I met this kid the other day – Milan is his name – and he said he does car reviews. I yawned, as I compared car review shows / websites to cooking shows and websites. They’re invariably a duplicate of each other. Boy was I wrong..

I sat down for coffee with Milan, to discuss what he is doing differently.

His website, Milan On Cars (milanoncars.com), is looking at the largely forgotten aspect of design in mainstream automotive culture. He wants to remove the idea of price from the idea of value in automotive terms.

Focusing on what gives the feeling of seeing something mechanically perfect and visually exhilarating – without the emphasis or need for a massive price tag. After all, that doesn’t necessarily equal massive excitement, does it?

We attribute value to these items (as cars become more of a statement of style) with each car having a provenance of sorts. The De Tomaso Mangusta from the Kill Bill films may feel more valuable to an individual than any sum of money could articulate in objective financial terms. The most ‘valuable’ car is not always the most desired and I’d like to show this throughout the automotive world. A priceless Pagoda may not be able to touch the sentimental value a Mk1 Golf GTI holds for someone. This is the idea.

On that note, he explains that price will obviously always be a factor, but it must be shown that the cost of something doesn’t necessarily translate into it’s true value as a car.

There are ways to experience automotive excitement without actually breaking into a bank. Another focus of Milan on Cars  is on finding some of the many beautiful roads and locations to film the cars on. Why aren’t South African mountain passes in the same class as the equivalent in Europe or America?

“I always wonder why we don’t focus a little more on some of the incredible beauty we have in our backyard,” commented Milan.

Ditto that, Milan. Anyone who’s driven Chapman’s Peak or, my personal favourite, de Waal Drive (Richard Neville calls it “The Challenge) would surely agree!

Let’s show some support and check out milanoncars.com – tell your friends about it. It’s cool and people need to know.

He’s doing some pretty cool video reviews as well – see here.