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Road & Track

American automotive enthusiast magazine

Road & Track

Summary

American automotive enthusiast magazine

FieldValue
titleRoad & Track
editorDan Pund
image_captionCover of the February–March 2024 issue
editor_titleEditor-in-Chief
frequency6 issues per year
total_circulation111,001
circulation_year2024
categoryAutomotive
companyHearst Magazines
publisherHearst Magazines
firstdateJune 1947
countryUnited States
basedNew York City
languageEnglish
website
issn0035-7189
image_fileRoad & Track February-March 2024 cover.webp

Road & Track (stylized as R&T) is an American automotive enthusiast magazine first published 1947. It is owned by Hearst Magazines and is published six times per year. The editorial offices are located in New York City.

History

Cover during previous monthly era, from March 2011

Road & Track (often abbreviated R&T) was founded by two friends, Wilfred H. Brehaut, Jr. and Joseph S. Fennessy, in 1947, in Hempstead, New York. Published only six times from 1947 to 1949, it struggled in its early years. By 1952, regular contributor and editor John R. Bond and his wife Elaine had become the owners of the magazine, which then grew until its sale to CBS Publications in 1972.

The ampersand (&) in the title was introduced in 1955 by then Editor Terry Galanoy, who replaced the word "and" in the magazine's name because the words Road and Track were graphically too long for newsstand-effective recognition.

In 1988, Hachette Filipacchi Media took ownership of the magazine. In October 2008, Matt DeLorenzo became editor-in-chief, succeeding Thos L. Bryant, who had been in place for 20 years. Hearst Magazines purchased the magazine in 2011. In June 2012, Larry Webster assumed the role of editor-in-chief, and DeLorenzo became an adviser to the publication. Additionally, the magazine moved its operations from Newport Beach, California, to Ann Arbor, Michigan.

In February 2016, Webster resigned as editor-in-chief and Kim Wolfkill was announced as his replacement. In the March/April 2019 issue, Wolfkill announced that the editorial offices in Michigan were closing, and that publication was moving to New York, New York, at the Hearst Tower. His LinkedIn profile lists February 2019 as his final date at Road & Track. Travis Okulski, Road & Track's website director at the time, took on the editor-in-chief role from the May 2019 issue onwards.

Car and Driver and Road & Track are sister publications at Hearst and share the same advertising, sales, marketing, and circulation departments. However, their editorial operations are distinct and they have separate publishers. This arrangement exists since 1985, when CBS acquired Ziff Davis' consumer magazines and among them, Car and Driver.

In August 2020, the magazine transitioned to a large-format bi-monthly that emphasized elegant design and deeply-reported features. Incoming Editor-in-Chief Mike Guy, who had previously launched The Drive for Time Inc., hired Executive Editor Daniel Pund and Creative Director Nathan Schroeder, and together they refashioned Road & Track as the premium, 180-page enthusiast magazine on stands today. The Smoking Tire's Matt Farah and best-selling author A.J. Baime (Go Like Hell, The Accidental President) joined as Editors-at-Large.

In January 2024, former Executive Editor Dan Pund was confirmed as Road & Track's new Editor-in-Chief.

Content

Road & Track focuses on new production cars, vintage cars, and race cars with drive reviews, road trips, and comparison tests. Former race car drivers have often contributed material, including Paul Frère, Sam Posey, and Formula One champion Phil Hill. Other notable contributors include McLaren F1 designer Gordon Murray, car executive Bob Lutz, Henry N. Manney III, Peter Egan, Jason Cammisa, and Matt Farah.

Like many auto magazines, Road & Track currently publishes an annual "car of the year" test, dubbed the Road & Track Performance Car of the Year. The test's most recent winner is the 2020 Hyundai Veloster N.

Video games

Road & Track contributed to the 1992 video game, Grand Prix Unlimited, developed by Accolade for MS-DOS. The magazine also contributed to the 1994 video game, The Need for Speed, to help the designers match vehicle behavior and sounds to that of the real cars.

References

References

  1. (December 31, 2024). "AAM: Total Circ for Consumer Magazines". [[Alliance for Audited Media]].
  2. (May 30, 2005). "Motoring Memories: Retrospective: John Bond, "Father of Road & Track"". Canadian Driver.
  3. DeLorenzo, Matt. (November 2008). "The Road Ahead". Road & Track.
  4. Cohn, Steve. (June 2012). "Larry Webster Named Road & Track Editor-in-Chief". Min Online.
  5. Sabatini, Jeff. (May 2012). "Road & Track hits the road, makes tracks to Ann Arbor, Michigan".
  6. "Kim Wolfkill, LinkedIn".
  7. R&T staff. (2012-09-14). "Road & Track Editorial Staff".
  8. (February 1985). "CBS + Ziff = huge". Folio.
  9. "Sam Posey".
  10. "Bob Lutz".
  11. "Peter Egan".
  12. "Jason Cammisa".
  13. "Matt Farah".
  14. (2019-11-04). "2020 Performance Car of the Year".
  15. "Road & Track Presents: The Need for Speed". Gamerankings.com.
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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