autoX celebrates its eighth anniversary by crowning the "Best of 2014"

As I left the office in the wee hours of the morning, in a delirium induced stupor, and headed straight for the airport (to escape for some much-needed R&R), I had to keep repeating to myself, “Completing an eighth anniversary issue should fill one with pride, not dread.” Why dread? Well, it’s very simple really. Right from the very first edition of this magazine, our aim has always been to improve with each successive issue. You see, one of my favourite machines of all time is the Porsche 911. It was first introduced over 50 years ago, and it’s been honed to perfection though a process of continual improvement over the past half-decade. Sure, Butzi Porsche created a masterpiece to begin with – but that’s missing the point. The key is to always move forward – to look ahead. But with this anniversary issue, we’ve outdone ourselves (even if I do say so myself!). So, the dread stems from the realisation that topping this months’ issue in a couple of weeks may be about as difficult as being tasked with the job of redesigning the Stuttgart Coat of Arms. The cover feature, for starters, involved months of planning to ensure that we got all 33 cars to the BIC for two full days. But more important than that was the actual procedure of the test – it had to be fair and balanced of course, but it also had to be completely transparent. You may disagree with the scoring. You may even be unhappy with the end result – and that’s fine. The idea is to foster debate. As long as you’re aware of what the testing entailed, we can discuss it ad nauseam. Shahwar’s Bhutan trip took an equal amount of planning. And while he brought back some absolutely stunning images, as well as some great tales, it would have been nice to experience it first hand (rain check…). Fortunately, I had a few interesting (read: unforgettable) experiences of my own as well. First up were the two Bowler competition machines that simply blew me away. The V8-powered EXR, especially, has to be one of the best cars I’ve ever driven. It simply shatters any terrain on the planet into oblivion – and it does so at a pace that’s hard to comprehend. The other competition machine that I was fortunate enough to get my hands on was a single-seater – the MRF Formula 1600. Unlike the Bowler, it requires perfectly smooth tarmac – but it can be equally exciting. And I actually got to race it over the final weekend of the National Racing Championship. Not only did we come away with some silverware, but competing with a very talented 16-year-old made me feel young again. So an anniversary issue, then, is really the elixir of life – although it feels much to the contrary at present! At any rate, it’s been an adventure. And not just the past few months, but eight years and counting – thanks for joining us for the ride...