Press & broadcasting / Auto industry
Csaba Csere
· automotive engineer and journalist, Car and Driver editor-in-chief
Hungarian-American MIT engineer who left Ford's advanced engine office for Car and Driver in Ann Arbor and ran the magazine as editor-in-chief from 1993 to 2008.
- Detroit years
- 1978–2008
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Csere, an American of Hungarian descent whose name sounds roughly like CHUB-uh CHED-uh, earned a mechanical engineering degree at MIT in 1975. After a spell as a design engineer at Data General he was working in Ford's advanced engine engineering office by 1978. Two years later he took a pay cut to become technical editor of Car and Driver, the magazine based in Ann Arbor. He made his name explaining how cars work in plain language and driving competition machines for readers, from NASCAR stock cars to Formula One cars, and he raced in fifteen 24-hour events along the way. He was editor-in-chief from 1993 to the end of 2008, pushing the magazine into television, web and radio. He later stayed on as a contributing editor, presenting the magazine's test videos, and he has testified as an automotive expert in the U.S. Senate.
Highlights
- Engineer in Ford's advanced engine engineering office, 1978–1980
- Joined Car and Driver as technical editor in 1980
- Editor-in-chief of Car and Driver, 1993–2008
- Raced in fifteen 24-hour events
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1980–2008
Car and Driver editorial office
The magazine's home base in Ann Arbor, where he worked as technical editor and editor-in-chief.