About Car and Driver
Car and Driver
An Introduction to Car and Driver
Welcome to Car and Driver. We’ve created this page to introduce ourselves to you and to let you know what it is we do around here. Car and Driver is a print and digital magazine covering the newest car offerings, showcasing car culture, and helping people shopping for a car by serving up our unique brand of intelligence, independence, and reverence. We’ve been in the magazine business since 1955 and online for more than two decades.
We make the complicated easier to understand for those of you shopping for a new car and push the limits of performance machines for our enthusiast readers. A Car and Driver review balances the subjective with objective data and pulls no punches; on our best days, we hope we even give you a good laugh. We pull together multi-car comparison tests that separate the good, the bad, and the ugly to give you the product knowledge that you crave. Our online ranking system breaks down vehicle segments to help shoppers make informed decisions. In addition to sharp and unbiased reviews, our features and columns allow our readers to ride shotgun with the world’s finest automotive writers.
Why Subscribe to Car and Driver?
Like vinyl records, the print version of Car and Driver is on trend, collectible, and never goes out of style. In each issue, you’ll get the very best from our writers, photographers, and graphic artists in a format you can hold in your hands. It’s also the only place to get our legendary Backfires column, where you can read the best (and worst) letters to the editor and Ed.’s responses. Do what legions of discerning readers have been doing since 1955 and subscribe to Car and Driver.
Here’s Where to Subscribe
Vehicle Testing
We’re also in the business of testing cars, trucks, SUVs, and vans. That’s what separates us from other automotive media. For more than 60 years we’ve been answering the objective questions—How fast? How quick? How much grip?—and our findings have settled countless barroom bets. With the goal of covering every make and model on the market, we test upward of 400 vehicles per year, more than anyone else in the industry. In the early days of the magazine, just as the interstate highway system began to connect the country, we used a stopwatch to measure acceleration times. Today, we use highly precise GPS-based testing equipment. Testing is continually evolving as technology and vehicles change. Recently we’ve added several static tests to measure cargo space, interior stowage pockets, infotainment response time, and the size of blind spots, among other things. In all, we collect more than 200 data points on every test vehicle. You can learn more about our tests and procedures here.
Why put so much energy into vehicle testing? We believe that third-party testing is critical because manufacturers’ performance claims are just that: claims. Over the years, C/D testing has uncovered numerous cars that didn’t perform as promised. In 1999, our test of an underperforming Ford Mustang Cobra led Ford to admit that defective intake manifolds were compromising airflow. Ford installed new intake manifolds and mufflers to deliver the promised horses. When a 2001 Mazda Miata proved slower than the outgoing model despite a claimed 15-horsepower increase, we called BS. Mazda then confessed that the 155-horsepower number came from a Japanese version that didn’t pass U.S. emission standards. Mazda offered to buy back early models or provide free maintenance and $500. More recently, Toyota claimed that the 2020 Supra’s center of gravity was lower than the GR86’s, so we measured that. Toyota was wrong.
Editorial Note
Car and Driver is partly supported by advertising, but everything you see on the site or in the magazine is produced by our editors or contributors and adheres to our high standards for quality. To ensure accuracy, our content is fact-checked by the copy department and edited by the testing team to verify technical accuracy. If we do have any content created in partnership with advertisers, we will mark it as such. And we value your contribution as well: let us know if you spot an error or have feedback you want to share.
Affiliate Disclosure
Car and Driver participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on products purchased through our links to retailer sites. However, every product featured on Car and Driver is independently researched, tested, or editor approved. We always put the consumer first and recommend only products that we stand behind.
Privacy Policy
We take our trusted relationship with our readers seriously and therefore maintain a strict privacy policy.
Contact Us
The Car and Driver offices are located at 1585 Eisenhower Place in Ann Arbor, Michigan. If you’re interested in subscribing or signing up for our newsletter or you have a question about your subscription, visit our Contact Us page to get in touch and learn more.
Our Editorial Team
Tony Quiroga
Editor-in-Chief
Tony Quiroga is an 18-year-veteran Car and Driver editor, writer, and car reviewer and the 19th editor-in-chief for the magazine since its founding in 1955. He has subscribed to Car and Driver since age six. “Growing up, I read every issue of Car and Driver cover to cover, sometimes three or more times. It’s the place I wanted to work since I could read,” Quiroga says. He moved from Automobile Magazine to an associate editor position at Car and Driver in 2004. Over the years, he has held nearly every editorial position in print and digital, edited several special issues, and also helped produce C/D’s early YouTube efforts. He is also the longest-tenured test driver for Lightning Lap, having lapped Virginia International Raceway’s Grand Course more than 2000 times over 12 years.
Laura Sky Brown
Digital Director
Laura Sky Brown has been involved in automotive media for a very long time, and she sees it as her calling to guard the legacy and help ensure the continued high quality of Car and Driver. She was one of the first staffers at Automobile Magazine in the ’80s and has worked for many other car magazines and websites as a writer, editor, and copy editor ever since. It has been her privilege to edit many of the greats of automotive journalism over the years, including the ones who currently write for C/D.
K.C. Colwell
Executive Editor
K.C. Colwell is Car and Driver’s executive editor, who covers new cars and technology with a keen eye for automotive nonsense and with what he considers to be great car sense, which is a humblebrag. On his first day at C/D in 2004, he was given the keys to a Porsche 911 by someone who didn’t even know if he had a driver’s license. He also is one of the drivers who set fast laps at C/D’s annual Lightning Lap track test.
Testing
Dave VanderWerp
Testing Director
Dave VanderWerp has spent more than 15 years in the automotive industry, in varied roles from engineering to product consulting, and he now leads Car and Driver’s vehicle-testing efforts. Dave got his very lucky start at C/D by happening to submit an unsolicited résumé at just the right time to land a part-time road warrior job when he was a student at the University of Michigan, where he immediately became enthralled with the world of automotive journalism.
David Beard
Senior Editor
David Beard studies and reviews automotive-related things and pushes fossil-fuel and electric-powered stuff to their limits. His passion for the Ford Pinto began at his conception, which took place in a Pinto.
Dan Edmunds
Technical Editor
Dan Edmunds was born into the world of automobiles, but not how you might think. His father was a retired racing driver who opened Autoresearch, a race-car-building shop, where Dan cut his teeth as a metal fabricator. Engineering school followed, then SCCA Showroom Stock racing, and that combination landed him suspension development jobs at two different automakers. His writing career began when he was picked up by Edmunds.com (no relation) to build a testing department.
Mike Sutton
Technical Editor
Mike Sutton is an editor, writer, test driver, and general car nerd who has contributed to Car and Driver’s reverent and irreverent passion for the automobile since 2008. A native Michigander from suburban Detroit, he enjoys the outdoors and complaining about the weather, has an affection for off-road vehicles, and believes in federal protection for naturally aspirated engines.
Becca Hackett
Road Test Editor
Becca was introduced to Car and Driver magazine at the age of four. She began working for 10Best Cars when she was 16, and then on and off for 10 years. A degree in social work and a brief time in that line of work led Becca back to Car and Driver and eventually on to the fleet side of things, where she produced large-scale automotive launches and events. Becca left the auto industry in 2013 when she went on to become a yoga therapist with a certification from Loyola Marymount University and a then was a Reiki practitioner for six years. A move back from Los Angeles to Michigan brought Becca back to Car and Driver and to her love of cars.
Buyer’s Guide
Rich Ceppos
Deputy Editor
Rich Ceppos has evaluated automobiles and automotive technology during a career that has encompassed 10 years at General Motors, two stints at Car and Driver totaling 19 years, and thousands of miles logged in racing cars. Between Ceppos’s two postings at C/D, he served as executive editor of Automobile Magazine; was an executive vice president at Campbell Marketing, an automotive marketing-communications firm; worked as publisher and editorial director of Autoweek; and spent a decade at GM in the product development area. He has raced continuously since college, held SCCA and IMSA pro racing licenses, and competed in roughly two dozen 24-hour races—including the 24 Hours of Daytona. He currently ministers to a 1999 Miata and a 1965 Corvette convertible and is part owner of a 1987 Honda Prelude that has miraculously survived (barely) roughly 12,000 miles of Lemons competition.
Drew Dorian
Senior Editor
Drew Dorian is a lifelong car enthusiast who has also held a wide variety of consumer-focused positions throughout his career, ranging from financial counselor to auto salesperson. He dreamed of becoming a Car and Driver editor since he was 11 years old—a dream that was realized when he joined the staff in April 2016. He’s a born-and-raised Michigander and learned to drive on a 1988 Pontiac Grand Am. His automotive interests run the gamut from convertibles and camper vans to sports cars and luxury SUVs.
Austin Irwin
Associate Editor
Yes, he’s still working on the 1986 Nissan 300ZX Turbo project car he started in high school, and no, it’s not for sale yet. Austin Irwin was born and raised in Michigan, and, despite getting shelled by hockey pucks during a not-so-successful goaltending career through high school and college, still has all of his teeth. He loves cars from the 1980s and Bleu, his Great Pyrenees, and is an active member of the Buffalo Wild Wings community. When Austin isn’t working on his own cars, he’s likely on the side of the highway helping someone else fix theirs.
Frankie Cruz
Associate Editor
Frankie Cruz is a hands-on car guy with a wealth of experience modifying, repairing, buying, selling, and—most important—driving cars. He got his start as an automotive journalist in 2014 as an undergrad at Penn State, and he has owned a plethora of vehicles including a Saab 9-3 Turbo X, a Subaru STI S209, and a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. His current daily driver is a Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing.
Features
Greg Fink
Senior Editor
Despite their shared last name, Greg Fink is not related to Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s infamous Rat Fink. Both Finks, however, are known for their love of cars, car culture, and—strangely—monogrammed one-piece bathing suits. Greg’s career in the media industry goes back more than a decade. His previous experience includes stints as an editor at publications such as U.S. News & World Report, The Huffington Post, Motor1.com, and MotorTrend.
Elana Scherr
Senior Editor
Like a sleeper agent activated late in the game, Elana Scherr didn’t know her calling at a young age. Like many girls, she planned to be a vet-astronaut-artist, and she came closest to that last one by attending UCLA art school. She painted images of cars but did not own one. Elana reluctantly got a driver’s license at age 21 and discovered that she not only loved cars and wanted to drive them, but that other people loved cars and wanted to read about them, which meant somebody had to write about them. Since receiving activation codes, Elana has written for numerous car magazines and websites, covering classics, car culture, technology, motorsports, and new-car reviews.
News
Joey Capparella
Senior Editor
Joey Capparella cultivated an unhealthy obsession for the automotive industry throughout his childhood in Nashville and his college years at Rice University, which led to a professional auto-writing career that began when he moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2013. He joined the Car and Driver team in 2016. Joey has a soft spot for 1990s Japanese economy cars.
Eric Stafford
Senior Associate Editor
Eric Stafford’s automobile addiction began before he could walk, and it has fueled his passion to write news, reviews, and more for Car and Driver since 2016. His aspiration growing up was to become a millionaire with a Jay Leno–like car collection. Apparently, getting rich is harder than social-media influencers make it seem, so he avoided financial success entirely to become an automotive journalist and drive new cars for a living. After he earned a degree at Central Michigan University and worked at a daily newspaper, the years of basically burning money on failed project cars and lemon-flavored jalopies finally paid off when Car and Driver hired him. His garage currently includes a 2010 Acura RDX, a manual ’97 Chevy Camaro Z/28, and a ’90 Honda CRX Si.
Caleb Miller
Associate Editor
Caleb Miller can’t remember a time when he wasn’t car-obsessed. He began blogging about cars at 13 years old, hoping one day to write for the car magazines which he spent hours poring over. That dream came true after he graduated from Carnegie Mellon University and joined the Car and Driver team. He loves quirky and obscure autos, aiming to eventually own a Nissan Pao or S-Cargo, and is an avid motorsports fan.
Jack Fitzgerald
Associate Editor
Jack Fitzgerald’s love for cars stems from his unshakable addiction to Formula 1. Luckily his coworkers are more likely to watch with him than to reprimand him for tuning in to Friday practice during work hours. After a brief stint as a detailer for a local dealership group in college, he knew he needed a more permanent way to drive all the new cars he couldn’t afford and decided to pursue a career in auto writing. By hounding his college professors at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was able to travel seeking out stories in the auto world before landing his dream job at Car and Driver. His new goal is to delay the inevitable demise of his 2010 Volkswagen Golf.
Michael Aaron
Social Media Editor
Michael Aaron has loved cars ever since he was a kid. Growing up, he would frequent car shows, build model cars, and read any car magazine he could get his hands on. He moved from Connecticut to Michigan to be closer to the auto industry and attend Michigan State University, where he majored in marketing. He enjoys photography and traveling, and he has been at Car and Driver since 2017.
Reviews
Joe Lorio
Deputy Editor
Joe Lorio has been obsessed with cars since his Matchbox days, and he got his first subscription to Car and Driver at age 11. Joe started his career at Automobile Magazine under David E. Davis, Jr., and his work has also appeared on websites including Amazon Autos, Autoblog, AutoTrader, Hagerty, Hemmings, KBB, and TrueCar.
Ezra Dyer
Senior Editor
Ezra Dyer is a Car and Driver senior editor and columnist. He’s now based in North Carolina but still remembers how to turn right. He owns a 2009 GEM e4 and once drove 206 mph. Those facts are mutually exclusive.
Creative
Copy
Adrienne Girard
Copy Chief
Adrienne is the copy chief of Hearst Autos, where she oversees copy-editing and fact-checking for Car and Driver and its sister publications. With nearly two decades of experience copy-editing magazines, websites, and newspapers, she is passionate about ensuring our content is clear and accurate for our readers as well as nerding out on questions like “Is it ‘passenger seat’ or ‘passenger’s seat’?” (here, it’s the latter). Like the Car and Driver test vehicles, her first car had a notepad in the glovebox for calculating gas mileage. Adrienne has been driving hybrids for 15 years, and her dream car is a pink EV. She holds degrees in journalism and American studies from Rutgers University and lives in New Jersey with her husband.
Chris Langrill
Senior Copy Editor
Chris has been a word mechanic for automotive enthusiast publications for a decade. He joined Car and Driver in 2019 after years of dedicated diagnostic repair for Autoweek. After starting out in journalism as a newspaper reporter and editor in metro Detroit in the late 1990s—the Woodward Dream Cruise became an annual favorite among the many city council meetings and high-school sporting events he covered—he made the transition to car-mag copy editing and hasn’t looked in that ol’ rearview mirror since. Langrill, who lives in suburban Detroit with his beloved senior dog, is probably stopped at a light in his Jeep right now, daydreaming about gridiron glory for his University of Michigan Wolverines.
Meredith Conrow
Copy Editor
Meredith joined Car and Driver in 2022 after spending more than 15 years honing her skills as a freelance copy editor for clients all over the world. A native Californian, she learned to drive stick on the 405 as a teenager—trial by fire. She now lives in Michigan with her husband and four kids. Meredith loves road tripping and running, she’s a classically trained soprano, and she’d really like to own a Mini Cooper when she’s finally able to hang up the minivan keys one day.
Matthew Skwarczek
Research Editor
After discovering car magazines and Fast and Furious movies in high school, Matthew Skwarczek wanted to create cleaner fuels to keep automobiles around. But after a brief engineering career, the Chicagoland native realized he preferred researching and writing about the cars themselves. That’s how he found himself first at MotorBiscuit and then at C/D. Today, when he’s not reading, he’s daydreaming on Bring a Trailer, backpacking, or riding his motorcycle or bicycle.
Production
Road Warriors
Harry Granito
Katherine Keeler
Road Warrior
Katherine Keeler began turning wrenches in her early 30s after she bought a car that promptly stopped running. Now, with years of formal and informal technician training, she has grown to be quite fond of the problem solving and ingenuity required to tinker. She is particularly enamored with the nexus between the automotive and artistic worlds. Her dream is to open a roadside attraction where people can come view and drive her moving sculptures. In the meantime, you can find her updating her camper vans, supporting local music, and dreaming of her very own mint-condition Geo Tracker.
Jacob Kurowicki
Road Warrior
Jacob Kurowicki’s love affair with cars doesn’t end at track weapons and posh land yachts, but rather extends to the dopey and eccentric. Pining for a Pontiac Sunfire GT as a child was the first indicator, but an ongoing desire for a Lamborghini LM002 is the kicker. He luckily found a home in the Car and Driver testing team that allows him to further develop his love for the automotive world and the oddities that come with it.
Christi VanSyckle
Road Warrior
Christi VanSyckle worked for a decade in the toxicology field and then transitioned to the Car and Driver testing team based on a serendipitous alignment of the cosmos. Growing up, she’d go to work with her father on non-school days at the (alleged) chop shop he ran in Detroit in the ’80s and ’90s. She was never allowed to pet the dogs that lived in the shop garage, but the smell of mechanic perfume and the feel of lava soap is pure childhood nostalgia. When not working, she enjoys spending time with her created family, cooking, gardening, and silently plotting revenge on her mortal enemies.
European Editor Mike Duff
Contributing Editors Clifford Atiyeh, Brett Berk, Sebastian Blanco, Csaba Csere, Malcolm Gladwell, John Pearley Huffman, Georg Kacher, Nick Kurczewski, Andrew Lawrence, Brendan McAleer, Bruce McCall, Jens Meiners, John Phillips, Derek Powell, Jonathon Ramsey, Mark Takahashi, James Tate, John Voelcker
Contributing Artists Brett Affrunti, Derek Bacon, Dilek Baykara, Michael Byers, Daniel Byrne, Andi Hedrick, James Lipman, Charlie Magee, Sean McCabe, Ryan Olbrysh, Greg Pajo, Chris Philpot, Andy Potts, Sean C. Rice, Roy Ritchie, Tom Salt, Pete Sucheski, Andrew Trahan, Jessica Lynn Walker, Anton Watts
