This was another powerful year for Sports Car Digest. There was rarely a dull moment in 2015 as we covered hundreds of historic rallies, vintage races, classic car auctions and events around the world. The grand total of stories published during the year came to nearly 450, growing the archives to more than 4,000 articles. And we again offer sincere thanks to our audience of historic car enthusiasts for actually reading them!
Leading the way in popularity for 2015 was coverage of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, followed by the photo galleries from the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este and Mille Miglia. Similar to 2009 , 2010 , 2011 , 2012 , 2013 and 2014 , nearly all of the top stories included extensive photo galleries that accounted for a majority of the page views.
Top 20 Most Popular Stories of 2015 (click photo for story)
1. Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance Report and Photo Gallery – The Amelia Island Concours took the top spot for the first time, as Chairman Bill Warner pulled out all the stops celebrating their 20th anniversary. Our 310-image gallery focused on the race cars of Stirling Moss, World Rally Cars, BMW 327/328, among others.
2. Goodwood Festival of Speed Report and Photo Gallery – After dropping out of the top three last year for the first time since 2009, the Festival of Speed regained its footing with Tim Scott’s 454-image gallery from Lord March’s annual Goodwood hill climb.
3. Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Report and Photo Gallery – Always a contender, Tim Scott’s 160-image gallery from the 65th annual Pebble Beach Concours focused on the otherworldly gathering of Ferrari classes, among others.
4. Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este Photo Gallery – Tim Scott’s 249-image gallery from Concorso Villa d’Este highlighted the breathtaking backdrop of Northern Italy’s Lake Como, in addition to stunners such as this 1958 Ferrari 250 GT California Spider.
5. Mille Miglia Report and Photo Gallery – Julien Mahiels’ 120-image gallery from the 33rd running of the Mille Miglia retrospective expertly shined the spotlight on the strong field of entrants and Italian countryside.
Top 20 Most Popular Stories of 2015 on Sports Car Digest 6-10 (click photo for story)
6. Goodwood Festival of Speed Picture Gallery – Our follow-up gallery from the Festival offered a different viewpoint to this epic event, such as this Maserati 250F awaiting take off up the hill climb.
7. Porsche Rennsport Reunion V Report and Photo Gallery – Dennis Gray’s 164-image gallery from the world’s largest gathering of Porsche race cars.
8. Oldtimer Grand Prix Report and Photo Gallery – Julien Mahiels’ 315 photos from the the 43rd running of the historical races at the famed Nurburgring Circuit.
9. Classic 24 Hour Daytona Report and Photo Gallery – Michael DiPleco’s 310 pictures of the historic race cars navigating the Daytona International Speedway road course.
10. Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance Photo Gallery – Tim Scott’s 300-image gallery from the Tour captured the superb selection of cars and views from the companion rally to the Pebble Beach Concours.
Top 20 Most Popular Stories of 2015 on Sports Car Digest 11-15 (click photo for story)
11. Cavallino Classic Report and Photo Gallery – Michael DiPleco’s 388 images highlighted the 24th annual gathering for Ferrari owners and enthusiasts held at Palm Beach Raceway and the lawns of the Breaker Hotel.
12. Kuwait Concours d’Elegance Report and Photo Gallery – Tim Scott’s 269-image gallery from the return of a proper Concours to the Arabian Gulf in Kuwait City.
13. Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational Report and Photo Gallery – Peter Falkner’s gallery highlighted the vintage racers battling Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
14. Monterey Motorsports Reunion Report and Photo Gallery – Dennis Gray brought 140 images of the historic racing cars battling Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca during the annual Monterey Reunion.
15. Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival Report and Photo Gallery – Dennis Gray brought 362 images of the historic racers at Sonoma Raceway Sears Point in California.
Top 20 Most Popular Stories of 2015 on Sports Car Digest 16-20 (click photo for story)
16. Porsche Werks Reunion Report and Photo Gallery – Trevor Ely’s 150-image gallery from the second edition of this single-marque event during Monterey Car Week.
17. Goodwood Members Meeting Picture Gallery – Tim Scott’s 590-image gallery from the races and demonstration runs at the Goodwood Road Racing Club event.
18. Porsche Rennsport Reunion V Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery – Trevor Ely’s 247-image gallery brought an insider’s look to this wonderful display of Porsches.
19. 1965 Sebring 12 Hours Race Profile and Photo Gallery – Our update of Louis Galanos’ wonderful 1965 Sebring 12 Hours retrospective “And Then The Rains Came” featured over 5,000 words and 90+ priceless images, now displayed in the full-width format of Sports Car Digest.
20. Tour Auto Rally Report and Photo Gallery – We’re still baffled why Julien Mahiels’ stunning gallery from the retrospective of the Tour de France Automobile race stumbled from sixth place in 2014.
Exactly how was the selection determined ? In any case, great photos and interesting articles as always in Sports Car Digest.
Many thanks! The totals were determined by the number of page views.
With all the ugly “wings” on racing cars and the Niki Lauda F1 has to be ‘the ‘ most ugly GP car ever. If racing drivers need wings to drive around a circuit….then they should not be racing. It does not matter if they can drive faster. We come to see racing at any speed and the pure skill of the driver. After 1968 F1 took a turn for the worse in cars and has not yet recovered.
Stephen, I happen to think that the 1968 Eagle and the original Lotus 49 are prettiest race cars ever made, but lighten up. Each era of technology has one thing in common. It still takes exceptional talent to get the most out of it. People win because they are the best at what they do.
I am so glad that the 1965 Sebring event photo and stories were included. I worked that race doing Timing and Scoring, and the night before, in an Airstream Trailer in the paddock area, owned by my best friend’s father, Howard Hively, a group of us, including John Bond and a few drivers sat and discussed who might win the next day. As a brash senior in high school I exclaimed “no automatic transmissioned car will ever win a sports car race!” So much for my ability to predict future events.