Lionel
Site concept built with Claude that values your current car, recommends three alternatives based on what you would keep or change, and earns a referral fee if you buy through a marketplace.
Most car searches start with filters. Lionel starts with the car you already own.
It estimates what your current car is worth, asks what you would keep, what you would change and what matters most to you, then recommends three cars that actually fit.
If one catches your eye, Lionel connects you to matching listings on Auto Trader, Carwow, MOTORS, CarGurus and others. If you buy a car, Lionel earns a referral fee.
The idea was heavily influenced by my mother-in-law, who knew what she liked about her Audi Q7 but not what cars could replace it without hours of research. Testing the flow with her helped shift Lionel from a generic questionnaire towards a conversation grounded in a car she already understood.
This is the most amazing thing ever. I wish someone had built it when I was looking for my car.
- Mother-in-law
Claude helped me move from idea to concept to working prototype in a day, supporting research, product logic, design, development and image production. It accelerated the process, but the thinking, judgement and iteration were still very much part of it.
It also let me quickly explore an advertising idea. Lionel was intended to feel like a friendly adviser — “Have you tried asking Lionel?” — with a nod to Lionel Richie. In the ad, a woman spots a car outside a café and sings, “Hello, is this the car I’m looking for?”
Lionel is still very much a prototype. There’s plenty to validate - valuations, recommendations, live inventory and particularly whether the referral model stacks up commercially. But in a day I could turn an idea into something tangible enough to use, question and test. And really, that’s the bit I enjoy most — working out what to build, how it should work and whether it’s worth building in the first place.
