Usually of a Saturday morning we bring you the PistonHeads Motoring Week, a round-up of the homepage highlights from the previous seven days. Well, as 2013 draws to a close we're casting our eyes back a little further, taking in the full year in fact. In the hope that you've got a little more time on your hands than usual let's start at the beginning. That'll be January then!
A look back at the stories in the first week of 2013 reveals what a gloriously diverse place PistonHeads really is. In those first seven days we had a story on why you might want to buy a
diesel Renault Laguna
new Boxster S drive
story and news of the new
Bentley Continental GTC Speed
. From there we launched headlong into one of the biggest reviews of the year -
the Dacia Duster
(really) while Harris blogged about the delights of ...
an automatic gearbox
. He then posted an all-time classic vid with his drive in
Singer's 'reimagined' Porsche 911
R34 Skyline
as a PH Hero. As the month drew to a close the
W Motors Lykan Hypercar
marked the debut of the first Middle East developed (as opposed to just bought) supercar while Harris somehow drove
a Ferrari press car
Off the back of hitching a ride on the
Monte Carlo Historique
Dan got an early insight into the forthcoming
Alpine-Caterham
sports car while we also got our first ride in the
Jaguar F-Type
the ethics
of accepting such invitations as part of the pre-launch hype machine. We drove the
revised Ariel Atom
, wished we hadn't seen the
BMW 3 Series GT
and then started getting our first hints of why the Mercedes A45 AMG might be worth
getting excited about
the McLaren SLR
as a forgotten hero (but invited to be told otherwise) and the first rumblings of Porsche's 50th
anniversary celebrations
for the 911 started. As the month drew to a close the pre-Geneva hype machine started in earnest with
Alfa concepts
and more but not before we debated the ethics of
black box insurance
So to Geneva and the launch of
LaFerrari
McLaren P1
Lamborghini's Veneno
, a bristling limited edition that attempted to rain on the Ferrari/McLaren electric-boosted hypercar parade via the medium of fugly aero, strictly limited production and a daft price. Following Geneva we drove one of the big cars of the year - the
Renaultsport Clio 200
- enjoyed 'tint dude' breaking the
Range Rover Sport
embargo and said hello to the Mercedes
SLS Black Series
. We then debated the merits of
fast versus fun
via the medium of the Megane 265 and Subaru BRZ and celebrated the
Ferrari F50
as a PH Hero. As the month drew to a close we drove the
Peugeot 208 GTI
, got the full goss on the
Range Rover Sport
and told you how to buy a
Mazda RX-8
without landing yourself a ticking timebomb.
F50s returned after our Hero feature - two of them, in
a tug of war
electric Merc SLS
Maserati Ghibli
Audi's new RS6
. We finally got to drive the
Jaguar F-Type
patina versus perfection
', celebrated 10 years of the
BMW M3 CSL
with a Heroes feature and then Harris celebrated all that's cool about
flared wheelarches
. Only on PH! Oh, and Porsche unveiled a
new 911 Turbo
, a fact we celebrated with
a timeline
of the ones that went before and a
marketwatch
to find out which is the best used purchase of the bunch. And, yes, most of those stories actually went up in the first days of May. But it was the bank holiday weekend.
Another month, another anniversary, this time Lamborghini's half century celebrated with participating on
a special tour
Aventador Roadster
fun factor
of grippy tyres against ones that allow a bit more movement in our Megane, looked at buying
a Ferrari 360
new Golf GTI
and said hello to another birthday celebration car - the
Aston Martin CC100
Bentley Flying Spur
as a back seat driver while Harris got his first taste of
the Fiesta ST
and hints that it might be a bit of a star in the making became apparent. Harris
had some fun
in a Morgan 3-Wheeler and a Caterham and we told you how to buy a
great TVR Tuscan
- an itch every PHer should really consider scratching at some point!
Harris drove Ford's incredible Ecoboost engined
Formula Ford car
Blood Brothers
pitted the Mini versus the Citroen DS3 sharing the same engine, we celebrated mad mid-engined Renaults and Porsche's 911 50th birthday rumbled on with a
special limited edition
Middle lane hoggers
finally attracted the attention of the boys in blue, we joined
the M3 CSL
homecoming tour and along the way chatted with
two guys from BMW
involved in its creation. We drove the
Mercedes A45 AMG
for the first time on UK roads, met
TVR's new owner
Les Edgar and Harris drove the
new GT3
hopped up 370Z
exhaust trim fakery
and our man at the 'ring Dale set a record.
In a van
. Allan Simonsen's death at Le Mans
cast a shadow
WTCC entry
and his Pikes Peak drive and we celebrated the
Mercedes CLK63 AMG Black Series
Festival of Speed
month, which this year saw the
Caterham 620R
makes its debut along with the
Jaguar Project 7
, and a celebration of the
911's 50th
meant plenty of fabulous Porsches on show. Though it could probably be said about the other 11 also, July was an excellent month for new cars driven. As well as the marvellous
VW XL1
Audi RS6
early in the month. In fact, Chris was a busy boy over the summer, driving the
Mountuned Ford STs
BMW 4 Series
Clio Cup Racer
too. PH also trekked to Hethel to try the
Lotus Exige S Roadster
. July saw confirmation of Aston Martin and AMG's
technical partnership
S63
was announced in July as well, proving AMG isn't entirely sensible just yet. A big month for Peugeot also. Just a couple of weeks after
Loeb's Pikes Peak
victory, it revealed the 270hp
RCZ R
August was a significant month for all things British on PH as Caterham announced a collaborative
project with Suzuki
(to become the Seven 160), Lotus
expanded its workforce
and Gordon Murray confirmed his
T25 and T27 city cars
would make production. Don't forget the first drivers of the
XFR-S
XJR
V8 Vantage Buying Guide
... August saw the first of our '
M135i vs
the GT86
. It was a victorious encounter for the BMW, but it certainly wouldn't be a walkover for the 1 Series in
future battles
here
, and the very same GT86 in our
Toyota Sprint Series
story. Harris kept himself occupied through August with drives in the
Alpina B3
and comparing the Audi RS6
with CLS63 AMG
. And if that's all a little mainstream, our big news stories also included the
458 Speciale
B6 Venator Spyder
The biggest event (in every sense) during September, bigger even than the
Goodwood Revival
Frankfurt motor show
. This year's expo was like every other, huge in scale and crammed full of significant cars. 2013 saw the production debut of the
918 Spyder
'ring time
BMW i duo
Gallardo Squadro Corse
Peugeot 308 R
. In amongst all that, PH nabbed an exclusive with
Ansar Ali's Zenos
project. Expect plenty more from them during 2014. So an awful lot on the news side in September, but it was a fantastically exciting month for reviews and road tests too. Monkey drove the
Alfa 4C
Ferrari F12
within a couple of weeks of each other as well as that
F40 vs F50 video
, and the office trip to the Peak District
with three hot hatches
was an absolute hoot. We shouldn't overlook K-Tec's wicked little
Twingo 163
either, or the exhilarating
SLS GT3
The German manufacturers are inevitably a big presence on PH all the year through, but October was an especially notable month. Chris got his hands on the
911 Turbo
newest and oldest AMG
BMW i3
2 Series
went official and we bade farewell to the
997 GT3
. A busy month then, and that's before
Alpina
is mentioned... Not to be outdone, the British contingent of new PH-worthy cars was strong. See the
Aston V12 Vantage S
Seven 160
Jaguar XKR-S GT
for proof. As always though, there was plenty on offer from elsewhere to keep the stories and debate flowing. The
208 Hybrid FE
again showed a promising future for Peugeot, the
Q50
doing rather less for the collective Infiniti opinion.
One motor show means plenty of content on PH. Two creates something of a deluge, as LA and Tokyo proved in one week during November. With
NISMO GT-R
Civic Type R
on one side of the planet plus
Porsche Macan
Jaguar F-Type Coupe
on the other, it was certainly a frantic few days! Review both shows with our
LA liveblog
Tokyo diary
. Back in Britain, November brought us news of a
Toyota GT86 rally car
new Mini
for Lotus
. Reviews for November included the surprisingly talented
Peugeot RCZ R
, the predictably fantastic
C63 AMG 507
Audi S3 saloon
, an expert niche filler if ever there was one. PH also went behind the scenes with the
Race2Recovery team
in November, Harris blogged on
his Range Rover replacement
12C GT3
. Check out Dan's drive of the
Aston Vanquish Volante
Winding down for Christmas in the last month of the year? Not likely! Dan braved the December cold to drive the
BBR GT270 MX-5
(with the roof down, of course) and the
Radical RXC
918 Spyder
PH Blood Brothers
reveals all on the Audi R8 V10 and Lamborghini Gallardo. There was of course much looking ahead to 2014 in December too. Lexus has begun teasing its
next F model
next Mustang
Lamborghini Huracan
. That's not forgetting PH's foray into the
2014 Caterham Academy
as well. The PH fleet was bolstered by the arrival of Chris's
Range Rover Autobiography
, but we had to bid a sad farewell to the brilliant
Fiesta ST
.There was Christmas content aplenty on PH too; see our
cars
Sheds
of the year, plus the most
popular roadtest