''Car and Driver'' (''CD'' or ''C/D'') is an American
automotive enthusiast
magazine
A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...
first published in 1955. In 2006 its total
circulation was 1.23 million. It is owned by
Hearst Magazines, who purchased it from its prior owner
Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. in 2011. It was founded as ''Sports Cars Illustrated.'' The magazine is based in
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...
.
History
''Car and Driver'' was formed as ''Sports Cars Illustrated'' in 1955. In its early years, the magazine focused primarily on small, imported
sports car
A sports car is a type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as Automobile handling, handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and Auto racing, racing capability. Sports cars originated in ...
s. 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
Bruce McCall (May 10, 1935 – May 5, 2023) was a Canadian author and illustrator, best known for his frequent contributions to ''The New Yorker''. He has also illustrated children's books.
Life and career
McCall was born on May 10, 1935, in S ...
,
Jean Shepherd
Jean Parker "Shep" Shepherd Jr. (July 26, 1921 – October 16, 1999) was an American storytelling, storyteller, humorist, radio and TV personality, writer, and actor. With a career that spanned decades, Shepherd is known for the film ''A Christm ...
,
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
A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...
''.
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 Chevrolet Corvette is a line of American two-door, two-seater sports cars manufactured and marketed by General Motors under the Chevrolet marque since 1953. Throughout eight generations, indicated sequentially as C1 to C8, the Corvette is not ...
.
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
General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
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, would later call the review "sophmoric" and "blantantly contrived." Author Marty Padgett, in his book "50 Years With Car and Driver,” recounted that the magazine's editor at the time, Leon Mandel, had wanted a diatribe in order to increase the magazine's relevance.
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
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...
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 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.
See also
*
Philip Llewellin
References
External links
Car and Driver USACar and Driver China Daily
Car and Driver BrazilCar and Driver GreeceCar and Driver Spain*
ttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433280/ Car and Driver Television at IMDB
{{Hearst
Automobile magazines published in the United States
Monthly magazines published in the United States
Hearst Communications publications
Magazines established in 1955
Magazines published in Michigan
1955 establishments in New York City
Magazines published in New York City
Multilingual magazines
Mass media in Ann Arbor, Michigan