The best photos from Autocar in 2023

Autocar Best Photos 2023

It was a busy year in the world of motoring, with an incredible variety of machines

Photographers Max Edleston and Jack Harrison pick out their favourite photos from the past year

The skill of Autocar’s superb photographers, Max Edleston and Jack Harrison, helps to bring our plain-black-and-white words to life.

Here, the duo picks out their favourite photos from the past year in the wonderful – and often weird – world of everything automotive.

Ford Ranger vs Jeep Wrangler

Max has fond memories of our Ford Ranger Raptor and Jeep Wrangler face-off. “I’ve never been covered in more mud in my life,” he recalls.

Garage24 Le Mans Nascar doing burnout as Goodwood Festival of Speed

More glamorously, Jack captured Nascar’s ‘Garage 56’ Le Mans entry at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. “It was great to see Jenson Button hop behind the wheel and do the biggest burnouts I’ve ever seen,” he says.

Ferrari Purosangue driving through Italian hills – viewed from above

It’s a hard life snapping pictures of a Ferrari Purosangue in northern Italy, isn’t it, Max? Taking advantage of the beautiful landscape, Max used his drone to create this particular one. 

Toyota GR Supra in Wales - rear, parked

Back down to earth, or rather a wet Wales, Jack borrowed our long-term Toyota GR. Supra for a weekend and reckons this shot sums it up perfectly: “A red missile cutting through the dark clouds over Snowdonia.”

Volkswagen ID Buzz at sunrise – front quarter parked

Or how about Cornwall in January with a Volkswagen ID Buzz? “It was a very cold winter’s morning on the south-west coast,” says Max. “Not the most enjoyable experience, but the chill was worth it for this shot.”

GSR Can Am X3 jumping at Goodwood Festival of Speed – side 

Fast forward to summer, Max also captured this off-road buggy at Goodwood: “I think the photo shows perfectly the insane mix of skill and speed needed to get this jump.”

Unimog driving through water splash – front

This shoot was a “dream come true”, says Jack, who was first impressed by a Unimog in Regent’s Park when he was 10: “This go-anywhere vehicle is much faster than you think, and this image captures that pretty well.”

Garage24 Le Mans Nascar in pit stop – side

A second entry here for the Nascar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, this time at Le Mans. Max says: “There was so much hype around this entry, it would have been mad not to have taken the opportunity to get a big image of the standout team, car and garage.” 

Kia Picanto driving through Irish countryside – front

Jack was particularly happy with the Kia Picanto snaps, having not shot many road trips before: “The tiny Picanto was dwarfed by Ireland’s incredible landscape. Shame the car wasn’t a brighter colour…”

Jeep Avenger driving through tunnel in Austria – rear quarter

There’s always a story behind each shot, as Max explains: “The stress of getting the Jeep Avenger up a mountain to an electric charger with 0% range left was an interesting experience. Once we were sorted and onto the Grossglockner High Alpine Road, the fog had set in, and driving through the mountain tunnel in dead silence was a moment to savour.”

Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato powersliding on gravel – front

Jack reckons it’s almost impossible to take a bad photo of the Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato: “Its low profile looks utterly extreme away from the Tarmac.”

Triumph TR4 parked in Bicester Heritage garage – front quarter

On the Triumph TR4, Jack says: “Sometimes you stumble into nice shots – and this was one of them. The race-prepped TR4 caught my attention as soon as I entered Classic Performance Engineering’s Bicester workshop. The building itself seemed to draw your eye to the beautiful 1960s coupé.”

Autocar’s best renderings of 2023

Our rendering superhero is Ben Summerell-Youde, whose Clark Kent-like day job as Autocar’s picture editor helps to keep his eye in for the latest automotive styling trends. His three favourite designs for us this year are from three iconic brands: Alfa Romeo, Alpine and Ferrari.

Alfa Romeo GTV successor render – front quarter

On the Alfa, he says: “It was great fun trying to recreate the overall shape and boxy body mass of the original SZ. I particularly like the short wheelbase, stocky rear end and all-black pillars and roof.”

Alpine A310 EV render – front quarter

He reckons the Alpine A310 was “desperately crying out for an upto-date redesign to complement the retro curvy A110. The flatter surfacing and angular DLO [‘daylight opening’ – that’s design-speak for ‘windows’] cutting into the C-pillar sets it apart from the A110, as it did when it was launched in the 1970s.”

Ferrari 812 successor render – front quarter

On the Ferrari 812 successor, Ben says he loved the softer classical direction of the Roma: “I wanted to push that style further into a more brutal and attention-grabbing flagship, while trying to remain elegant.

Ben’s favourite concepts of 2023

Audi EP4 concept – front

Audi apprentices designed and built this playful recreation of the NSU Prinz Coupé. The headlights and tail-lights are simply styled but make such a big difference and really modernise the design. I love the raised bootlid-cum-spoiler, too.

BMW Vision Neue Klasse – front quarter

Finally, some fresh thinking from BMW, with a new grille design that’s shallow and wide instead of tall and aesthetically challenged (yes, iX range, I’m looking at you). Smart lower glasshouse design and thin pillars are reminiscent of the airy E30-generation 3 Series.

Mercedes Vision One-11 front quarter

A truly creative creation that harks back to a golden era of concept cars from the 1970s, and especially so in this wonderful orange hue. Its one-bow design evokes the past but is clearly heading towards the future.


Source: Autocar

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