I have never met Pat, but I feel a kinship and brotherhood with a man that stood tall not only in stature but in the world of Hot Rods, He has worked in the world of Hot Rod magazines most of his life and leave some large shoes to fill. Today we have lost a brother with a encyclopedic mind that has been at the helm of many publications, contributed to almost every automotive magazine and has published more books than anyone else in the industry. There is probably not a single person here on the hamb that has not read or been inspired by Pat's in-depth knowledge. My condolences to Anna & Bill and his network of friends and thousands of fans like myself. HRP
sad news today, I really wanted see the dragster and hopefully get to meet Pat.. Loved his books... RIP Pat.. thoughts and prayers to his family and friends.. God Speed !
Man….Oh, Man! Prayers for His Family, Friends and Rodders World Wide. A Huge whole in Our Community. Farewell, Pat Ganahl.
Very sad to hear. I always enjoyed his Blogs that I received regularly and the stoires with so much history of hot rodding and custom cars. Condolences to family and friends.
My oh my what awful bad news. Just a super guy and a wonderful hot rod historian and writer. Sincere condolences to his family and many friends.
https://www.gettextbooks.com/author/Pat_Ganahl an impressive list of titles. I’m sure we all have turned a page or two through one or several. Thanks for the inspiration
I didn't know the man, but I knew his work. You can tell a man's integrity and character by how he is remembered and obviously, by the many comments, he was a man of great stature.
Devastated. Thank you Pat, for taking us along for all these decades of Hot Rodding. A true inspiration. Marty, Bill ,Anna, and family,I hope you're doing Ok.
I can’t believe this… we’ve been friends for over 40 years both Inliners at heart. I even bought a crew cab from his father. Pat and I talked often went he was searching for an obsolete GMC or Chevrolet 6 racing engine parts. I couldn’t believe when he wanted to do an article on our 40 Chevrolet for Street Rodder because of it prior heritage and what we were doing with it in LSR. I was flabbergasted to see 3 pages in March 1981. REST For Now Pat as we will meet again…. J D
That is horrible. I only met him once, but his writing profoundly inlfuenced my love of hot rodding. We will not see his like again. RIP Pat.
So sorry to hear this. I looked forward to his weekly blogs. This sure leaves a huge hole in the hot rod world. R.I.P Pat our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.
Sorry to hear this sad news. My condolences to his family and friends. He made the hobby so much better and had such a positive effect on so many people through his writing.
A great article about Pat, written by Thom Taylor: The Tallest and Shortest-Serving HOT ROD Editor: Pat Ganahl (motortrend.com)
Edited at 20:17 pacific. David Freiburger confirmed that he did crash in the dragster on FB. He didn't have any info on the how, why or what not though. As Crazy Steve said, Riverdale is not a place you want to be if you need serous medical help or need to get to serous medical help. You are pretty well 30 minutes from I 5 and then you have to Go to Longview which is the closest city. Here is a map that shows how far out off the path it is.
When my daughter and I were building her '55 she decided to do it early 60's style. After it was done we entered it in the 2019 GNRS. On Saturday at the show we saw Pat at his booth and told him we had finished the car and it was in the show. Sunday morning before the doors opened to the public Pat came over to look at her car. He stood there for a moment and then got a big grin on his face and told my daughter that she had "absolutely nailed the look." Thanks Pat for giving my daughter a memory she'll never forget. Godspeed and prayers for Anna and Bill.
I have really strong feelings on this right now Maybe I'm just angry we lost such a treasure and hero. I wrote a long rant on how terrible this is...but deleted it. This is no time to soapbox. This just sucks. Plain and simple. God speed Mr. Ganahl. My thoughts are with your loved ones, and may you rest in peace.
Good Lord, this is awful news. My sincere condolences to Anna, Bill and his many friends. Over the many decades, Pat has always been my favorite writer. I always wanted to meet him, but never was fortunate enough to cross paths with him at a Socal show. Nonetheless, anytime I read one of his articles, it was as if I was reading a letter from a friend. His style was so captivating. Following his 34 Sedan build on the HAMB, was like walking into a friends garage and have them get you caught with a walk through of what was going on. Easy going and down to earth, just like he seemed to be. In a word; affable. His latest R&C blog has been in my in-box all week. Going to go read it now. Bittersweet, knowing it's his final writing ("letter from a friend"). Though his mountain of work will live on forever. We have a lot to be thankful for. God speed Pat...
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