Brock Yates, Car and Driver?s Assassin, lost his long battle with Alzheimer?s on October 5, 2016. We take solace in the words he crafted for this publication, his screenplays, and his books, a legacy that long ago became permanent and prominent chapters of the American legend.
Yates was born in Lockport, New York, in 1933, the son of Raymond F. Yates, a prolific writer who introduced Americans to the age of telecommunication with his 1929 book ABC of Television. Inspired by his father?s prose, Yates began contributing articles to Science and Mechanics magazine while still in high school. Upon graduation, he studied at Hobart College in Geneva, New York, and later served in the U.S. Navy.
Yates joined Car and Driver in 1964, as managing editor?although he claimed no experience in either managing or editing. The task at hand, envisioned by editor and publisher David E. Davis, Jr., was lifting Car and Driver up and out of the mediocrity miring the day?s automotive publications. Along with Leon Mandel, Steve Smith, and Patrick Bedard, Davis and Yates sharpened their wits and words to venture well beyond routine race reports and road tests. Nicknamed “car and social commentary,” this publication nominated Dan Gurney for president, toasted the day?s brightest engineers and executives, and mounted vicious attacks on those deemed impediments to the automobile?s advancement. Yates earned his Assassin sobriquet with a 1968 exposé of Detroit?s intransigence titled The Gr...