Whoops and oops from BBDC

Scary moments, favourite cars, a closed road, a 120mph off... Judges spill the beans

Our Britain's Best Driver's Car (BBDC) contest has been a highlight of the Autocar calendar for more than three decades. It's always memorable - although for every classic moment, there are a few more conspicuous moments.

We asked some of our BBDC stalwarts to pick their best and worst moments.

MATT SAUNDERS

Highs We've had some very competitive fields at BBDC over the years, and the one we assembled for the 30th anniversary of the competition in 2019, won by the brilliant Ariel Atom 4, will take a lot of beating. But, for me at least, it can be done.

Many will remember that we crowned the Toyota GT86 our BBDC champion the year it was launched in the UK, in 2012. But can you bring to mind some of the cars it beat? The 987-generation Porsche Cayman R; the first sixcylinder Lotus Exige, the S; the glorious second-generation Aston Martin Vanquish. And then there was one of my personal favourite German performance cars of all time: the 6.2-litre atmo V8 Mercedes C63 AMG Black Series Coupé.

What a field - maybe the very best vintage we've ever had. As I remember, the Lotus was fast but monumentally physical. The returning-champion Porsche was utterly delectable for its steering and handling balance, if a little too adhesive at times. And the Mercedes? Not so adhesive: its rear tyres were cooked within half an hour of the pitlane opening.

But it's the GT86 that I remember going back to time and again for another hilarious few laps around Bedford Autodrome's West Circuit.

For a tester who was still learning his trade, it was just so indulgent and benign through the track's longer, tighter, skiddable bends and so light on its tyres that it didn't matter if I needed three runs to nail my input timing.