The life and work of David E. Davis, Jr.

A while back, David E. Davis, Jr., the self-styled ‘most influential automotive journalist of our time’, was driving a Cadillac Escalade through Ohio when his pal, the best-selling author, Elmore Leonard, telephoned.

Elmore launched straight into the outline of a scene he was concocting for his latest thriller. ‘This rangy blonde,’ he said, ‘very assured, expensive looking, walks into an LA penthouse. Over by the window there’s a guy waiting. She pulls a Ruger P89 out of her shoulder bag and levels it at him. He doesn’t flinch. She takes another step and pulls the trigger. Nothing! The chamber is empty. David, do you know what sound that empty Ruger would make? A click? A clunk? How loud?’

David chortled. ‘I don’t know but I’ll call Bill Ruger right now and ask.’ Ruger, one of David’s closest hunting buddies and CEO of the firearms firm his father had co-founded, was happy to oblige and word went swiftly back to Elmore.