Brock Yates Leaves TTAC, Again

We seriously like Brock Yates and we seriously like the idea of serious writers with a long history coming over to the digital side of automotive journalism. We're just waiting for someone to make the transition that will actually keep a job long enough for us to see how it works out. As you'll remember, Yates was fired from Car und Driver, then went to work for TTAC, then left TTAC, then was hired by TTAC, again. So what's happened next in the ongoing W2 saga? After just three columns, Yates is Fara-gone. The statement from the big boss man at the site all about the truth apparently Yates couldn't handle (or maybe the truth couldn't handle Yates?) below the jump. More »

Brock Yates Joins TTAC Full-Time, Welcome To The Interwebs

Though it's been a while since Brock Yates was fully canned from Car & Driver, and there was talk of him joining the interwebs many moons ago, nothing ever materialized. But now we're happy to say that Brock Yates will officially be joining the League of Extraordinary Automotive Bloggers at The Truth About Cars. More »

Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9

Sedans haven't faired well in our Fantasy Garage. Currently, there aren't any. Once there were two (the Phaeton W12 and the Quattroporte), but you kids gave both the proverbial boot. Some might argue the Audi RS4 Avant would qualify, but this is a clear case of five doors being more equal than four. No, the only four-door we're currently packing is the Lamborghini LM002. And if that's a sedan, my aunt's an uncle. That said, I'll feel like a downright failure if we fill the Garage and it contains no sharp-dressed sedans. That's why today's nominee, the indomitable Mercedes-Benz 6.9, gets the nod. More »

Essential Reading From One B. Yates

Brock Yates runs down his favorite automotive books for the Wall Street Journal. Topics? Henry Ford, Harry Miller, Moss, Dan Gurney and Daytona, but to name a few. Say what you will about Yates, and many have said plenty, but the man knows his history, so when dude drops science on the past of motor racing, it might behoove you to listen up. – Davey G. Johnson More »

J.J., Where'd You Park the Ambulance? Cannonball to Return?

After retiring the Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy dash, which famously terminated a bit above Pedro in Redondo Beach, Brock Yates launched the One Lap of America. Now, with renewed interest in point-to-point rallying due to the Gumball, the Bullrun, the Player's Run and the upcoming documentary about the 1983 US Express, which set a transcontinental record of 32 hours, 7 minutes, Yates is looking back to get in the game he invented. According to ForbesAutos, Yates may revive the Cannonball as early as this spring. Is that sound we hear Chuck Mallett sprinting to his garage? And will the Polizei take up the gauntlet Yates is about to throw down? Hang on, kids. It might get a bit bumpy. More »

The Truth about Car and Driver: Yates Joins TTAC

Holy cannoli. As if the auto journalism world couldn't get any more chaotic, Brock Yates has signed on to spill the beans (in even greater detail) on his departure from Car and Driver, on Farago's The Truth About Cars. He'll also be getting back into the qwerty game on TTAC, contributing other commentary and reviews for the site. Next thing you know, Farago will be starring in "Cannonball Run IV" or "Speed Zone II," depending on what manner of movie geek you ask. More »

Brock Yates on His Car and Driver Departure

Brock Yates is one of the more divisive figures in automotive journalism. In fact, we feel like a redundant dunce in even saying that, but whatever. Still, we were really shocked when Sweet Peet D. mentioned that Csaba Csere had let Yates go. To us, being thirtysomethings, Yates is more an icon of Car and Driver than David E. ever was. He was the magazine's mascot; he was one of the primary reasons we got into automotive writing. We didn't always agree with the cut of his jib, but we almost always found his words chewing on. His retort to Csere's May, 2006 C/D column posted on the One Lap site wasn't something we noticed 'til today, but we thought it was worth reposting. Check it after the jump. More »

Who Was Cannon Ball Baker?

Erwin G. "Cannon Ball" Baker was a legendary long-distance record setter in the first half of the last century who traversed the nascent roadways of the nation on what were essentially sponsorship dares from manufacturers. He later became NASCAR commissioner, and when the idea for a cross-country road race popped into Yates' mind in the '70s, the Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash was born. (Yates claims not to know why he compounded Cannon Ball's sobriquet, at least that's how we remember the story.) The One Lap of America is an outgrowth of that, ostensibly legal, but offering a copious opportunities for mad hoonage along the way. More »

Brock Yates' Full mph Column

There is one Jalopnik staffer that admits to having never seen the movie The Cannonball Run. We all look at him in shame and wonder "How could this happen?" But maybe, just maybe, he can enjoy the first, and unfortunately the last, column Cannonball legend Brock Yates penned for the now deceased mph. To be generous, we're pasting Brock's entire column below for all to enjoy. More »

Big Changes Afoot at Car and Driver

We'll admit that over the last couple of years, we haven't enjoyed Car and Driver or Automobile as much as we once did. With their young talent pools having been cherry-picked by David Pecker and his posse to put together mph and Dan Neil having filled his plate in Los Angeles, there's a certain spark that's missing. And while Primedia's cost-cutting measures are legendary (we recently heard an anecdote that a low-level editorial position at Hot Rod pays $15,000 a year less than it did two decades ago), Hachette, according to Sweet Peet D. is putting the screws to Csaba Csere to trim costs. What does this mean? It means, bye, Brock! More »

Calling Captain Chaos: Errors in The Cannonball Run

Could one of the greatest so-bad-it's- freaking- awesome films of all time actually have mistakes in it? So say the people at Movie Mistakes, claiming that there are a number of egregious errors in Dom DeLuise's finest hour, directed by Hal Needham and penned by Brock Yates (Hi Brock!). To wit: "JJ and Victor's ambulance's engine sounds are dubbed, and a few times you can hear the sound of shifting a manual transmission when the ambulance is shown to have an automatic." However, that can't be true. Dick Landy built that engine, and Dick Landy would never deceive us. More »