peugeot 205 GTI Porsche 356 Porsche 928 Porsche Boxster Porsche Cayman Renault 5 E-Tech Electric Toyota Corolla Toyota Supra Volkswagen Golf

Original notes

Welcome to another BrownCarGuy Therapy Session - the unfiltered, unscripted podcast where car guys let it all out!

In this episode, I’m joined by Sy of Drivers Union and Darren Sullivan Vince - founder of Waterloo Classics Car Club and Bloomsbury Classic Car Show - for a lively, passionate, and often hilarious discussion on the state of car culture today.

We ask the big questions:

🎯 Is the new Ferrari 849 Testarossa a styling flop or misunderstood genius?

🎯 Have fake engine noises in EVs gone too far?

🎯 Will the Knight Rider reboot crash harder than KITT ever could?

🎯 Is the golden era of the car really ending?

From skyrocketing cost of hosting car events, to driving wars in London, to whether it’s right to be converting classics to electric - we dive into it all.

We touch on:

- 50 years of the Lotus Esprit

- Goodbye to the Nissan GT-R, Boxster/Cayman & Civic Type R

- Why a new Audi C concept might actually be hopeful

- Whether classic car culture can survive in the age of digital content

And why the real value in cars today might just be found in nostalgia, passion, and good company.

🗣️ Join the conversation! What’s your take – are we witnessing the burnout of car culture, or is this just the beginning of a new era?

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🎧 Also available as audio podcast on all major platforms.

📌 Watch the previous Therapy Session here: https://youtu.be/xl7QpvxrwyE

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