David E. Davis: Fired for Truth Telling, Wants Jean Jennings Dead

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

The “fun” starts at about 11:00 in, where the former Car and Driver Editor reveals that Ziff-Davis fired him for not apologizing to Blaupunkt for dissing their products. Throwing his trademark deference to the wind, Autoline host John McElroy then asks Davis (11:43) if “they canned your ass too, another time?” Which inspires David E. to continue his tirade, chronicling the birth of Automobile, launching a no-holds-barred attack (14:55) on his “protege” (and former welder) Jean Jennings. Davis paints her as a back-stabbing nutcase, and wishes her well (15:47): “I sometimes dream of a FedEx flight on its way to Memphis flying over Parma where she lives and a grand piano falling out of the airplane and whistling down through the air, this enormous object, and lands on her and makes the damnedest chord anybody has ever heard; this sound of music that has never been heard by the human ear. And the next morning all they can find . . . [are] some shards of wood and a grease spot and no other trace of Mrs. Jennings.” Apparently, Davis’ splenetic venting proves that Autoline is about “getting to the unvarnished truth.” Never seen an unvarnished piano.


Robert Farago
Robert Farago

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  • Michaelhagerty Michaelhagerty on Sep 04, 2009

    rudiger : September 4th, 2009 at 1:57 pm jerseydevil: “Jean Jennings lives in Parma? like in Italy Parma?” It was more likely Parma, Ohio (a suburb of Cleveland). Nope. Parma, Michigan. Town of 900 people. On I-94 about 45 miles due east of Automobile's Ann Arbor, Michigan offices.

  • Joeaverage Joeaverage on Sep 07, 2009

    DED and Shatner sounds like the guys I see in Amazon.com reviews that buy some $500 gadget, find they are unhappy with it and declare in a review rant that they are going to smash it against the wall, or trash bin it, or whatever... A little too dramatic... You are a celebrity b/c people are interested in who you are and what you do. Show some interest in return. That said, being a celebrity would get old. Eventually... VBG.

  • Montague Gammon III Montague Gammon III on Jan 02, 2010

    I gotta ask - is this author the Bob Farago whom I knew when he was an RX-7 driving Tufts student, and I was living on Waterhouse Street not far from the campus, and he had a public access show on local cable, and . . . If so, Bob, please email me at montague.gammon@gmail.com!

  • Jwong Jwong on Mar 29, 2011

    Mourning the loss of David E. But remembering the all the wonderful stories he told. The automotive world has lost a giant.

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