Auto News 5

There are many ways to become a car designer, but the easiest path is attending a school boasting a dedicated curriculum. First in the United States was the school created in 1926 by the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts, now the College for Creative Studies. Its world-first car-design program began in 1933, well before that of its principal rival, California's Art Center College of Design.

Months in Fleet: Four
Mileage to Date: 17,297

David E. Davis, Jr., and Brock Yates are the grand pooh-bahs of automotive journalism. For five decades, beginning in the early 1960s, words penned by these erudite, opinionated high priests shaped the way several generations of readers worshipped cars. The two men collaborated at Car and Driver for more than a decade and both served as that august publication's editor-in-chief - Yates for one year, Davis for two stints totaling twelve years. While Davis focused his journalistic energy on magazines, Yates's portfolio includes a dozen books, two screenplays, and expert live commentary for CBS, TNN, and the Speed network.

Mileage to date: 23,801
Months in fleet: Ten

Decades of Easy Rider, Boozefighters, and Hell's Angels folklore have painted an indelible image of what a Harley-Davidson motorcycle is and does. Harley fans are knuckle draggers focused solely on the sound and style of their machines. Performance doesn't count.