WINDING ROAD In Pictures: Our Favorite 25 Images Of The Last Year (Or So)

Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 Roadster / Peter Dawson

The photographer’s style should always complement the car’s styling; and for your Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Audi R8’s, using Peter Dawson is a no-brainer.

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• peterdawson.net

Saleen S7 / Will Calcutt

It was a hot day in Orange County and Will Calcutt showed up at this shoot wearing Cowboy boots. He seems to have gotten around quite well, despite this; he turned in over 700 beautiful images which covered every inch of the S7 and Saleen’s facility. What you see is part of the S7’s complex paint process.

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• hardac.com

(Click through to the jump for the other 23 images and wallpapers!)

David E.’s Vette / James P. Morse

James P. Morse, our in-house multimedia go-to-guy created this composite photograph of David E’s 1962 Fuelie. This was shot right downstairs in our parking lot, then painstakingly remastered with the magic of PhotoShop.

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The Ariel Atom / Tyler Maddox

Another great example of Photoshop-free perfection. This was Tyler Maddox’s first shoot for us and he came out strong. Perfect setting, perfect lighting and perfect execution.

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• maddoxvisual.com

The Audi R10 / Richard Prince

We discovered that it’s almost a pain to use Richard Prince because you end up with too many great photos to choose from. This adds hours to the layout process, and in the end, still leaves you feeling guilty that you couldn’t use more of them. Even on a 3,000 word story like this one.

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• rprincephoto.com

Volkswagen Jet / Randy Leffingwell

Randy Leffingwell shot and authored our story on the Volkswagen jet-powered New Beetle. There must be some insurance liabilities in photographing a flaming jet from behind, but whatever the case, we were delighted with the shots he got out of this small oddity.

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• rleffingwell.com

McLaren vs Bugatti / Gus Gregory, Richard Meaden and Gecko Imaging

Truth-time: this photo never actually happened. The F1 and the Veyron were shot separately, then placed together perfectly by our guys at Gecko Imaging. But we couldn’t have done it without the wonderful, original photos by Gus Gregory and Richard Meaden.

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• gusgregoryphotographer.com
• geckoimaging.com

Mazdaspeed3 / Martyn Goddard

We flew Martyn the span of the globe for this shoot, and it was more than worth it. A handful of magazines featured the Mazdaspeed3 that month, but we believe our shoot was the best of the bunch.

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• martyngoddard.com

Lord Alexander Hesketh / Martyn Goddard

We’re fortunate to have great photographers in almost every corner of the globe, and so it was a happy coincidence that Martyn Goddard lives in the same city as The Good Lord. That said, we’d have flown him across the world (again) for this shoot. In his former life he was a photographer for rock & roll magazines, and his ability to capture emotion makes him an obvious choice for our biographical pieces.

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• martyngoddard.com

Lego Audi R10 / Todd Osborn Photography by Glenn Paulina

We threw a curveball to the typical, action-packed/beauty shot standard of car magazine covers. Our editor had the idea of using some Lego art for this issue to highlight the ‘building blocks’ of a new technology, and as luck would have it, Todd Osborn was just around the corner.

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• Rewind Records
• Todd on ghostly.com

JCB Dieselmax / Richard Prince

Photoshop couldn’t have done this better, and it didn’t. Richard Prince covering the JCB Dieselmax’s record-breaking run at the Bonneville Salt Flats. This image was taken from the camera and placed in layout as-is.

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• rprincephoto.com

Audi R8 / Peter Dawson

Dear Mr. Dawson: Damn. . .

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• peterdawson.net

Glickenhaus Ferrari P4/5 / Richard Prince

This story came out of the blue, so we could only give Richard Prince about 12 hours’ notice to gear up and drive to Lime Rock. The stars were aligned, though: one of our best photographers available and close enough to step in and cover one of the most expensive one-off Ferraris to-date. The end result speaks for itself.

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• rprincephoto.com

Ford vs Ford / Camilo Pardo Photography by Randy G.

The Lego cover worked out so well that we thought we’d try another artistic venture. Ford’s P.R. was kind enough to help us organize this effort with none other than Camilo Pardo; Detroit artistic celebrity and the designer of the Ford GT. What you can’t tell from looking at this is that the painting was 30+ feet long and nearly 20 feet tall. We spent days in his studio documenting the process, and you can see how it was done by watching the video.

Photographing the painting was another story altogether. After some brainstorming, Randy G.’s stroke of genius was to lay it flat on Ford’s studio floor and shoot it straight down from the catwalk. This worked out perfectly, and as luck would have it, it was the only solution we ever came up with.

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• camilopardo.com

Ford GT / Will Calcutt

Another 90 degree day and again, Will shows up wearing black jeans and leather boots. After ironically getting kicked out of Ford HQ for lack of a ‘photo pass’, we headed to the more colorful southwest side of Detroit for a perfect shot of Detroit’s Darling, the GT.

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• hardac.com

Ferrari F430 vs. Porsche 911 Turbo / Roberto Carrer

Carr studio’s Roberto Carrer turned out a perfect set of shots for our F430/911 Turbo showdown. You a feel of what it’s like behind the wheel, while still getting an idea of the beauty and shape of the vehicle.

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Ferrari 599 GTB / Peter Dawson

Given our vast network of talented photographers, it seems odd that we’d need to fly someone from Los Angeles to Maranello to cover the new 599 GTB - but Peter Dawson was without a doubt the right man for the job.

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• peterdawson.net

Decommissioned Crown Victoria Interceptor / Randy G.

Randy G.’s studio and lighting skills are the best in town, which is why he’s been our go-to guy for such shoots for the past year. Proud owner Todd Osborn stands by his decommissioned cop car for this shoot at Ford’s HQ.

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Corvette WR / James P. Morse

James P. Morse in the making of the infamous “Corvette WR”. A man of many talents, he photographed this shot while painstakingly handcrafting our ruse in 30 degree weather.

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Chaparral 2E / Glenn Paulina

Glenn Paulina on another short-notice shoot. He wasn’t sure that he could make it out to this one for us on account of having company in-town. He ended up dragging his friend up to Northern Michigan for a day of shooting the Chaparral 2E remake, and we’re thankful that he did.

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Brabus Unimog / Dieter Rebmann

Outside of agricultural circles, the Unimog is a recreational vehicle for the extraordinarily privileged. Dieter Rebmann did a great job of capturing what fun could be had at the helm of 6 tons going a maximum of 52mph.

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BMW Mille Miglia Concept / Matt Davis

Such a wonderfully shaped vehicle, even a horrible photo might have ended up in this list. Fortunately, writer/photographer Matt Davis graced us with an absolutely perfect shot.

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BMW Mille Miglia 328 / Gudrun Muschalla

From Matt Davis (pictured in photo). “Wild little story. Gudrun was sitting on the slippery back of the 328 for those dusky cockpit shots. As she was about to re-secure herself with the climbing harness, I had started forward with the car on her cue to go. At 20 mph, I suddenly hear: “Oh, wait, AAHH!” I stopped, looked back, and she was gone. All ended up basically okay, with only a little blood and one broken lens filter and we kept shooting. She’s awesome and looks exactly like Amelia Earhardt.”

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• muschalla.com

BMW 335i / Mark Bramley

Mark Bramley and Reilly Brennan braved a hailstorm in the Austrian Alps to capture these. I’d be hard-pressed to say I’ve seen a 3-series look better.

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• markbramley.com

Four Coupes / Wolfgango Spaccarelli

Carr Studio strikes again, this time via Wolfgango Spaccarelli. This is the BMW Z4 Coupe chasing the Porsche Cayman through the Italian countryside.

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