Car Throttle: Our Best Bits Of 2012

12 months and well over 1 million visitors later, it's time to wrap up Car Throttle's 2012 in order to make way for 2013. And what a year it's been; the underlying theme evident throughout the year has been the simple notion of 'change'. In our case, the change has been quite significant; we've managed to nurture a fun-loving family in #TeamCT, relentlessly build video content, meet some amazing people and drive some increasingly awesome wheels. To celebrate, here's our year in words, images and video.

January: put your hands up for Detroit!

We kicked off the New Year by sending a photographer Detroit-bound for the International Motor Show where amongst many other debuts sat the gorgeous Lexus LF-LC, Ironman-worthy Honda NSX concept and the new Porsche Boxster which we managed to eventually get our hands on towards the end of the year with a roadtrip to Dublin.

Oh, and the gangster Mitsubishi ASX Black Edition got the CT video treatment.

February: my first press launch

Behind every newbie, is a first. And behind every first is the inevitable ritual of cherry-popping. Fortunately, Team Skoda were there to break me in with a visit to Portugal for the launch of their brilliant little Citigo. To cement n00b-status further, I even wrote up a photo blog of the experience.

March: an electric month

March turned out to be one for the eco-warriors. We got our mits on the Mitsubishi i-MiEV (in matt black, this thing really does look like a rather large mouse) and had a week with a Lexus CT200h. Ambitious lads that we were, we decided to do a night shoot around Central London, which turned into a filthy all-nighter, which turned into 5am crankiness, which mercifully culminated in a sunrise viewing session on Waterloo Bridge. Sweet memories.

We also interviewed Rallycross superkid Liam Doran the week before he smashed up his Nissan GT-R. Good timing.

April: celebrities destroy cars

We've got a soft spot for certain celebrities: Rowan Atkinson, Jay-Kay and to some extent, Mario Balotelli (if only for his nut-head antics). Then there are the car destroyers: Justin Bieber, DJ Skee, oh and Justin Bieber all made CT news in April with some disgusting mods and purchases. Some say we're developing an unhealthy obsession...

May: my birthday Colin Jackson

We kicked off May with some in-Suzuki Swift Sport banter with two lads from the Young Apprentice (which we aptly named the 'Auto Apprentice') before getting to meet the athletics hero himself, Colin Jackson, at a Jaguar Academy of Sport Driving Day. The man really is a true media professional.

I also got to fling a Volvo C30 Polestar round a rain-soaked track in Bracknell (didn't spin) and a Toyota GT86 round a track in Portugal (didn't not spin).

June: more sideways action

Continuing the sideways theme, we sent Tom down to Mercedes-Benz World for the sole purpose of going sideways in a CLS63 AMG. Our most popular article of the month was the story of Usain Bolt crashing his BMW M3. Again. And we kept it local by taking a look round the Canary Wharf MotorExpo. My favourite graphic of the month award though went to our "Euro 2012 Car Dream Team" line-up brilliantly put together by Ollie and Ed.

July: supercars and super presenters

Typically a slow month in the automotive calendar, July proved to be CT's most strenuous yet in terms of shooting video and travelling the breadth of the UK to seek out stories. We went 'Behind-The-Scenes' at A. Kahn Design, hung out with Tom Clarke (lead singer of The Enemy) and a stunning Jaguar XKR-S for a day, and managed to find time for a quick trip to Manchester in a Ford Fiesta for an interview with Adio from Kid British.

But we also held a fun two-days-worth of auditions in Surrey to find our next two video presenters. The car for the shoot was a lairy Honda CR-Z Mugen and the resulting shenanigans were made into this video:

August: rubbing shoulders

If April was the month where we wrote about celebrities, then August was the month where we finally met them. From Portia Conn, to X Factor's The Risk, to DJ Ironik, we had fun in some entry-level, but sassy motors.

The stand-out video for us was our time with Britain's Got Talent sensation Ronan Parke. Our interview with the young lad accumulated 40,000 views in a short space of time and we got to shed further light on Skoda's Citigo.

September: do you rate our 308?

At the beginning of September, we welcomed Alex Kersten into the Team for his quote: "good looks and talent". He subsequently hopped on a plane to Paris and brought us the Hottest Cleaning Girls from the Motor Show. Unbelievable tekkers.

However the highlight, especially for new presenters Dan and Alex Gent, was our first music video in the form of a rap about Peugeot's relatively average 308. With lyrics including "And there was the ‘8 with it’s fine looking ass" and "The GT package looks extra fly, Twin chrome exhausts, yeah they make me cry", this was bound to be a winner.

October: Cayenne GTS, Continental V8 and a Twizy

October saw the publication of many quality reviews of some of the most expensive vehicles you can purchase in Britain today. The Bentley Continental GTC and Porsche Cayenne GTS both got some love, but we also fell for the charm and carefree nature of the Renault Twizy which scored a strong 8.2 out of 10 in our ratings.

Elsewhere, many lols were had over our 50 Lolworthy Car Pics on 9Gag.

November: twin tests

The twin test is at the heart of any car magazine's content strategy. We decided to put our own CT spin on this popular feature; first up was the BMW M135i versus Volvo C30 Polestar fight, before more beef with the Audi TT RS Plus versus Porsche Cayman R.

We also managed to get hold of a Noble M12 for an exclusive photoshoot and some sexy resulting snaps.

December: ending the year in style

To cap off a great, fun-filled year, we decided to try our luck on 2 wheels instead of 4. Cue some Segway action at Segway Unleashed and some muddy knees and bums.

We also released our Porsche Boxster S Road Trip video and an overview of our time at Porsche's Silverstone Experience Centre where Alex and I went head-to-head in a Cayman R to determine who was the King Drifter.

On the site, you voted for the Toyota GT86 as your COTY 2012, and we wrote some smashing articles including our top 20 hilarious car memes and the 9 driving excuses you should never use on cops. Finally we gazed into our crystal balls (what?) to show you our 8 most eagerly anticipated cars of 2013.

2013: coming soon

Phew, what a year. Before we bring in 2013 though, I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for reading, commenting and supporting Car Throttle - we honestly couldn't have done it without you. We've got some large things planned for early 2013, so make sure you keep following. But most of all, have a very Happy New Year! See you on the other side...