Robert Duffer is an award-winning writer, editor, teacher, automotive journalist and the Senior Editor for The Car Connection. As the former autos editor for the Chicago Tribune, Duffer reported on stories of national and local significance, and his syndicated auto review column appeared in hundreds of publications in print and online. He has written for Forbes.com, Cars.com, US News Autos and other publications, ranging from the New York Times to Canadian Builders Quarterly.
A master’s graduate of Columbia College Chicago and Skip Barber Racing School, Duffer believes in the Oxford comma, electrified powertrains, and the minivan as the greatest utility vehicle. His most enduring automotive lesson was imparted by his father, who would speed up to nice cars and say, "Don't look. Don't give the jerk the satisfaction." The elder Duffer is the jerk driving the ‘68 Mustang convertible. Duffer is a member of the Midwest Automotive Media Association.
Incentives, tax breaks, and more breathing room are part of it, but oil wealth leaves the nation with an odd relationship to some of the top-level sustainability questions.