1) The paper tax disc
Tax in the post? Tax in the spam filter, more like. After 93 years in the corner of your windscreen, the humble paper tax disc breathes its last in 2014 (crappy perforations and all) as VED goes digital.
2) Mercedes SLS AMG
Fabulously gullwinged sports car died for the second time this year, nearly 60 years after the original popped its clogs
3) F1 engine noise
You notice it on the radio – it sounds like James Allen is reporting from his front room. Hybrid V6s suit the times, but they kill the drama.
4) Sir Jack Brabham (1926-2014)
The lynchpin in Cooper’s mid-engined revolution, Sir Jack built his own F1 car and drove it to World Championship glory in 1966. He had already won the title in 1959 (the first Aussie to do so) – by pushing his car over the line after it ran out of fuel. RIP, legend!
5) The prevailing opinion on US muscle cars
An aluminium Corvette with proper suspension? A Europe-ready Mustang without a live rear axle? We even called the Viper ‘stable, balanced and controlled’. Was this the year when America finally read the manual?
6) Merc’s 6.2-litre V8
Blame emissions targets for the loss of AMG’s brilliant naturally aspirated V8 – dumped in favour of less responsive twin-turbos
Click below for the rest of CAR’s top 100 moments of 2014:
The nine best sports cars of the year
Four seismic Nurburgring laptimes
Eight cars that changed our minds about electric power
Top six people we talked about
Six wishes for 2015
Six back-from-the-dead stories
Six things we said goodbye to
Top 10 motorsport moments
Seven things we never thought we’d see
Six biggest disappointments
Top five tech trends of 2014
Top 10 quotes of 2014
10 great CAR magazine features from 2014