Editing Car and Driver (section)

==Editorial direction==
{| class="wikitable floatright" align=right
!Issues!!Editor
|-
|+Editors{{clarify|date=April 2013|reason=ed in chief or managing ed?}}
|-
|Jul 1955 – Nov 1955||George Parks
|-
|Dec 1955 – Feb 1956||Arthur Kramer
|-
|Mar 1956 – Dec 1956||[[Ken Purdy (writer)|Ken Purdy]]
|-
|Jan 1957 – Nov 1959||John Christy
|-
|Dec 1959 – Jan 1962||Karl Ludvigsen
|-
|Feb 1962 – Feb 1963||William Pain
|-
|Mar 1963 – Jan 1966||[[David E. Davis, Jr.]]
|-
|Feb 1966 – Oct 1966||[[Brock Yates]]
|-
|Nov 1966 – Jan 1968||Steve Smith
|-
|Feb 1968 – Dec 1969||Leon Mandel
|-
|Jan 1970 – Mar 1971||Gordon Jennings
|-
|Apr 1971 – Nov 1974||Bob Brown
|-
|Dec 1974 – Sep 1976||Stephan Wilkinson
|-
|Oct 1976 – Oct 1985||[[David E. Davis, Jr.]]
|-
|Nov 1985 – Feb 1988||Don Sherman
|-
|Mar 1988 – May 1993||William Jeanes
|-
|Jun 1993 – Dec 2008||[[Csaba Csere]]
|-
|Mar 2009 – April 2019||Eddie Alterman
|-
|April 2019 – Jan 2022 ||Sharon Silke Carty
|-
|Feb 2022 –   || [https://www.hearst.com/-/tony-quiroga-named-editor-in-chief-of-car-and-driver Tony Quiroga]
|}

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 (North America)|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 [[Ford Mustang|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 [[EMD SD60|GM-EMD SD60]] and saw how a locomotive was made and test one out before it was delivered to the [[Kansas City Southern Railway]].<ref>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</ref>
* In its February 1968 issue, [[Cook Neilson]] authored a scathing review of the 1968 [[Opel Kadett B|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]],<ref>{{cite web
 |title        = Paul Niedermeyer Becomes TTAC Managing Editor
 |publisher    = The Truth About Cars
 |author       = Paul Niedermeyer
 |date         = November 23, 2009
 |url          = https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2009/11/paul-niedermeyer-becomes-ttac-managing-editor/}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web
 |title        = The Opel Kadett Asassination – By Car and Driver
 |publisher    = Curbside Classic
 |author       = Paul Niedermeyer
 |date         = April 29, 2022
 |url          = https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/the-opel-kadett-asassination-by-car-and-driver/}}</ref>

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.