Top of the shots: Our favourite Autocar photos of 2020

Max Edleston, no stranger to early starts himself, was pleased to get the Volkswagen Golf GTI and Ford Focus ST for his first cover shoot.

Weather is a constant issue for photographers. “I was getting disheartened waiting for good weather and almost let this dramatic scene pass me by,” says Olgun of this Ferrari Roma image.

Max’s issue was rain for this shot of the BMW M2 CS at our annual Handling Day. It was “one I’d wanted to get for ages”, although “sitting in the front boot of a 911 in the wet to get it wasn’t fun”.

Luc also found grey skies anything but fun during much of his day with a Lamborghini Huracán, but a late burst of sunshine enabled this super shot.

Luc created perfect reflections on McLaren’s latest Longtail supercar. “It’s always fun playing around with light in the studio and seeing it interact with the contours of your subject,” he says.

There was no such luxury for Max, who had to shoot the BMW i8 during a storm. He admits he was thankful not to be blown off the side of this cliff.

Talking of almost getting airborne, Olgun reckoned that his tracking shot of this Ruf made the Yellowbird look like it was flying.

Max enjoyed a trip to Goodwood for the Speedweek event, where he shot this Ford GT. “This image stands out because of the photo itself and because I was standing in the middle of the iconic Goodwood pit lane,” he says. “Another nerdy fanboy moment!”

Olgun, meanwhile, shot the spectacular Bacalar in a studio, although he admits Bentley thought he looked a bit amateur when he turned up with fairy lights.

But it worked, as did Luc’s use of light in his shot of a concept built by a friend of Colin Goodwin.

And Max’s evocative use of artificial light shows he was clearly feeling the Christmas spirit when he shot this Land Rover Defender.

AUTOCAR’S BEST RENDERS OF 2020

Our scoops are illustrated by picture editor Ben Summerell-Youde. His proudest creation of 2020 was the MC20, although he admits: “I felt guilty pressing Ferrari hard to get hold of a high-resolution image of the SF90 Stradale, only to use it as the base for a Maserati.”

As for the futuristic new F-Type: “Jaguar tells us the Gran Turismo Vision concept won’t be an influence, but it looks so good that I couldn’t resist using it as the basis.”

Completing our renders podium is an imagining of the new Lotus sports car because “there’s nothing better than a fresh halo supercar that I can rework into smaller models”.

OUR FAVOURITE CONCEPTS OF 2020

There’s always a load of concepts revealed each year, but Ben’s favourite of 2020 was actually made in 2005. “All of the never-before-seen cars Porsche recently revealed were spectacular, but this reimagined 906 is my favourite, because I love the tight surfacing and low, Le Mans look,” he explains.