I n the late ‘90s, as editor of “Street Rodder” magazine, we were on a roll and pump- ing out 300-page magazines as though they were pamphlets. Street rodding and the supporting industry had grown to unbelievable levels and to honor our supporting advertisers we developed the Street Rodder Road Tour program in 1996. The program involved build- ing street rods entirely from aftermarket parts and then having Jerry Dixey drive them to all events on the National Street Rod Association event schedule each year. The next year in 1997 Street Rodder celebrated its 25th Anniversary, so Barry Lobeck and crew built a clone of the founder’s, Tom McMullen, iconic “McMullen Roadster” for the Road Tour. After cruisin’ 25,000 miles to attend 11 events, at the end of the tour the roadster came home to the Street Rodder offices in SoCal. Jerry Dixey made this Road Tour jouney for 25 years in as many different street rods and it’s a testament to the quality and craftsmenship that exists in our industry. By the early 2000s we had created a great com- plex for the Street Rodder staff; first because we had our own space away from the corporate build- ing, second, we had a fully functioning Tech Center complete with in-floor dyno and lastly, because Barry White’s Street Rod Repair Shop shared the same space. A wide variety of employ- ees took the supercharged ‘32 to local car shows and events over the years, further proving its relia- bility and quality construction. As investment bankers swept through the auto- motive publishing world, they were always amazed at the modified cars in the Street Rod & Performance Group of magazines, especially street rods. In time they commissioned Barry’s SRRC to replicate one half of the iconic roadster to display in the lobby of the corporate office. The amazing half- clone resided there for years until it was moved to an El Segundo, California, Hot Rod Garage TV/photo studio during one of many mergers. As I wandered the streets and buildings of the recent 75th GNRS I bumped into my good friend Brian Brennan. As I moved up the corporate lad- der, Brian took the reins of editor for Street Rodder and skillfully guided it until investors and the Internet destroyed the print business we all loved. But no fear because cream rises to the top and A Tour of Its Own!
another great friend, Tim Foss, and Brian came back strong with three “In The Garage Media” mag- azine titles combining print and Internet. Tim and Brian knew I had owned the 25th Anniversary roadster since 2004 and had inquired about the half car over the years. Brian mentioned the El Segundo studio had been closed, but the crew had saved all the pieces and moved them to ITGM’s garage. Brian said they were mine, just come pick them up! After paying a visit to their facilities and getting the parts home it became obvious putting the car back together was going to be much easier than moving file cabinets etc. to make room. During the heyday of magazine publishing there was fierce competition between Petersen Publishing, McMullen Publishing, Argus Publishing, and many other smaller niche publishing compa- nies. For many those feelings ran deep, but the competition is what drove us to be the best and our readers benefited from it. When the pieces came home the two hub caps have Hot Rod Garage stickers displayed. At first, those competi- tive feelings my wife and I shared said we should remove them, but you can’t erase history and bet- ter yet, they prove this little half roadster has been on a Road Tour of its own before coming home to what is now our three and a half car garage. Tom Vogele tomvogele@verizon.net
8 MAY 2025
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