For an old school, glory years Car and Driver experience, I’d recommend:
I don’t know anything about Bedard being an editor-in-chief. Eddie Alterman’s been at the helm since 2009, and Csaba was there from '93 to '08. It’s possible he might have been an interim editor, or something, in the months between Csere and Alterman, but Bedard left C&D the summer of '09.
C&D’s always been a bit on the libertarian side when it came to stuff like speed cameras, red light cameras, speed traps, etc. One of my favorite pieces of theirs was Town Without Pity, investigating a notorious speed trap in New Rome, Ohio.
I was pretty sure a recent issue had PB as EIC; all I can recall is his lead editorial that was whining about some 'orribly unfair law or regulation or something. Yeah, Libertarian. That says it all.
I remember their more incisive pieces on speed traps etc., and their loathing for Ohio, back when it mattered. I still think the problem is that the job has gotten too easy; all they can say is that one car is more wonderfuler than another.
I probably shouldn’t say it’s “always” had a libertarian bent in terms of driver-related issues, but it’s been that way since I’ve been reading it in the early 90s.
I can’t find anything that corroborates Patrick Bedard being EIC. The last writing credit I could find for him on Car & Driver’s website is from July 2009, so I’m not sure what you saw.
At the same time, lenient driver testing and licensing standards is also a constant editorial theme. Pretty much, they seem to want a Skip Barber School-level of training for new drivers, with license testing that involves facing every possible hazard in every road and weather condition. “That’s how they do it in Finland.” With a manual transmission, of course, because real drivers shun slushboxes.
Reading US-based automobile blogs, the holy grail of cars seems to be a diesel-powered wagon with a manual transmission.
A thread about magazines might be more apropos for Cafe Society, but this seems to be getting some traction here in IMHO so I’ll leave it here for the time being. Notify me if you want it moved, OP.
True, but not just any diesel. One with 500bhp and 23,000 torques.
And a redline of only 21 rpm. 
AWD.
…ftw! 
You guys are funny. 
I don’t share that particular appreciation. I don’t mind reading/hearing about cars I’ll never own because they’re expensive (rare, etc.), but for some reason learning about, say, an Accord equivalent that simply isn’t (and might never be) available over here doesn’t interest me at all. I tend to skip those segments on Top Gear, unless one of those vehicles is featured in a “Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car” bit.
Note I didn’t include MT among the options.
I went back and forth about CS vs IMHO before I started the thread, and am still not entirely sure why I chose IMHO. I wouldn’t have minded if you moved it, but thanks for letting it stay!
Mid-70s, here. I hadn’t really thought of it in political terms but Libby sticks as well as any. They want everyone (who’s good enough) to be street racers all the time.
I know I opened at least one issue that had a PB editorial at the lead; it’s possible he was writing it from some other position but that slot is typically the EIC’s, no? And I thought he said something about taking over the reins. Maybe I’m grossly mismembering.