Automobile # 8, November 2004

★★★★★

Great Magazine

Automobile was an American automobile magazine published by the Motor Trend Group. A group of former employees of Car and Driver led by David E. Davis founded Automobile in 1986 with support from Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, using the credo No Boring Cars. Automobile distinguished itself as more of a lifestyle magazine than the other automotive publications, an editorial theme that Davis greatly expanded upon from his tenure as the editor of Car and Driver, though it was a sister publication to Motor Trend.

Unlike other automobile magazines, Automobile didn't often conduct instrumented tests of cars or provide much technical data. Instead, the reviews of vehicles were subjective experiential reports with the cars in their naturally intended, real world environment. Additionally, Automobile reserved a good portion of each issue for covering vehicles no longer in production, but still relevant to collectors or automotive history as a whole. For example, the magazine included features such as "Collectible Classic," an in-depth review of a particular older car, and reports from recent classic and antique car auctions. Automobile also had a regular column by former General Motors designer Robert Cumberford, who analyzed styling elements of current production models and show cars, often linking their design to those of older cars.