Car and Driver

History

Car and Driver was formed as Sports Cars Illustrated in 1955. In its early years, the magazine focused primarily on small, imported sports cars. In 1961, editor Karl Ludvigsen renamed the magazine Car and Driver to show a more general automotive focus.

Car and Driver once featured Bruce McCall, Jean Shepherd, and Brock Yates as columnists, and P. J. O'Rourke as a frequent contributor. Former editors include William Jeanes and David E. Davis, Jr., the latter of whom led some employees to defect in 1985 to create Automobile.

When CBS acquired Ziff Davis' consumer magazines in 1985, the company decided to keep both Car and Driver and existing CBS automobile magazine, Road & Track. Successive owners keep this arrangement.

Rather than electing a Car of the Year, Car and Driver publishes its top ten picks each year in its Car and Driver 10Best.

Car and Driver is home to the John Lingenfelter Memorial Trophy. This award is given annually at their Supercar Challenge.

Currently, Car and Driver is also published in Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Spain. The Spanish version just makes use of the Car and Driver name; no editorial direction is shared. China had an edition called 名车志 Car and Driver (). The Middle Eastern edition is issued by ITP Publishing based in Dubai.

Editorial direction

The magazine was one of the first to be unabashedly critical of the American automakers. However, it has been quick to praise noteworthy efforts like the Ford Focus and Chevrolet Corvette.

The magazine has been at the center of a few controversies based on this editorial direction, including the following:

• Their instrumented testing twice revealed false power claims by manufacturers: Both the 1999 SVT Mustang Cobra and 2001 Mazda Miata tests showed these vehicles not producing performance equivalents to their claimed power output. In both cases, the manufacturers' claims were proved wrong, forcing buybacks and apologies.
• In its Sept. 1990 issue, reviewers operated a GM-EMD SD60 and saw how a locomotive was made and test one out before it was delivered to the Kansas City Southern Railway.
• In its February 1968 issue, Cook Neilson authored a scathing review of the 1968 Kadett LS 1.5L wagon. The vehicle, which by many accounts was a moderately well-executed example in its class, received a singly critical and extensively negative review from Nielson, with General Motors subsequently pulling its advertising from the magazine. Paul Niedermeyer, editor of the automotive history site Curbside Classics and managing editor at The Truth About Cars,{{cite web

The magazine is widely known for an often irreverent tone, especially regarding cars it considers inferior. The magazine also frequently touches on politics. The editorial slant of the magazine is decidedly pro-automobile.

Website

Car and Driver operates a website that features articles (both original and from print), a blog, an automotive buyer's guide (with AccuPayment, a price-calculating tool), and a social networking site called Backfires. As had occurred with other online auto magazines, Car and Driver first suspended its popular Backfires column in 2020; then, did make a partial effort in 2021 to continue with readers' comments, but eventually found, like the other magazines, the effort was too costly and often too divisive.

''Car and Driver Television''

Car and Driver Television was the television counterpart that formerly aired on TNN/SpikeTV's Powerblock weekend lineup from 1999 to 2005. It was produced by RTM Productions and hosted by Jim Scoutten—who also hosted American Shooter, another RTM production—until 2003.

Thereafter the usual host was Larry Webster, one of the magazine's editors, with Csaba Csere adding occasional commentary and news.

''Car and Driver'' computer game

In 1993, Car and Driver licensed its name for a PC game to Electronic Arts entitled Car and Driver. The game was in 3D, and the courses included racing circuits, an oval track, automobile route racing with traffic, a dragstrip, and an autocross circuit.

The ten vehicles included the Porsche 959, Ferrari F40, Lotus Esprit, Eagle Talon, and the Ferrari 512.

The "Cannonball Run"

In the 1970s, to celebrate the Interstate Highway System and to protest speed limits, reporter Brock Yates and editor Steve Smith conceived the idea of an unsanctioned, informal race across the country, replicating the 53.5-hour transcontinental drive made by car and bike pilot Erwin George "Cannonball" Baker in 1933. The New York to Los Angeles Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, later shortened to the "Cannonball Run", was staged in 1971, 1972, 1975 and 1979, with the race entries including both amateur drivers and professional racers, such as Dan Gurney (who with Brock Yates "won" the 1971 event driving a Ferrari 365 GTB/4, making the 2860 mi journey in under 36 hours).

The stunt served as the inspiration for several Hollywood blockbusters, such as The Gumball Rally, The Cannonball Run, Cannonball Run II, Cannonball Run III, Gone in 60 Seconds and The Fast and the Furious franchise.

References

References

1. "AAM: Total Circ for Consumer Magazines". [[Audit Bureau of Circulations (North America).
2. [http://www.magazine.org/circulation/circulation_trends_and_magazine_handbook/22175.cfm Circulation Trends Handbook] {{webarchive. link. (July 14, 2007)
3. Weber, Bruce. (29 May 2010). "Gerald Roush, 68, Fount of Ferrari Knowledge - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com". The New York Times.
4. Alexander J. Drukas. (March 6, 2008). "Car and Driver cruising to new Ann Arbor offices". Booth Newspapers.
5. "Top 100 U.S. Magazines by Circulation". PSA Research Center.
6. Mark J. McCourt. (January 2019). "Karl Ludvigsen". Hemmings Classic Car.
7. "Bruce McCall". Car and Driver.
8. (November 1, 2004). "Excelsior, You Fathead!: The Art and Enigma of Jean Shepherd". [[Hal Leonard Corporation]].
9. "Brock Yates". Car and Driver.
10. P.J. O'Rourke. (February 16, 2022). "Ferrari Reinvents Manifest Destiny: P.J. O'Rourke Drives Cross-Country in a Ferrari 308GTS". Car and Driver.
11. (February 1985). "CBS + Ziff = huge". Folio.
12. "Car and Driver名车志 - 赫斯特集团网站".
13. https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a43643175/1990-general-motors-electro-motive-sd-60-locomotive-drive/ Handles like it's on rails: We Drive a locomotive, Rich Ceppos September 1990 Car and Driver Retrieved 11/23/24
14. Csere, Csaba. (1 February 2003). "Radio, TV, Changes, Yates: The Steering Column". Heart Autos, Inc..