Richard Truett’s passion for technology goes back to childhood when he took the electric motors out of his toys. He dismantled his first automobile engine, a Corvair flat 6, when he was 10. At 16, he completed his first automotive project, converting his 1976 Chevrolet Vega from automatic transmission to manual. He has restored more than a dozen classic British sports cars. After earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Central Florida in 1985, Truett worked at three Florida newspapers: The Evening Herald in Sanford, The News-Journal in Daytona Beach and The Orlando Sentinel, where he was transportation reporter. He reviewed new cars and wrote about automotive topics. Truett became the engineering reporter for Automotive News in 2001. In late 2009 he began a three-year stint leading powertrain communications for Ford Motor Co. Truett returned to Automotive News in 2013 to cover engineering and technology. He cowrote the book "Drive" in 2018, published by The Smithsonian, which chronicles the history of driving.