Autocar's best photos of 2018

Each year our photographers take thousands of pictures of hundreds of cars in locations all around the globe. Here are a few of their favourites

Autocar

29 December 2018

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Autocar photographers are among the most talented snappers in journalism. Accompanying our writers on road tests, features, interviews and launches, they provide photos that can make the most mundane car look like a movie star.

This year, our camera crew hung out of passenger windows on Anglesey Circuit, got up close and personal with the latest supercars and created renders that predict the design of the most important upcoming models.

Here's a selection of their favourite photographs featured in Autocar magazine during 2018.
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Acura NSX in Oatman, Route 66 – Luc Lacey

Luc, would you like to travel across Route 66 in an Acura NSX? “Yes” was the predictable reply, Lacey wavering only when hearing he’d have to spend 10 days in the car with Matt Prior. An old mining camp near Oatman provided the only winding roads, yet stunning photos documented the whole trip.
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McLaren 600LT on Grossglockner Pass, Austria – Olgun Kordal

Olgun Kordal found a similarly stunning location on Austria’s Grossglockner Pass en route from Hungary to the UK in a McLaren 600LT.
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New Stratos in Turin, Italy – Stan Papior

Stan Papior didn’t struggle to make the bright blue new Stratos look splendid in the hills around Turin.
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Ford F150 Raptor in The Cotswolds (sort of) – Luc Lacey

Lacey had his work cut out with the F150 Raptor on an old housing estate in the Cotswolds.
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Ferrari 488 Pista on Anglesey Circuit – Luc Lacey

“Choosing to go to Anglesey in October is a tad risky for weather,” says Lacey, a man who climbs wet Scottish hills for fun. “Most would avoid sticking their head out of a car travelling at 40mph in the pouring rain, but it was great fun shooting this.”
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Alpine A110, Abarth 124 Spider, Ford Focus RS on Slate Mountain, Wales – Stuart Price

Speaking of wet hills, one of the more memorable shoots this year was Stuart Price’s trip to the gravel roads of Wales Rally GB in three modern-day rally-bred road cars.
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Rolls-Royce Cullinan render – Ben Summerell-Youde

Some designs are more predictable than others. German car makers tend to follow a Russian doll theme, so our in-house designer Ben Summerell-Youde has been quite good at predicting how new models will look. Others are trickier. Ben’s side profile of the Rolls-Royce Cullinan was spookily accurate but, whisper it, perhaps a bit easier on the eye than the real thing.
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Jaguar XK render – Ben Summerell-Youde

Ben has surely the best design job in the industry: why create cars for one brand when you can do it for them all? His favourites this year include several reborn icons. For the Jaguar XK, tipped to return alongside the next-gen F-Type, Ben made the roadster’s lines into something longer and lower.
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Land Rover Defender render – Ben Summerell-Youde

Ben has had several attempts at the reborn Land Rover Defender in recent years. “Whatever they do, there’ll be some kind of backlash,” he says. Ben’s take on the 90 Commercial variant was his most recent favourite.
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Lotus Esprit render – Ben Summerell-Youde

A Lotus Esprit is rumoured to be making a comeback, too. “I wanted to make this as desirable as any of the latest mid-engined Ferraris or McLarens,” says Ben.
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Tesla Model 3 in San Francisco – Stan Papior

The verdict on the Tesla Model 3, the electric BMW 3 Series for the masses, was one of the year’s most anticipated. Stan Papior and Matt Prior teamed up in San Francisco to tell the story with words and pictures.
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G&A Fabrications, Walton-on-Thames – Luc Lacey

The panel-beating workshop at G&A Fabrications in a quiet corner of Surrey is about as far removed from Tesla in San Fran as you can get, and it allowed Luc Lacey to step back in time and capture Colin Goodwin getting his beard dirty.
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McLaren Speedtail – Olgun Kordal

Olgun Kordal took us back to the future with his memorable Speedtail pics. How was it done? “A dark studio, a slippery shape and a long exposure with some light painting,” says Olgun.
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Bentley Continental GT in York – Luc Lacey

“I was really pleased with this one” are the big words on this Bentley picture from Luc Lacey, a man who’s normally too cool to like things. “Framing the car between the contorted trunk and the classic-looking lamp post and railings, plus a bit of luck with the figure walking through the frame, helped make it.”
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Citroën CEO Linda Jackson in Paris – Stan Papior

There’s plenty to enjoy in the composition of Stan Papior’s people pictures, as this shot of Citroën CEO Linda Jackson shows.
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Aston Martin DBS Superleggera, Brecon Beacons – Olgun Kordal

Olgun Kordal gives away a trade secret in revealing the DBS is doing no more than 20mph here despite the drama apparently captured in the picture.
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McLaren 720S render – Ben Summerell-Youde

How close was Ben with the McLaren 720S? So near, and yet so far. He was thrown by the camouflage of the front-end and headlight design on the test mules, thinking the lights hidden on the test car would never make production. But they did. “Now I’ve seen a few up close and had a chance to admire its design, I think it’s an absolutely stunning car,” says Ben.

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