Gray Baskerville’s induction into the SEMA Hall of Fame was certainly well earned. He was one of the most familiar and widely read voices in the realm of hot rodding for decades. He was at the Peterson Publishing Company when it was a small band of brothers producing a couple of magazines all the way up to its explosion into the corporate giant it eventually became.
Through all of those evolutions and changes, Gray never changed. He covered all aspects of the rodding scene from the drags to Bonneville to shows and everything in between. His famous roadster was daily transportation, the primer spots became indelible badges of honor which is displayed proudly until his passing in 2002.
I never got to meet the man but I was able to stand inside his famous office at the old Peterson Building on Wilshire Blvd in LA back in late 2001. I was visiting my friend David Kennedy, then of Peterson’s Four Wheel and Off Road, now the editor of Diesel Power. He gave me the tour of the building, including the Hot Rod offices. Gray was already quite ill at the time and was not at work but the door was open and I vowed to not touch anything as I took a sheepish step inside. It was pretty surreal and I am glad I got to see it before it was taken down, resptectfully after Gray passed away.
This video is cool as Gray’s brother Dave does a lot of talking and tells us a lot about the amazing life his brother led doing what he loved best…talking hot rods.
Read and admired his writing for years – that probably prompted all my automotive publishing efforts. Had the great pleasure of meeting him briefly during the driver’s meeting at 1998 Speedweek.
I turned around and there he was! I told him I loved his stuff, and he nodded. Then he said, “Are you having a bitchin time?”, with that grin of his!
Priceless stuff….
Our cars were shipped to Cali for the 97 PowerTour and unloaded at the Peterson buiding to be stored in the garage until we got there. As the shippers were backing them off the semi a guy comes shuffling through the lot with an old camera on his neck. Being my first time in L.A I was a bit wary of the potential crazies out there.
He started taliking to us and askining about the cars and where we`re from,etc. We tried to be polite as we honestly weren`t sure how to take him. At the end of our conversation as the last car rolled down into the garage he turns and shakes our hands and says “I`m Gray Baskerville. Once you get your stuff put away come up to my office and I`ll show you around”.
We got upstairs and he gave us a quick walk around and then we went to his toybox of an office where we talked the pics on his walls (his favorite and ours the Marcellus and Borsch Winged Express in its now famous burn out).
He was so genuine and laid back. His high pitched laugh echoed off the walls.
He made the power tour run from Cali along with the rest of the staff and we had such a great time with him. Lapping the then new Las Vegas speedway. Eating dinner with him at this little mom and pop motel in Kansas. He riding with me in my Camaro from Springfield to Manteno to go to the Trepanier shop. Stopping at a Stuckeys and buying him a pecan log.
It was a thrill to meet up with him in 98 as we did another tour and having him sign the pics of us that we took the year before.
I didn`t hear he was sick until it was too late and he was gone. It was probably one of the few non family people who`s death really broke my heart. Of all the people in the world, such a great loss.