David E. Davis

Who was David E. Davis?

David Evan Davis, Jr. was an American automotive journalist and magazine publisher widely known as a contributing writer, editor and publisher at Car and Driver magazine and as the founder of Automobile magazine.

Davis influenced the format of automotive journalism by introducing premium publishing features and he influenced the profession by mentoring a gamut of automotive photographers, illustrators, designers and journalists – including Jean Jennings, Robert Cumberford, Bruce McCall, P. J. O'Rourke, Jim Harrison and David Halberstam – as well as younger colleagues and journalism students.

Known for his own straightforward writing style and his colorful personality – at six-foot-three inches tall, bearded, portly and always immaculately dressed – Davis had once been featured in the New York Times On the Street fashion section. Automotive writer Todd Lasso called him "a raconteur, an impresario, a bon vivant in a tweed, three-piece suit." As an editor he maintained an "atmosphere of creative turbulence."The New York Times described him as "a combative swashbuckler who encouraged criticism of the cars it tested, even at the risk of losing advertising."