# Dan Neil

dan neil is an automotive columnist for The Wall Street Journal and a former staff writer at the Los Angeles Times, AutoWeek and Car and Driver. He was a panelist on 2011's The Car Show with Adam Carolla on Speed Channel.In 1999, Neil received the International Motor Press Association's Ken Purdy Award for automotive journalism, and in 2004 Neil won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism, presented annually to a newspaper writer who has demonstrated 'distinguished criticism.' Awarded for his LA Times column Rumble Seat, the Pulitzer board noted Neil's "one-of-a-kind reviews of automobiles, blending technical expertise with offbeat humor and astute cultural criticism."Journalist Brooke Gladstone called Neil "the Oscar Wilde of auto reviewers." Freelance automotive journalist Thomas Bey called Neil "the thinking man's smart ass." == Background == Neil was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on January 12, 1960, and moved to New Bern, North Carolina, at age 4. His father was an engineer with Stanley Powertools and his mother was a private investigator.