Csaba Csere Resigns As Editor Of Car And Driver

by Edward Niedermeyer

Published: December 16th, 2008

csaba csere resigns as editor of car and driver

We hear via Jalopnik that Car and Driver Editor-in-Chief Csaba Csere has resigned. No word is immediately available on his reasons for departing the magazine he has served since joining as Technical Editor in 1980. Former TTAC and C&D scribe Brock Yates was unaware that his former boss was departing, but had only kind words for the man who once trekked to the Yates family kitchen to fire him. “A nice fellow,” is how Yates describes Csere. Csaba was “not a particularly good writer, but a good editor,” Yates told me this morning, as I was awaiting a shellacking for identifying myself as part of the TTAC team. He had “strong ties to Detroit,” according to the Cannonball legend, but was a “nice fellow” all the same. Apparently it bore repeating. So what if, as Yates wrote in his first TTAC editorial, “Car and Driver had become a pale shadow of its former self,” and “like Detroit’s carmakers, Csere and his team had refused to recognize reality.” When all is said and done, people remember people. Not a debilitating addiction to comparo tests, a blindering enthusiasm for all things Detroit, or an embarassing public nap. No, regardless of any perceived shortcomings (and man, do we all have them) Csere is a giant figure in American automotive journalism. If nearly 30 years of high-profile print journalism happen to have left Csere with the urge to express his feelings on the industry in a more open, free-wheeling environment, we invite him to send his thoughts our way. We will always have room for an experienced industry-watcher with a mind for truth-telling.

Edward Niedermeyer

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Bunkie on Dec 17, 2008

Stephan- "...when I wrote a totally negative review of the Datsun F10.." I remember that you described it as a "strange visitor from another planet." Your review sticks in my memory more than the car itself. Nice work!

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Lewissalem on Dec 17, 2008

Cheap netbooks are killing print.

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Robertplattbell on Feb 08, 2009
Csaba Csere is pronouncd "Chubby Checker" as I recall. C&D and R&T and frankly, all car mags, are a bit lame and always have been, at least for the last few decades. C&D and R&T used to play this silly game where they would "dis" each other in the letters to the editor page, like we all didn't know they were both owned by the same company. It's like MAD taking a piss on CRACKED. Who cares? Most car mags are beholden to the advertisers. So the Dodge Omni or Chevy Citation gets listed as "car of the decade" or whatever because they PAID for it. No one believes that nonsense. C&D did an article claiming the BMW M3 was a better car than a Ferrari or Lamborghini. In the scoring, the other cars all beat the M3 soundly. But by adding a "comfort and convenience factor" to the test, they can boost the scores to make the M3 win. The same is true of GM vehicles. They throw in "price", "value" and "cupholders" or whatever, until a Chevy Cobalt beats the BMW. Remember the "Pontiac GTO vrs. Ferrari GTO" test? It was fixed, of course. But that started the whole trend. And no, a family sedan with a truck engine is not faster and does not handle better than a Ferrari. The "scribes" or as one wag calls them "auto-journos" all like to think they are the next Hunter S. Thompson, and frankly, you get tired a little of their ego-centric articles and use of words like "Bespoke". They columnists like to BAIT the readers with "controversial" comments to generate letters to the editor. They all do that, from Autoweek, to Automobile, to the Roundel. So you have Cory Farley advocating riding the left lane to block traffic. Why? Because he's an arsehole? (Well, Maybe). No, it is to get people to write in outraged letters to the editor, ad nauseum. The letters section is full of people passionately advocating pro and con for this or that, interspersed with wry remarks from "ed.". After a while, it's like "WTF cares whether some bone-brain thinks the "M" brand is being diluted?" Once you get tired of being marketed to and baited, there is little left for you to read in these car mags. As the population of the USA ages, so will "enthusiast" interest. Kids are all ga-ga about cars, because they don't have them (or don't have nice ones) and they want them. Once you have had your fill, they are just a commodity item sucking money out of your bank account that should go to your 401(k) or kids college fund. I mean, who cares if I can get a new Camaro with a sticker package and slightly stiffer shocks? It still ain't a race car. The BIG MISTAKE the car mags made was not pandering to the younger "Rice Racers" and "Drifters" etc. They are NOW trying to appease this group, too little, too late. This is the core audience - teens and pre-teens that companies want to build a brand identity with. 40-60 year old editors and writers can't write for that market. Car mags are kids mags. You have to hire kids to write them and run them. I'll bet Rice Racer Monthly is selling briskly. (And then you have sites like this, which are also taking away readers).

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Robertplattbell on Feb 08, 2009

"His attempt to make his magazine political and to “pick sides” in the last Presidential election was also ill advised and stupid… Even worse since he picked the wrong horse." Yea, I din't get that either. Like if you love cars, you have to be a Republican? Huh? When you stray from the core business (cars) you get into trouble. "Yes, well, that was demagoguery for you. I think this was another corporate ploy, trying to generate controversy for the sake of readership stats." OK, so its not just me. They "bait" the readers, trying to get a reaction out of you. It gets tiring. It's like that line from Howard Stern's movie Private Parts: "50% of listeners LOVE Howard Stern and listen for an average of 1.5 hours. Most common reason given? They want to hear what he'll say next." "50% of listeners HATE Howard Stern and listen for an average of 2.5 hours. Most common reason given? They want to hear what he'll say next." Sometimes pissing off your audience is a way to get a reaction. However, I think over time, you just end up driving them away as people get tires of anger and controversy.

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