![]() He restored the dragster and built a number of VWs, fat Chevys, drag cars, and hot rods including the Nitti-inspired roadster. He was the first person I knew personally who painted his own cars-well. "Pat can be credited with popularizing the nostalgia drag racing movement in the '80s. He wrote many books and freelance stories about our hobby, and he maintained a huge inventory of vintage photos. He worked for Sunset mag, then was hired onto Hot Rod where he eventually became the editor with the second-shortest tenure, and he later revived Rod & Custom magazine before leading Rodder's Journal. In the magazine world, Pat was on the first staff of Street Rodder and became the editor. "Pat Ganahl died today (and) with Pat went an irreplaceable mind loaded with facts and contacts from the history of rods and customs. "The worst," said David Freiburger, chief editor of Hot Rod magazine and Hot Rod Garage. Cover-Worthy: The Hot Rods of Pebble Beach.His years as editor at Street Rodder magazine and Rodder's Journal, along with a short stint at Hot Rod garnered him tons of respect and admiration from his fellow staffers, but it was his readers who held him in the highest regard." He was knowledgeable, passionate, informative, and opinionated when it came to what mattered, and he earned the right to be through years of being a voice for the hot-rodding world like none other. "I say of all things because while he loved this dragster, and for good reason, he was most well known in the hot-rodding world for hot rods, not race cars. "Like many, I woke to the news that Pat Ganahl had passed away in a racing accident of all things while driving his beloved Ike Iacono dragster," wrote Chad Reynolds, publisher of. Even though you did not know him, you felt like you did. Pat was both a hot rod historian and a hands-on, how-to car guy who brought a unique humanity to everything he wrote. If you grew up (and grew old) like so many of us, reading-consuming-the monthly car mags, his name is familiar to you. "It is impossible to exaggerate the place Pat Ganahl holds in the hot rodding/car culture firmament. Initial reports indicate there was no attempt to stop or brake the vehicle. "Pat was driving the historic Ike Iacono dragster-a car he restored many years ago-at an 1/8th mile track when he apparently suffered a medical emergency and crashed. "Pat was the former editor (and frequent contributor to) Street Rodder, Hot Rod, and (most notably) Rod & Custom magazines, a central figure in Rodder's Journal, and the author of more books on hot rodding, customs and drag cars than I can count," said Ron Thums of Great Lakes Dragway in Union Grove, Wisconsin. His wife Anna was there and said he died doing what he loved because he wasn't a retirement home kind of guy."Īs word got out, the tributes started pouring in on the internet. He said he wasn't feeling well and wanted one more run. We think he had a medical issue in the car, possibly a heart attack. ![]() He never lifted and went into the woods at the end of the track. ![]() ![]() "He was in the Iacono dragster when it happened. "Pat Ganahl passed away yesterday in a drag racing accident at the Estranged Car Club show," said Anna Marco, a former longtime staff member of Rod & Custom magazine who worked under Pat Ganahl for many years. They called him, "Too Tall Ganahl." He sure looked like he had many years of rods and customs ahead of him then. He said it wasn’t really his specialty, that he was more of a rod and custom guy, then proceeded to pour out more details about '32 Fords than my digital audio recorder could handle.Īt the time he looked happy, healthy and very, very tall. I myself had just spoken to Ganahl only a few weeks ago at The Petersen Automotive Museum’s cruise-in tribute to the 90 thanniversary of the '32 Ford. Well-respected hot rod and rod and custom author Pat Ganahl was killed last weekend driving his vintage dragster down the 1/8 th-mile Riverdale Drag Strip at a club event outside Portland, Oregon. He recently posted that, at age 75, he still had "a whole lot of stories left to tell." Pat can be credited with popularizing the nostalgia drag racing movement in the '80s.We think he had a medical issue in the car, possibly a heart attack," wrote his friend and colleague Anna Marco. "He was in the Iacono dragster when it happened.Pat Ganahl was the former editor (and frequent contributor to) Street Rodder, Hot Rod, and (most notably) Rod & Custom magazines, a central figure in Rodder's Journal, and the author of numerous books on hot rodding, customs, and drag cars.
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