So, with Rally GB under way in chaotic fashion and even more a shadow of its former self than ever, I thought I'd start a thread in which to reminisce about the RAC Rally as was.

For me as a motorsport-mad youngster, the RAC was the best event of the year - forget the British GP! Even if the championship had already been decided, it was still brilliant. It offered a fascinating mix of stages and conditions, and was a genuinely challenging event - five days long until the late 1980s, of course, including night stages up to 1986. And there was true British interest in the RAC, even if British drivers capable of winning were few in number for so long, largely due to their equipment. Because it traversed large parts of the country, there were ample opportunities to see it, and when Top Gear introduced its twice-nightly Rally Report in 1984, complete with live Sunday spectator stage from the following year onwards, it began to get the TV exposure it deserved.

For me, the best year was 1985. The entry list was stunning - pairs of 205 T16s, Sport Quattro E2s, Delta S4s and Metro 6R4s, the latter two cars making their WRC debuts. The Audis and Peugeots were all out by the end of the second day, but we were left with an incredible battle in ever-changing conditions between the Lancias of Toivonen and Alen, and Tony Pond's Metro, which no-one thought would last the distance. Yet last it did, and there was a very real chance that Pond - who held second for some time and had been closing on leader at the time Markku Alen - could have won. It wasn't to be, as he made a wrong tyre choice and fell back to third, with Henri Toivonen getting ahead of Alen on the final night, but it had still been a brilliant effort. The crowds that year were massive all along the route, largely as a result of all the publicity for the new British car. A great event.

So, what are your favourite RAC memories?