Personality
Davis was widely known for his "larger-than-life," "polarizing personality." Joe DeMatio, deputy editor at Automobile Magazine said Davis "was very opinionated and did not hesitate to ruffle feathers, even if they were those of his own bosses."
Unintimidated by the companies whose products he reviewed, Davis originally resigned from Car and Driver after refusing to rescind a comment he made about a BMW 2002's weak radio reception and dash; saying its Blaupunkt radio "could not pick up a Manhattan station from the other side of the George Washington Bridge." Ford withdrew much of its advertising when he parked a Ford Pinto, before its well-noted fuel tank controversy, in front of a junkyard. James R. Healey, auto columnist for USAToday, recalled that while speaking at the Washington Automotive Press Association, Davis likened General Motors managers to the piano players in a whorehouse, "aware of what was going on upstairs but unable to do much about it even if they were so inclined." He ended the speech by saying that the Company was standing on the "shoulders of midgets". The company subsequently pulled much of its advertising. In 2010, he published a column in Car & Driver titled "If the original Henry Ford was still alive, he would be building Subarus."
Davis was periodically estranged from the editor of Automobile, Jean Jennings, who described him as "the most interesting, most difficult, cleverest, darkest, most erudite, dandiest, and most inspirational, charismatic and all-around damnedest human being I will ever meet. I have loved him. I have seriously not loved him." He also maintained an ongoing friendly rivalry with automotive writer Brock Yates, who said "to know is to acknowledge his short fuse and his penchant for unpredictable, snorting charges at friendly targets."
David Cole, chairman emeritus of the Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research called Davis "a provocateur, in some ways kind of like the Bob Lutz of auto journalism." Bob Lutz himself said Davis "was one of those rare individuals who filled a room with his presence." Michael Jordan, executive editor at Edmunds.com, said that "at Car and Driver in the early 1960s, Davis made himself important, yet he also made automotive journalism important." Eddie Alterman, editor-in-chief at Car and Driver, described Davis as "the dashing, witty, high-spirited, and deeply knowledgeable writer/editor who brought the automobile to life."
His office was filled automotive art and featured a clipping with Ernest Shackleton's 1914 ad to enlist participants in a voyage to Antarctica: "Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success." Outside his office hung an ad reading "Protest Against the Rising Tide of Conformity."
In everyday situations, rather than the conventional "How are you?", Davis was known to ask "Is your life a rich tapestry?"
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