Finding The Best Of 10Best’s First Decade: Window Shop with Car and Driver

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This is Car and Driver celebrating the wonderfulness that is itself. The first issue, then branded as Sports Car Illustrated, was published in 1955. In 1961, then-editor Karl Ludvigsen brilliantly rebranded the monthly magazine as Car and Driver. Then, in the January 1983 issue, the editorial mission bloomed with incandescent purpose with the introduction of the annual 10Best list. It’s been nothing but brilliant choices ever since. A full 40 years of brilliance.

Okay, the Renault Alliance was on the first list. That was a mistake. Only that one screw-up. A great record.

So Window Shop, the Zoom-based show of competitive used-car shopping beloved by several, undertakes the challenge of finding a great example of a car that appeared on the 10Best list during the first decade of the 10Best era. That’s between 1983 and 1992. The price cap was set at $50,000 – and none of the choices even came close to that.

Oh look, the Dodge Daytona was on the 1984 list. That’s two mistakes. Only two.

Wait, the Fiero 2M4 with the Iron Duke four was also on the list that year? Crap!

This episode’s participants are editor-in-chief Tony Quiroga, whose Machiavellian machinations have served him so well during his career. He just can’t turn off the scheming for one fun hour on YouTube. He found something-or-other. Oh, a . . . Sentra. Sheesh.

Executive Editor K.C. Colwell used his keen insights to find an S-Class Mercedes. Senior Editor Joey Capparella did a fine job seeking out a nugget of C/D history. Road & Track senior editor John Pearley Huffman, who keeps showing up for these things despite not working here, uncovered a glorious Acura. So sweet.

But it’s C/D’s current favorite freelancer Jonathon Ramsey that nailed this challenge like plywood. Go watch and appreciate the glory of his choice.

Here’s a history of the 10Best stories to guide your own speculations. Remember, this episode of Window Shopping was limited to the lists generated between 1983 and 1992.