Car and Driver is an American automotive enthusiast magazine. Its total circulation of 1.37 million, according to the Magazine Publishers of America, makes it the most-popular auto magazine in the United States. It is owned by Hachette Filipacchi Magazines.

It was known as Sports Car Illustrated until the early-1960s, when editor Karl Ludvigsen renamed it to show a more general automotive focus. 2005 will mark the 50-year anniversary of Car and Driver.

Car and Driver once featured PJ O'Rourke, Bruce McCall and Dick Smothers as writers. Former editors include William Jeanes and David E. Davis, the latter of whom led some employees to defect in order to create Automobile Magazine. The current magazine editor is Csaba Csere. Other notable staff members are Brock Yates, organizer of the notorious Cannonball Run outlaw road race and more modern One Lap of America, and Patrick Bedard, who raced in the Indianapolis 500 in 1983 and 1984.

Rather than electing a Car of the Year, Car and Driver picks ten "best" cars each year.

Editorial direction

In recent years, the magazine has delved into politics and been criticized for having conservative commentary woven into its columns.

The magazine once had an irreverent tone and habit of "telling it like it is", especially with regard to underperforming automobiles, which endeared it to readers. However, this has diminished in recent years, and is no longer dramatically different editorially from other car magazines.

Although 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:

• Their instrumented testing is considered by some to be rigorous among automotive magazines. It has twice revealed false power claims by manufacturers: Both the 1999 SVT Mustang Cobra and 2001 Mazda Miata tests showed these vehicles not producing performance equivalent to their claimed power output. In both cases, the manufacturers claims were proved wrong, forcing buybacks and apologies.

• Their tests of radar detectors has consistently shown the Valentine One detector, a major Car and Driver advertiser, trouncing all competition. The magazine contends that their tests are accurate, while some question their objectivity.

Car and Driver and Road & Track are sister publications at Hachette and have for many years, shared the same publisher, advertising sales, marketing, and circulation departments. However, their editorial operations are separate.

See also

• Car and Driver Ten Best