{{short description|American journalist}} {{about||the ecologist and animal behaviorist|David E. Davis (ecologist)|other people|David Davis (disambiguation)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see :Template:Infobox writer/doc --> |name =David Evan Davis Jr. |image = |imagesize = 115px |caption = |pseudonym = |birth_date={{Birth date|1930|11|7}} |birth_place=Burnside, Kentucky, U.S.A. |death_date= {{death date and age|2011|3|27|1930|11|7}} |death_place= Ypsilanti, Michigan<ref name="Schultz" /> |occupation= Writer, editor, publisher |genre = Automotive journalism |movement = |influences= |influenced= |website = |signature = }} '''David Evan Davis Jr.''' (November 7, 1930 – March 27, 2011) 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<ref name="Grimes" /> and he influenced the profession by mentoring a gamut of automotive photographers, illustrators, designers and journalists – including Jean Lindamood Jennings, Robert Cumberford, Bruce McCall, P. J. O'Rourke, Jim Harrison and David Halberstam<ref name="Grimes" /> – as well as younger colleagues and journalism students.<ref name="freep01"/>
Known for his own straightforward writing style and his colorful personality – at six-foot-three inches tall, bearded, portly<ref name="baggy01"/> and always immaculately dressed – Davis had once been featured in ''The New York Times'' ''On the Street'' fashion section. Automotive writer Todd Lassa called him "a raconteur, an impresario, a bon vivant in a tweed, three-piece suit."<ref>{{cite web |last=Lassa |first=Todd |date=March 28, 2011 |title=We All Knew David E. Davis Jr. |url=http://blogs.motortrend.com/all-knew-david-davis-jr-13771.html |website=Motor Trend |publisher=Source Interlink Media |access-date=April 6, 2011 |archive-date=March 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110329032824/http://blogs.motortrend.com/all-knew-david-davis-jr-13771.html |url-status=live }}</ref> As an editor he maintained an "atmosphere of creative turbulence."<ref name="Grimes">{{cite news |last=Grimes |first=William |date=March 28, 2011 |title=David Davis Jr. Dies at 80; Elevated Automotive Press |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/29/business/media/29davis.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=david%20e%20davis&st=cse |newspaper=The New York Times |accessdate=November 6, 2013 |archive-date=June 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622032557/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/29/business/media/29davis.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=david |url-status=live }}</ref>''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."<ref name="Grimes" />
His collected writings were published in 1999 ''"Thus Spake David E.: The Collected Wit and Wisdom of the Most Influential Automotive Journalist of Our Time"''.
Davis said his success in automotive journalism came from "his ability to marry southern storytelling to big-city presentation."<ref name="caranddriver01">{{cite web | title = David E. Davis Jr. 1930–2011 | publisher = Car and Driver, March 27, 2011, Eddie Alterman | url = http://blog.caranddriver.com/david-e-davis-jr-1930%E2%80%932011/ | access-date = March 28, 2011 | archive-date = April 1, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110401114053/http://blog.caranddriver.com/david-e-davis-jr-1930%E2%80%932011/ | url-status = dead }}</ref> ''The Truth About Cars'' said "automotive journalism in the post-Vietnam-War era was entirely and singlehandedly defined by David E. Davis Jr."<ref>{{cite web | title = RIP David E. Davis Jr. | date = March 27, 2011 | publisher = The Truth About Cars, March 27, 2011, Jack Baruth | url = http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/03/rip-david-e-davis-jr/ | access-date = March 28, 2011 | archive-date = June 10, 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170610234624/http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/03/rip-david-e-davis-jr/ | url-status = live }}</ref> ''Time'' magazine called Davis the "dean of automotive journalists."
==Background== Davis was born in Burnside, Kentucky, on November 7, 1930 – in a house without running water, on a hill called Tyree's Knob.<ref name="caranddriver01"/> His aunt was Harriette Arnow, author of the best-selling novel, The Dollmaker.<ref name="insideline.com01"/> Davis graduated from high school in Royal Oak, Michigan, having failed his journalism class.<ref name="insideline.com01"/> He later briefly attended Olivet College. He worked in a series of jobs: as a race car driver, Volkswagen salesman, men's clothing salesman, ad salesman with ''Road & Track'', and assembly line worker in a car factory.<ref name="automobile01">{{cite web | title = David E. Davis Jr., Founder and Editor Emeritus of Automobile Magazine, Dead at 80 | publisher = Automobile Magazine, March 27, 2011, Joe DeMatio | url = http://rumors.automobilemag.com/automobile-magazine-founder-david-davis-jr-dies-80-36613.html | access-date = March 28, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110402060942/http://rumors.automobilemag.com/automobile-magazine-founder-david-davis-jr-dies-80-36613.html | archive-date = April 2, 2011 | url-status = dead }}</ref> He would develop his "simple, declarative [writing] style" working on aviation technical manuals.<ref name="insideline01">{{cite web | title = Honour and Recognition For Success: David E. Davis Jr. 1930 - 2011 | date = January 8, 2013 | publisher = Insideline.com, Mike McGrath, March 27, 2011 | url = http://blogs.insideline.com/straightline/2011/03/honour-and-recognition-for-success-david-e-davis-jr-1930---2011.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111009034143/http://blogs.insideline.com/straightline/2011/03/honour-and-recognition-for-success-david-e-davis-jr-1930---2011.html | archive-date = October 9, 2011 | access-date = March 28, 2011 | url-status = live }}</ref>
Davis overturned while racing his sports car (an MG TF 1500) at age 25 in Sacramento – badly damaging his face. He lost his left eyelid, the bridge of his nose, the roof of his mouth and most of his teeth.<ref name="Smith"/> In addition to the accident essentially scraping off half his face, the ambulance attendant had thrown away pieces of his nose.<ref name="baggy01">{{cite web | title = The no-bull bull elk David E. Davis Jr. passes away | date = March 29, 2011 | publisher = Baggyparagraphs.wordpress.com, Ronald Ahrens, March 28, 2011 | url = http://baggyparagraphs.wordpress.com/2011/03/29/the-no-bull-bull-elk-david-e-davis-jr-passes-away/ | access-date = March 30, 2011 | archive-date = August 12, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110812043921/http://baggyparagraphs.wordpress.com/2011/03/29/the-no-bull-bull-elk-david-e-davis-jr-passes-away/ | url-status = live }}</ref> Davis required extensive plastic surgery – and was later able to hide his disfigurement under his full beard.<ref name="Smith"/> He described the crash and its aftermath as pivotal:
{{blockquote|I suddenly understood with great clarity that nothing in life — except death itself — was ever going to kill me. No meeting could ever go that badly. No client would ever be that angry. No business error would ever bring me as close to the brink as I had already been.<ref>{{cite web | title = David E. Davis Jr., auto buff book pioneer, dead at 80 | publisher = Jalopnik, 28 March 2011, Mike Spinelli | url = http://jalopnik.com/#!5786191 | access-date = March 28, 2011 | archive-date = July 3, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110703223046/http://jalopnik.com/#!5786191 | url-status = live }}</ref> }}
Davis lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with his second wife Jeannie Luce Kuhn Davis.<ref name="automobile01"/> His three children from his first marriage to Norma Jean Wohlfiel Davis<ref>{{cite web | title = 'Bye Dad: David Evan Davis Jr. shuts his eyes one last time at 80 years, 140 days | publisher = Autoblog, March 28, 2011, David E. Davis III | url = http://www.autoblog.com/2011/03/28/bye-dad-david-evan-davis-jr-shuts-his-eyes-one-last-time-at/}}</ref> were Peg, David E. Davis III, and Matthew, who has held a number of roles in the automotive business, including senior PR jobs at Nissan and Infiniti and working as a European contributor for numerous publications, including ''Autoblog''. He had three stepchildren – Eleonore Kuhn Snow, Vincent and Anthony Kuhn.
He died unexpectedly at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ypsilanti, Michigan<ref name="Schultz">{{cite news |last=Schultz |first=Jonathon |date=March 28, 2011 |title=David E. Davis Jr., Dean of Automotive Journalism, Dies at 80 |url=http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/28/david-e-davis-jr-dean-of-automotive-journalism-dies-at-80/ |newspaper=The New York Times |at=Wheels |accessdate=November 6, 2013 |archive-date=January 4, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104160925/http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/28/david-e-davis-jr-dean-of-automotive-journalism-dies-at-80/ |url-status=live }}</ref> on March 27, 2011, shortly following bladder cancer surgery.<ref name="automobile01"/>
==Career== After selling an article to ''Motor Trend'' in 1957 for $50,<ref name="insideline.com01"/> Davis became a contributing writer in 1962 to ''Car and Driver'' magazine, at age 32. By the time he joined ''Car and Driver'', Davis had "worked in four automobile factories, sold cars in three imported-car dealerships and one Packard showroom."<ref name="thedetroitbureau01"/> At the magazine, he became friends with automotive luminaries including race car drivers Juan Manuel Fangio, Dan Gurney and Carroll Shelby.<ref name="insideline01"/> Davis left ''Car and Driver'' in 1967 – reported variously as either having been fired by Leon Mandel<ref name="Smith"/> or having resigned<ref name="Grimes" /> as a result of a difference of opinion with management over his criticism of the Blaupunkt radio in his "Turn your Hymnals to 2002" column.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 8, 2025 |title=50 Stories for 50 Years Chapter 1: Turn Your Hymnals to 2002 |url=https://www.bmwusanews.com/newsrelease.do?id=4489&searchresult |website=BMW USA News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Davis Jr. |first=David E. |date=April 1968 |title=Turn your hymnals to 2002 |url=https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15126456/1968-bmw-2002-review/ |magazine=Car and Driver |access-date=July 29, 2025 |archive-date=July 4, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250704182323/https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15126456/1968-bmw-2002-review/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
At Chevrolet's advertising agency,<ref name="insideline01"/> Campbell-Ewald, Davis wrote copy for Corvette and Corvair advertisements alongside future crime novelist Elmore Leonard.<ref name="insideline01"/> He was named Vice President/Creative Director. He is co-credited along with James Hartzell in creating Chevrolet's tagline, "Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet"<ref name="thedetroitbureau01">{{cite web | title = Master Story-Teller, David E. Davis Dead at 80 A man of many hats and helmets. | date = March 28, 2011 | publisher = The Detroit Bureau, Paul Eisenstein, March 28, 2011 | url = http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2011/03/master-story-teller-david-e-davis-dead-at-80/ | access-date = March 29, 2011 | archive-date = April 1, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110401092441/http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2011/03/master-story-teller-david-e-davis-dead-at-80/ | url-status = live }}</ref> – a campaign that Car and Driver and other publications ranked as the best automobile commercial of all time. <ref>{{cite news|author=Joe Rossiter|title=James Hartzell: He created 'the best automobile commercial ever made'|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=September 15, 2010|url=http://www.freep.com/article/20100915/NEWS07/9150331/1322/Hartzell-Baseball-apple-pie-and-Chevrolet|archive-date=September 19, 2010|access-date=March 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100919171237/http://www.freep.com/article/20100915/NEWS07/9150331/1322/Hartzell-Baseball-apple-pie-and-Chevrolet|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Mark Hicks|title=James W. Hartzell, Grosse Pointe: Ad man's creations resonated with public|newspaper=The Detroit News|date=September 15, 2010|url=http://www.detnews.com/article/20100915/OBITUARIES/9150318/1263/Ad-man-s-creations-resonated-with-public}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title="Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie, and Chevrolet" Chevrolet - 10 Best Car Commercials|publisher=Car and Driver|date=January 2005|url=http://www.caranddriver.com/features/05q1/2005_10best_car_commercials-10best_cars/22baseball_2c_hot_dogs_2c_apple_pie_2c_and_chevrolet_22_chevrolet_page_3|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610114417/http://www.caranddriver.com/features/05q1/2005_10best_car_commercials-10best_cars/22baseball_2c_hot_dogs_2c_apple_pie_2c_and_chevrolet_22_chevrolet_page_3|archivedate=June 10, 2011}}</ref>
He returned to ''Car and Driver'' in 1976 to serve as the magazine's editor and publisher – and moved its headquarters from New York to Ann Arbor<ref name="sfgate01"/> in 1977.<ref name="annarbor01">{{cite web | title = David Evan Davis Jr., auto writer and founder of Ann Arbor-based Automobile Magazine, dies at 80 | publisher = Annarbor.com, March 28, 2011 | url = http://www.annarbor.com/business-review/david-e-davis-jr-auto-writer-and-founder-of-ann-arbor-based-automobile-magazine-dies-at-80/ | access-date = March 28, 2011 | archive-date = April 2, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110402134240/http://annarbor.com/business-review/david-e-davis-jr-auto-writer-and-founder-of-ann-arbor-based-automobile-magazine-dies-at-80/ | url-status = live }}</ref> He resigned as Editor/Publisher in 1985 when Car and Driver was sold to CBS.
In 1986, he founded ''Automobile'' with financial backing from Rupert Murdoch<ref name="sfgate01">{{cite news|title=Auto magazine founder David E. Davis Jr. dies |publisher=SFgate.com, March 28, 2011 |url=https://victoriaadvocate.com/2011/03/28/auto-magazine-founder-david-e-davis-jr-dies/ |access-date=February 3, 2026|archive-url=https://archive.today/20260203084733/https://victoriaadvocate.com/2011/03/28/auto-magazine-founder-david-e-davis-jr-dies/|archive-date=3 February 2026|url-status=live}}</ref> – using the credo ''No Boring Cars.''<ref name="insideline.com01">{{cite web | title = David E. Davis Jr., Automotive Journalism's "Hemingway on Wheels," Is Dead | publisher = Insideline.com, March 28, 2011 | url = http://www.insideline.com/car-news/david-e-davis-jr-automotive-journalisms-hemingway-on-wheels-is-dead.html | access-date = March 28, 2011 | archive-date = March 28, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120328164249/http://www.insideline.com/car-news/david-e-davis-jr-automotive-journalisms-hemingway-on-wheels-is-dead.html | url-status = live }}</ref> Davis introduced full-color photography and thick stock, increasing the magazine's literary standards to distinguish it from the other three U.S. automotive magazines, ''Car and Driver'', ''Motor Trend'' and ''Road & Track''.<ref name="sfgate01"/> Murdoch sold the magazine profitably in 1991 to K-III Publications, which became Primedia (now Rent Group) – which was later sold to Source Interlink Media (now Motor Trend Group), the current owner of the magazine.<ref name="automobile01"/> When ''Automobile'' was acquired by K-III, Davis also became the editorial director of the company's ''Motor Trend'' magazine. ''Automobile'' celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2011.<ref name="Smith">{{cite web |last=Smith |first=Steven Cole |title=Long-time Auto Journalist David E. Davis Jr. Dies |url=http://www.autoweek.com/article/20110327/CARNEWS/110329884 |website=Autoweek |publisher=Crain Communications |date=March 27, 2011 |access-date=March 28, 2011 |archive-date=August 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110804224134/http://www.autoweek.com/article/20110327/CARNEWS/110329884 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Davis later left Primedia and in semi-retirement started the online automotive magazine ''Winding Road''.<ref name="Smith"/> In July 2009, he returned to Car and Driver as a contributor. Until his death, he continued to contribute to numerous automotive venues, including international publications<ref name="Smith"/> such as the British magazine ''CAR''.
Davis mentored a spectrum of automotive journalists, including Eddie Alterman, editor-in-chief at ''Car and Driver'' and Jean Jennings, former president and editor-in-chief (after Davis himself) at ''Automobile.'' At the University of Michigan he was member of the board of the Knight-Wallace Fellowship, a journalism program,<ref name="freep01"/> and he encouraged Ford Motor Company to underwrite a fellowship for automotive journalism at the school.<ref name="freep01"/> In 2004, he received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University of Michigan, serving as its spring 2004 commencement speaker.
==Personality== Davis was widely known for his "larger-than-life,"<ref name="freep01">{{cite web | title = David E. Davis Jr., auto writer and Automobile Magazine founder dies | publisher = Detroit Free Press, March 28, 2011, Mark Phelan | url = http://www.freep.com/article/20110328/COL14/110328048}}</ref><ref name="insideline.com01"/> "polarizing personality."<ref name="insideline.com01"/> Joe DeMatio, deputy editor at Automobile Magazine said Davis "was very opinionated and did not hesitate to ruffle feathers, even if they were those of his own bosses."<ref name="sfgate01"/>
Unintimidated by the companies whose products he reviewed, Davis originally resigned from ''Car and Driver'' after refusing to rescind a comment he made about a BMW 2002's weak radio reception and dash; saying its Blaupunkt radio "could not pick up a Manhattan station from the other side of the George Washington Bridge."<ref name="Grimes" /> General Motors, which owned Opel and sold the cars through Buick dealers in the U.S., withdrew much of its advertising when he parked an Opel Kadett in a junkyard for a "hit piece", AKA {{cite news | title = The Opel Kadett Assassination | url = http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/members/AardvarkPublisherAttachments/9990438632447/1968-02_CD_Opel_Kadett_L_Station_Wagon_1-5.pdf | access-date = June 17, 2017 | archive-date = April 1, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210401130633/http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/members/AardvarkPublisherAttachments/9990438632447/1968-02_CD_Opel_Kadett_L_Station_Wagon_1-5.pdf | url-status = dead }} James R. Healey, the auto columnist for USAToday, recalled that while speaking at the Washington Automotive Press Association, Davis also likened General Motors managers to the piano players in a whorehouse, "aware of what was going on upstairs but unable to do much about it even if they were so inclined." He ended the speech by saying that the company was standing on the "shoulders of midgets".<ref name="usatoday01">{{cite news | title = David E. Davis raced cars, wrote ads, insulted GM, founded 'Automobile' magazine | publisher = USAtoday, Drive On, March 28, 2011, James R. Healey | url = http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2011/03/david-e-davis-dies-automobile-magazine-insulted-gm-race-driver-ad-man/1 | date = March 28, 2011 | archive-date = April 1, 2011 | access-date = March 30, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110401103042/http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2011/03/david-e-davis-dies-automobile-magazine-insulted-gm-race-driver-ad-man/1 | url-status = live }}</ref> The company subsequently pulled much of its advertising.<ref name="usatoday01"/> In 2010, he published a column in Car & Driver titled ''"If the original Henry Ford was still alive, he would be building Subarus."''<ref>{{cite news | title = Death of an iconoclastic journalist | publisher = Fortune, March 28, 2011, Alex Taylor III | url = https://money.cnn.com/2011/03/29/autos/david_e_davis_jr_obituary.fortune/index.htm | date = March 29, 2011 | archive-date = November 22, 2019 | access-date = August 3, 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191122144424/https://money.cnn.com/2011/03/29/autos/david_e_davis_jr_obituary.fortune/index.htm | url-status = dead }}</ref>
Davis was periodically estranged from the editor of ''Automobile'', Jean Jennings,<ref name="Smith"/> who described him as "the most interesting, most difficult, cleverest, darkest, most erudite, dandiest, and most inspirational, charismatic and all-around damnedest human being I will ever meet. I have loved him. I have seriously not loved him."<ref name="Smith"/> He also maintained an ongoing friendly rivalry with automotive writer Brock Yates,<ref>{{cite web |title = Great Rivalries: David E. Davis Jr. vs Brock Yates |publisher = Automobile, August 2009 |url = http://www.automobilemag.com/features/news/0909_david_e_davis_jr_vs_brock_yates_great_rivalries/index.html |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20100815121230/http://www.automobilemag.com/features/news/0909_david_e_davis_jr_vs_brock_yates_great_rivalries/index.html |archivedate = August 15, 2010 }}</ref> who said "to know [Davis] is to acknowledge his short fuse and his penchant for unpredictable, snorting charges at friendly targets."<ref name="Smith"/>
David Cole, chairman emeritus of the Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research called Davis "a provocateur, in some ways kind of like the Bob Lutz of auto journalism."<ref name="annarbor01"/> Bob Lutz himself said Davis "was one of those rare individuals who filled a room with his presence."<ref name="freep01"/> Michael Jordan, executive editor at Edmunds.com, said that "at ''Car and Driver'' in the early 1960s, Davis made himself important, yet he also made automotive journalism important."<ref name="insideline01"/> Eddie Alterman, editor-in-chief at ''Car and Driver'', described Davis as "the dashing, witty, high-spirited, and deeply knowledgeable writer/editor who brought the automobile to life."<ref name="caranddriver01"/>
His office was filled automotive art and featured a clipping with Ernest Shackleton's 1914 ad to enlist participants in a voyage to Antarctica: ''"Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success."''<ref name="insideline01"/> Outside his office hung an ad reading "Protest Against the Rising Tide of Conformity."<ref name="caranddriver01"/>
In everyday situations, rather than the conventional ''"How are you?"'', Davis was known to ask ''"Is your life a rich tapestry?"''<ref>{{cite web | title = David E. Davis Jr., Dean of automotive journalism, dead at 80 | publisher = Autoblog.com, March 28, 2011, Chris Paukert | url = http://www.autoblog.com/2011/03/27/david-e-davis-jr-dean-of-automotive-journalism-dead-at-80/ | access-date = March 29, 2011 | archive-date = May 29, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110529135029/http://www.autoblog.com/2011/03/27/david-e-davis-jr-dean-of-automotive-journalism-dead-at-80/ | url-status = live }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== *[http://www.umich.edu/~urecord/0304/May10_04/26.shtml University of Michigan 2004 commencement article including recount of Davis' commencement address] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050218182137/http://www.umich.edu/~urecord/0304/May10_04/26.shtml |date=February 18, 2005 }}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, David E. Jr.}} Category:1930 births Category:2011 deaths Category:People from Pulaski County, Kentucky Category:Journalists from Ann Arbor, Michigan Category:Motoring journalists Category:American magazine editors Category:People in the automotive industry Category:Writers from Kentucky Category:University of Olivet alumni