Yates

Yates.

“Brock Yates, 1933-2016,” said my most recent issue of Classic Car magazine.
Thud!
I suppose at my age (72) I should expect things like this.
Just last week I attended the viewing of a dear friend who like my wife was killed by “The Big C.”
Yates was not a friend, but had a HUGE influence on my life.
Back in late 1962 when I began attending college I still subscribed to Hot Rod Magazine.
One day I picked up a discarded copy of Car and Driver magazine at the laundromat and became hooked.
Car and Driver was much more literate than Hot Rod, which seemed aimed at high-schoolers.
Yates and David E. Davis were the major domos, Yates an editor I guess, and Davis the head-honcho.
Car and Driver seemed interested in Detroit-iron; it didn’t badmouth it.
It was sorta like me. Sportscars and ferrin cars were nice, but so was the 409 Chevy and hotrods.
(That’s my You-Tube 409 link.)
I’ve subscribed to Car and Driver ever since; that’s over 50 years.
I also subscribed to Road & Track a while ago, but dropped it.
Car and Driver had better writing.
Yates was involved with Car and Driver a long time, more a contributing writer in the end.
He was finally booted for costing too much. But the magazine remains what he and Davis set.
Maybe 10 years ago I actually met Yates. He lived nearby in western NY in the town of Wyoming.
He bought and restored an old mansion, part of an apple plantation I think.

That’s Yates in the trousers. (Photo by BobbaLew.)

Rochester public-TV was doing a program on restored classic housing.
They did a program on Yates’ restoration, and scheduled a party at his estate.
“I’m a long-time constant-reader,” I told Yates.
He thereafter poo-pooed Car and Driver. This was after he was canned.
Yates was no longer on Car and Driver’s masthead, and Car and Driver is better now than it was recently.
But that magazine remains him. —And Davis.
What a joy it was to find good writing that reflected my interest in cars.
Now we’ll see if Car and Driver says anything. I hope they do.

• My wife of over 44 years died of cancer April 17th, 2012. I miss her immensely. Best friend I ever had, and after my childhood I sure needed one.
• I attended Houghton College (“HO-tin;” as in “oh,” not “how” or “who”) in western New York, from where I graduated with a BA in 1966. I’ve never regretted it, although I graduated a Ne’er-do-Well, without their blessing. Houghton is an evangelical liberal-arts college.