The Late Brake Show is the YouTube channel of motoring journalist, TV presenter & creative content maker Jonny Smith, aka CarPervert
The [Jonny Smith] Late Brake Show is a YouTube platform and website that blends the broadest church of automotive appreciation; from EV to V8, from classic barn-finding to project cars and future tech, Jonny delivers considered, experienced and (hopefully) entertaining fresh car content .
From The Late Brake Show. Barn Find 90s V8 Luxury Car // 1 owner, 11k miles in 30yrs! Join barnfind carpervert Jonny Smith as he discovers a one owner 1992 big Japanese saloon that’s been sat in a Norfolk barn for many years. It has been owned by the same family since new, and was…
From The Late Brake Show. Slowest new car on sale? Stylish. Fun. Holiday ready. On this new car episode of The Late Brake Show Jonny Smith is in Southern France to review a box fresh revival of a classic – this is the Cassis Eden. It is based upon Citroen’s Mehari all-terrain 2cv based buggy.…
From The Late Brake Show. The last of the V8s – Driving the Mad Max Interceptor. The movie franchise of MadMax turning 45 this year, and bringing with it another film – Furiosa – Jonny Smith celebrates this Australian ultimate car and motorcycle movie that launched the career of Mel Gibson. Is this the original…
From The Late Brake Show. Barn Find Classic Toyota Twin Cam Coupe 70s Survivor! Will it run? In this special barnfind episode Jonny Smith heads to Norfolk to meet the nephew of the late owner of this incredible survivor Toyota Celica liftback twin cam 2000 GT. Such a car in the UK is now so…
From The Late Brake Show. Tiff back on track in a Sierra RS500 Cosworth Touring Car (old Top Gear spec). In this special episode Jonny Smith arranges for Tiff Needell to return to an iconic 1989 episode of Top Gear, where he tested an RS500 Cosworth Sierra against his Group A Labatts race car –…
From The Late Brake Show. Private Car Cave Garage Tour – One woman’s £1m Toyota, Jag XJ220 and 40 others. Welcome to a special car collection episode, where Jonny Smith visits Jane Weitzmann in Worcestershire’s barn full of eclectic automotive treasures. Jane has a lifelong love of classics, supercars and quirky vehicles ranging from bubble…
From The Late Brake Show. Thanks for stopping by The Late Brake Show. To watch FabCo’s progress on the car’s build in more detail please head over to their YT channel: https://www.youtube.com/fabcoukFollow him for his own British Leyland hellraiser car build – the twin turbo Jag V6 RWD converted Austin PrincesS Type Why not join…
From The Late Brake Show. New Renault 5 GT Turbo returns for 2024 // Alpine A290 First Look Review. Jonny Smith heads to a secret location in Paris to spend a short time looking over the important Alpine A290 electric hot hatch. This is Alpine’s first hot hatch (since the brand was reborn anyway) and…
From The Late Brake Show. Microlino – the New EV city Bubble Car that gets more attention than a Bugatti. stunt Scooter company. In this episode Jonny Smith finally drives a finished Microlino electric urban car built by a stunt scooter company that has one door, three battery packs (and ranges), four wheels and should…
From The Late Brake Show. Barn Find Rare 80s classic – bought 40 years ago, parked for 20! Will it run? In this barnfind episode Jonny Smith ventures to a farm in rural Shropshire, where Pete Jones reveals he’s owned this lesser known German ‘hot saloon’ since it was 4 years old. He shared it…
From The Late Brake Show. Classic Car Auctions CCA preview walk – Classic and Performance Spectacular Sale. Join Jonny Smith (in 4k) as he grabs a catalogue and explores the 160 lots going on sale from Saturday June 1st at Tatton Park in Cheshire. These are interesting times in the classic market, and many lots…
From The Late Brake Show. Is this the World’s Fastest Camper Van? Cosworth Ford Escort Mk1 (literal) Sleeper. In this special Van Life episode Jonny Smith meets Daryl Fletcher from Nottingham, who has rescued and modified his classic mk1 Escort Nimbus camper into a Cosworth YB engined sleeper. It sleeps 4 people (at a push!)…
From The Late Brake Show. The TOUGHEST New Car in the World is a Toyota LandCruiser 70 series – full review. In this episode Jonny Smith drives a brand new Toyota Land Cruiser pick up and station wagon (or Troop carrier) and wonders whether this car (designed in the 1980s) is the most future-proof new…
From The Late Brake Show. Barn Find 80s Hot Hatch Survivor Classic Car – will it run? Welcome to a special barnfind episode, where Jonny Smith finds himself in Sussex to learn about how this 2.0-litre hot hatch Vauxhall Astra GTE was preserved by a family so beautifully. If you like digital dashes and NACA…
From The Late Brake Show. New 2025 ‘T7’ Volkswagen California first look – Best Vanlife VW camper yet? Jonny Smith goes to Spain to have a detailed first tour around what replaces the T6 camper van. This won’t be the T7, as that is the commercial van partnership with Ford’s Transit. Instead, VW are using…
From The Late Brake Show. Will Trialling Wreck our Modified New car? Lands End Trial Finale // Part 3. In this full length episode Jonny Smith and Sion Ellis from Auto Max https://www.automax-wales.com/ take their new Kia ‘Cant’ Picanto 1.0 turbo GT Line on the 100th Landsend Trial. This may be the most cost effective…
From The Late Brake Show. New Car on the World’s Oldest (Cheapest) Motorsport // Lands End Trial Part 2. In this episode Jonny Smith convinces Kia to let him take a brand new Picanto GT Line on the Landsend Trial. This may be the most cost effective motorsport left, but it’s definitely not the mildest.…
From The Late Brake Show. Punishing a Brand New Car in the World’s Oldest (Cheapest!) Motorsport // Lands End Trial Part 1. In this episode Jonny Smith convinces Kia to let him take a brand new Picanto GT Line on the Landsend Trial. This may be the most cost effective motorsport left, but it’s definitely…
From The Late Brake Show. New Mercedes G Wagen goes EV – Better than G63 AMG? Detailed First look G Class G580 EQ Tech. In this episode the wraps are off the production electric G Wagen, and Jonny Smith gets a deep dive into the full spec of this 4 motor, 300 mile range torque…
From The Late Brake Show. Sat in a Farm yard for 20yrs! 200mph Barn Find 90s Sports car Rescued. In this special barnfind episode Jonny Smith discovers a unicorn American muscle car which was a near 400bhp, 200mph Porsche 911 Turbo beating weapon when launched in 1989. Rare in the USA, but even rarer here…
From The Late Brake Show. Britain’s Cheapest Boxster Project Part 2 – Fixing my First Porsche. In this episode Jonny Smith finally collects his bargain 2002 2.7 Boxster that cost £1900, takes it for an MoT and drives it over 200 miles home in biblical wind and rain. After that we document changing the troublesome…
From The Late Brake Show. Classic Renault 4 and 5 Restomod review – would you modify classics like this? Thanks for stopping by The Late Brake Show. Based in France, RFit (https://rfitvintage.com/) is a specialist outfit for developing government approved EV conversion kits for direct fit into classic 2CV, Renault 4 and Renault 5. Why…
From The Late Brake Show. Barn Find 1 Owner Nissan with 90s British Touring Car history – will it run? In this special genuine barnfind video Jonny Smith heads to Hertfordshire to meet Neil Turner, who fell in love with the 90s hot saloon Nissan Primera GT for its legendary SR20 engine and over-engineered independent…
From The Late Brake Show. NEW Mercedes G Wagen First Look. Is the G63 AMG / G500 still king of SUVs?Welcome to the walk around new car episode of The Late Brake Show with Jonny Smith. This is the new 2024 Mercedes G Class in both V8 AMG and G500 (now a straight six engine,…
From The Late Brake Show. Why the World’s SLOWEST Motorsport is also the Most FUN. In this special episode Jonny Smith headed to a Southern French ski resort to take part in possibly the world’s slowest motorsport – racing Citroen 2CVs on ice. Never has 15 mph been more entertaining. With spiked tyres, less than…
From The Late Brake Show. Why 2CV Ice Racing is the Funniest Motorsport – Fwd drifting. In this special episode Jonny Smith headed to a Southern French ski resort to take part in possibly the world’s slowest motorsport – racing Citroen 2CVs on ice. Never has 15 mph been more entertaining. With spiked tyres, less…
From The Late Brake Show. Classic Car Auctions CCA preview walk – how has the market changed? Join Jonny Smith as he takes a look at the 220+ lots appearing on sale at this weekend’s CCA auction event within the Practical Classics Restoration Show at Birmingham’s NEC (viewing starts Friday 22nd March): https://www.classiccarauctions.co.uk/ Practical Classics…
From The Late Brake Show. Barn Find of classic Volkswagens (closed VW dealership). In this episode Jonny Smith is invited to the deceased estate of a family who used to run a Volkswagen main dealer during the 1960s to 80s in the west Midlands. Multiple cars discovered, including British vintage machines and VW parts galore.…
From The Late Brake Show. Kia EV9 Review – Is this 7-seater EV family SUV what Land Rover should be making? The £65,000 349-mile range EV9 is Kia’s flagship car comes with either 6 or 7 seats. The boot is huge, the cabin is capacious, it will crack 0-60 in 5 secs and it looks…
From The Late Brake Show. Kia EV9 Review – Is this 7-seater EV family SUV what Land Rover should be making? The £65,000 349-mile range EV9 is Kia’s flagship car comes with either 6 or 7 seats. The boot is huge, the cabin is capacious, it will crack 0-60 in 5 secs and it looks…
From The Late Brake Show. Digging out 2 x Mini Cooper Barn Finds. Abandoned 1 owner cars. Will they run? In this barnfind episode Jonny Smith heads to an overgrown garden in Bedfordshire where the late owner had bought and driven two generations of Mini Cooper before mysteriously parking them up after 10 years of…
From The Late Brake Show. The Renault 5 is the most exciting new car of 2024 – first look detailed review. Following in the tyre treads of Fiat’s 500 and the new Mini, Renault has waited 52 years to launch an all-new (all electric) vibrant and unashamedly French Renault 5 to the market. With two…
From The Late Brake Show. Part 10: Austin Allegro Type R Sleeper K20 Turbo build. It has been longer than we’d wanted since the last installment of Jonny Smith’s street sleeper Honda Civic Type R powered Allegro, but in this episode progress on the car’s rigidity and safety are the primary focus. Strut braces and…
From The Late Brake Show. 2024 Dacia Spring EV first look – is this the best value NEW electric car? The new electric car from Dacia is finally confirmed for UK sale, and it could be as cheap as £15,000. Using a platform from Renault Nissan in China, the Spring is a small 4 seat…
From The Late Brake Show. Barn Find 80s Tuner BMW survivor – will it run? Welcome to a special barnfind episode (although in truth Jonny Smith didn’t need many tools for this one) involving an exceptionally rare 1980s E34 BMW made by German tuning house Hartge. Thanks for stopping by The Late Brake Show. DO…
From The Late Brake Show. Citroen 2CV 4×4 Sahara – Driving the Land Rover rival sold with TWO ENGINES. Best offroad car ever? Is this the only car that has been factory built and sold with more than one engine? Modern hybrids aside, we think the rarest 2CV could well be. In this episode Jonny…
From The Late Brake Show. Barn Find classic BMW discovery – Is this the rarest (first?) BMW Touring ever made? In this special barnfind episode of The Late Brake Show Jonny Smith discovers a 1970s BMW E3 coachbuilt estate that is perhaps one of only 12 ever made. Commissioned by BMW UK this 2500 automatic…
From The Late Brake Show. New Polestar 4 EV detailed First Look – why the classy electric family car has NO REAR WINDOW. Welcome to the new walk round video, where Jonny Smith gets the inside look on design and spec of Polestar’s latest 380-mile range car. This is the Polestar 2, and Jonny talks…
From The Late Brake Show. Private Car Cave tour – features The Beast and every classic you can think of! This episode of The Late Brake Show is a car collex Take back your personal data with Incogni! Use code LATEBRAKE at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: http://incogni.com/latebrake Thanks for…
From The Late Brake Show. Controversial Restomod Datsun 240Z…. with Drift Mode. Upcycled EV Restomod Datsun 240Z with Drift mode. In this episode Jonny Smith gets under the skin (and behind the wheel) of a bespoke built classic (divisive!) Datsun Z that is a masterclass in upcycled modern hybrid and EV car components. There’s been…
From The Late Brake Show. Barn Find Ford Capri Mk1in London. Welcome to a new barnfind episode, where Jonny Smith helps to dig out a 1972 mk1 Ford Capri that has been sat since the early 1980s. Bought new by the owner’s Godmother, this mk1 classic Ford didn’t have an easy life, but it has…
From The Late Brake Show. Barn Find Ford Capri Mk1 // The Late Brake Show. Welcome to a new barnfind episode, where Jonny Smith helps to dig out a 1972 mk1 Ford Capri that has been sat since the early 1980s. Bought new by the owner’s Godmother, this mk1 classic Ford didn’t have an easy…
From The Late Brake Show. Here’s why this new Honda EV sequel makes me sad – Honda e:Ny1 Review. Is this the best Honda could do? After breaking the internet 4+ years ago with their cartoonish Honda E city car, this is Honda’s second new electric car – a more family friendly offering with HRV…
From The Late Brake Show. My Project Car Round-Up. What classics I own and why I couldn’t resist rescuing 2 more…. In this long awaited episode Jonny Smith details all the vehicles he currently owns, what the plans are for them in 2024 and what jobs they need doing. Thanks for stopping by The Late…
From The Late Brake Show. The Ultimate Upcycled Resto Mod? Divisive Datsun 240Z with Drift mode. In this episode Jonny Smith gets under the skin (and behind the wheel) of a bespoke built classic Datsun Z that is a masterclass in upcycled modern hybrid and EV car components. There’s been many 2JZ, RB26 and LS…
From The Late Brake Show. The Best Barn Finds of 2023 // The Late Brake Show. Welcome to a compilation episode of our best barnfind classic car discoveries this year. Jonny Smith looks back at his favourite parts of the 20 (!) barn finds he has uncovered this year alone. Revisit the emotion, the dust…
From The Late Brake Show. Driving the Ultimate Spec NEW MST Restomod // Millington Diamond 2.7. Welcome to the new episode, where Jonny Smith heads back to North Wales where MST Cars (MotorSport Tools) manufacture brand new ‘Escort’ Mk1 and Mk2 restomods to order. With an engine and gearbox combo worth almost £50,000 alone, this…
From The Late Brake Show. Classic MG purists will HATE this! Drift spec Outlaw, Engine swapped Hot Wheels winner. Jonny Smith gets the story and test drive of one of a Classic MG like you’ve never seen – probably the most unique custom MG projects – by young Yorkshireman Mike Wallhead. Mike built the whole…
From The Late Brake Show. JDM 4×4 Daihatsu Kei Monster Truck review – Who needs a Tesla Cybertruck? In this episode Jonny Smith exclusively reviews a new Daihatsu Hijet Pickup Truck with switchable full low-range 4×4 drivetrain, lifted suspension and an economical 660cc engine. Imported by Motoyama www.mydaihatsu.co.uk this Kei mini truck sits between agricultural…
From The Late Brake Show. The Cutest Classic Car Barn Find discovery – will it run? Join Jonny Smith as he visits the Foster family in Wigan to unearth what ends up being two classic British cars – one in the garage and one sat outside under a tarpauline in the backyard. There’s even a…