I miss Gray Baskerville...

Any body that knows me knows that if nothing else in this world, I'm a car magazine pervert. It becomes pretty apparent when you walk into the back room of my home that I have been collecting automotive paper since I was 5 years old. Literally everything in print since the begining of automotive print is archived there.

I pulled out the April '93 issue of Rod and Custom earlier this week to study one of the cover cars, Bob Morris' "double Nickel" deuce, still one of my favorites by the way, even if it's not strictly traditional. But something else smacked my brain up the side of it's head... What a great writer Gray was! He penned probably 70% of that particular issue, and it was all brilliant. The article on the car in question, the article on the Pierson Bros car (newly restored at the time), And the best damn article EVER put in print about louvering! Oh, and he covered deuce Day that year too, and shot a picture of my favorite '32 highboy ever, Dick Wades car.

That mag at that time with Gray's talents and those of my other favorite, Pat Ganahl, was about as good as it ever got, period. If I wanted accuracy and tons of info and research, read Pat's stuff. If I want to feel like I'm part of the article, Grays stuff. I highly recommend if you have this mag in your collection, pull it out and re-read it. If you don't, find it.

There it is, nothing earth shaking, just a quick thought on a Sunday morning before I walk out and fire up the press for the day... Gray, I for one, miss you and thank you for the simple joy of a good read!

 

Gray wrote in a language of his own, and we all understood it, I miss him too. Bob

 

Damn right - those were the days when magazines were actually worth reading. I saw Gray in action in the editorial offices of Hot Rod magazine around the time those articles were written....

 

im a realativly young-in but i miss him also along with alot of the others that have passed

 

Going to Bville for the first time this year. I know Gray's spirit will be there. I grew up reading him and Pat. Guess you could say they helped form my Hot Rod life.

 

The first time I went to the salt was in 2002. Gray's car was there...he wasn't...

 

<img src=http://www.sema.org/files/attachments/sn_0811_HOF_Baskervil_opt1.jpg>

 

Amen, brother. I used to subscribe, and looked forward to "Ol Dad's" stuff every month.

 

I didn't think about it when I wrote this about a 1/2 hour ago, But wasn't it right at ten years ago right now that we lost him?

 

When I think of Baskerville this is the image that always comes to mind







Ironically, I was just thumbing thru a bunch of pics on the hard drive the other nite and among others found this one (I think he was fixing to hook up to the dead corvette).





In my books, There have only been a select few true automotive jounalists that can garner the respect of the many by writing the stories of the few without adding a 'big time hot rod magazine advertisers' bias in order to please the publishers..... Gray was one of a select group.

 

Probably my favorite writer.....died February 1, 2002

 

Yeah, about 2001, miss him and his gow job.

http://www.rodandcustommagazine.com/thehistoryof/78638/index.html

 

Dang, how time flys. It was around 1988 that Gray shot and featured Mike Chispyn's and our 32 5 window coupes. Fast forward to about 1991 and he was in Indy for Goodguys. I was cruising thru the headquarters in our Prostreeted Studebaker and he flagged me down down wanting a ride to the park. We went cruising around and I guess he was so impressed with the car he asked if he could shoot it for a feature.
That was the last time our paths crossed.
Sad day indeed when he passed. The car world lost a good one.

 

Gray was GREAT! Everybody misses him and what is getting to be too many others!
Do NOT waste a day, boys and girls.

 

When I was in the 8th grade my teacher asked us who our favorite journalist was. I pulled out my copy of HotRod magazine and said"Gray Baskerville". His writeing style infuenced everything I wrote all through school. Thanks Gray for helping me graduate!

 

Taken from us far too soon. Sure would have liked to share this car with him again after all those years. He photographed the car twice and gave it its nickname. His style of writing really made you put yourself in the story.

RIP Gray

 

My last visit to Bonneville was when they spread his ashes on the speedway... a fitting memorial to a great hot rodder.

 

Writers like Gray went away when the beancounters and stockholders started calling the shots.

 

I miss him as well. He WAS HotRod magazine. I sometimes wonder how and what he'd write about the traditional scene and all it's off shoots. How would he have embraced the transformation of ratrods (a trend I believe he first coined), into rusted, embarassing hulks? What would he think about the $250,000 streetrods crowding the show floors?

The hotrod scene in general has warpped and changed so much since he left us. His point of view would be interesting indeed.

 

I am another who always enjoyed his writing no matter what car or subject it was about. A guy can learn a lot from reading what he wrote and studying the photos he took.

 

"Rodney" lives on , same paint and primer, same goofy windshield wiper motor to satisfy the CHP. Still a leaker and Mr. Shelton is not going to change one thing!

 

I was lucky enough to work on the same floor as Ol' Dad for the last few years of his career at Hot Rod. He spoke it like he wrote it and told some of the funniest stories of his adventures. And that infectious cackle.. his office was at the opposite end of the building from mine and I could hear him laughing from 200ft away over a sea of cubicles and office noise. You couldn't help but laugh with him.

I got to drive "Rodney" once! I think Jim is the perfect caretaker for him.

 

Never met "ol Dad", but in reading his numerous articles ,I always came away feeling as if he was a long time friend . He talked the talk, and walked the walk..

 

Got to meet him back in 92' at the Indy Goodguys show.I had pilfered a poster for the show at a local drugstore(shmoozed the hot young gal at the counter out of it) and asked him if he'd autograph it?
We were about 20' from the table where Linda Vaughn was signing items and he said "Here's Linda!" and proceeded to draw an anatomical study then sign the poster.He was happy on life and fun to meet.
A unique individual!

 

Funny, the one time I actually got to meet him, our conversation turned quickly, and I found out he and I shared a fondness for the same brand of gin... Nothing car related ensued!

And ya, I gotta agree, Jim Shelton is the perfect guy to keep the flame going with that car. I could tell a story that involves him, son Chris, Elpolacko, 'nother friend and his dad, myself, and Drinking and yodeling... But I won't.

 

It's really been ten years, huh? He was quite a character. I miss his prose and his viewpoint.

 

A big fan of the man as well. He was indeed one of a kind. He used a term: 'queer for clear' drinking gin, vodka , everclear. Way back when that was my choice. Beer? C'mon man, ya drink to feel no pain, not bloat on yeast. Oh, without B'ville caretaker way's, the archives at Hot Rod would have been greatly diminished. Ain't that right Furbie?

 

"Queer for clear" is what started our conversation that afternoon! Still use it myself.

 

That made me laugh out loud. He always said that.

So true about the Hot Rod archives, slammed. It was a horrible mess when he took over.

 

Man, it doesn't seem like it's been that long since we lost Ol Dad. After Pat left, I seldom picked up a Hot Rod, and after Gray's passing, I've only bought a couple. Just not the same anymore.