You've Come A Long Way, Caddy

Seven decades of innovative cars and ways to rank them

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The very first time we attempted to identify “the” car of a particular year was in our November 1949 issue. Instead of rounding up early 1950 model cars and putting them through a rigorous testing regimen, we looked back at the year that had been and selected among the cars that had been on sale for a year, some of which we’d driven.

This was only our third issue, and we’d only “tested” two cars—an MG TC and a Studebaker Starlight Coupe (if you consider eyeballing the speedometer and clicking a stopwatch “testing”). Oh, and the aforementioned “we” wasn’t a dozen staffers arguing. Rather, it was a single freelance writer named John Bond. Yes, the John R. Bond, who would later go on to edit and publish Road & Track magazine. As we still do today, we laid out the ground rules at the top of the piece:

NOTE: In this article, automotive enthusiast John Bond was asked to describe his idea of the most advanced of the 1949 models. Before making his selection, he considered all models, ranging from the Jeepster through the Lincoln, and gave serious thought to the engine, appearance, and handling characteristics. His final choice may be subject to controversy, but definitely has merit.—Editor

The story consisted of a single two-page spread that included one illustration of the car (no photo), two illustrations comparing the new and predecessor engines’ exterior size envelopes and crank/rod/piston assemblies, and a confusing chart comparing horsepower/ cubic inch, pounds/horsepower, stroke/ bore ratio, and “B.M.E.P.” (the meaning of which readers were left to divine without Google’s help).