Farewell Fast Friend
Wait a minute. Let me turn up the stereo so we all can hear. It's Fats Domino playing I'm Walkin' to New Orleans.
I met Frank Oddo the second day I worked for STREET RODDER. I was the new young kid just getting started in this business and Frank was the seasoned veteran of a year or so. He told me a few things that day that I still remember. He was a smart guy ( with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technology and a B. A. in Psychology) and a good counselor. In fact, much later I found out that was his full-time day job that he didn't want anyone at the magazine to know about. He spent a lifetime doing social work that benefitted a lot of people (as a State of California Board of Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor he helped many a disabled person regain a productive life), but when he was around car people he was a hot rodder, first and foremost.
In Frank's hierarchy of importance, family came first, then a blurry tie between his native New Orleans gumbo, dirty rice, and rhythm and blues and hot rods. But when it came to hot rods, there was no question: Ford was king, '40 Fords were his life-long love, and El Mirage dust and Bonneville salt ran thicker in his veins than blood. And he wrote damn good articles and books about all this.
I don't have room to say what needs to be said in this magazine about Frank Oddo. He first wrote for STREET RODDER in August '72 (issue No. 4). He became a contributing editor in Nov. '72, and was associate editor by Feb. '74. His '40 coupe, which he owned and drove daily since 1968, appeared in candy red on the Aug. '76 cover and sits in his garage today. His Ford-powered belly tank cranked 226 mph at Bonneville. And his name appeared on the STREET RODDER masthead longer than anyone else's.
He was one of the most enthusiastic hot rodders I've ever known, and an eminently successful automotive journalist-photographer, which is how he wanted to be known. Job well done, good friend.
Pat Ganahl
Hot Rodder, Journalist, and a Friend
The Amsoil/Street Rodder Road Tour
The month of June finds the AMSOIL/Street Rodder Road Tour series on the highway for two consecutive weeks. Beginning in San Antonio, Texas on Saturday, June 13th, The Vintage Air Tour kicks off with a get together at Vintage Air's Headquarters. On Sunday the Tour heads east from San Antonio to the historic San Jacinto Battleground Memorial where the battle for Texas was fought in 1863. Sunday night will be spent in Lake Charles and on Monday we visit Avery Island. After some great Cajun food at Mulate's near Lafayette, Louisiana it is off to Vidalia, Louisiana for the evening.
The next two days will be spent traveling along the beautiful Natchez Trace Parkway as we cross the state of Mississippi. On Tuesday evening we will visit the Tupelo Auto Museum. We will also be treated to some tasty fair provided by none other than street rod legend George Poteet as he brings his traveling BBQ circus to Tupelo just for the Road Tour folks. Wednesday night we will be just south of Nashville in Franklin, Tennessee. Thursday morning we are going to visit the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville and Johnny Freund at Hunter's Custom has invited us to stop by for lunch. It is then off to Bowling Green, Kentucky for the NHRA Hot Rod Reunion and all of the activities that surround that great event.
The AMSOIL Tour starts off right where the Vintage Air Tour wraps up. Sunday morning the AMSOIL Tour participants head north and make a brief stop at The Garage where Jason Grimes and crew will show us their latest traditional rod projects. From there we head north around Chicago. Sunday evening we will be the guests of Electric-Life Power Window Systems. Monday we will have lunch in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and then it's on to AMSOIL's Headquarters in Superior, Wisconsin for a big party. Tuesday we'll take a beautiful drive across the upper part of Wisconsin. Our destination for that evening is Iron Mountain, Michigan where Randy Hallman and the folks at Specialty Motorcars are hosting a party to greet the AMSOIL Tour. Wednesday we leave Iron Mountain and travel across Michigan's Upper Peninsula, across the Mackinaw Bridge and on to Charlevoix on Michigan's west coastline. Thursday afternoon we head to St Ignace, Michigan where the AMSOIL Tour participants will spend the weekend enjoying the fun of one of Michigan's longest running and most famous car shows. This year's Grand Marshal is automotive journalist Ken Gross.
The Vintage Air Tour and the AMSOIL Tour are going to be two weeks of fun and camaraderie on the Road. For more information on the AMSOIL/Street Rodder Road Tours and how to join in the festivities, watch the pages of Street Rodder, check in at our website www.streetrodderweb.com, or call the Road Tour Hotline at (800) 664-1362 for the latest updates.
Department of Corrections
Well, we're not too sure what was behind the mix up in our New England Hot Rod Scene story (May '09 SR) but we somehow managed to mess up on the phone number listing for Lenny Schaeffer's Chop-Shop Customs of Woburn, Massachusetts.
It should have read (781) 939-5660! We're sorry for the inconvenience we may have caused both Chop-Shop Customs and the bewildered owner of the incorrect number (can I do what to a '50 Merc?)
We'll surely try our best to pay closer attention in the future!