(Photo Credit: Hot Rod Magazine) – The story of Tom Medley is like so many stories surrounding the early influencers of the hot rodding world. He was a smart, talented, driven, funny guy who lived and breathed cars. He joined the Hot Rod Magazine staff in 1948 after the third issue of the magazine was published and quickly became known for his humorous cartoons depicting the fictional character “Stroker McGurk”. The ‘toons would run from 1948-1955 and then reappear for a short burst in the middle 1960s before being retired forever. Despite the fact that it has been a half century since appearing in the magazine, McGurk is still a very well known figure/character in the hot rodding world. But to leave the Medley story there would be selling the man very short.
In 1965 he became the publisher of Rod and Custom Magazine and moved the focus of the content onto what many people consider traditional hot rods. Not rat rods, but cars that have the same look and feel of those that Medley grew up with. Cars like his own ’40 Ford that was part of his life for decades. With a clear direction, the magazine became very popular and Medley can rightfully be considered one of the forefathers of the modern street rodding movement because in 1969, he and Leroi Smith team did all the heavy lifting and created the first Street Rod Nationals which directly led to the creation of the NSRA (National Street Rod Association), an organization that continued to thrive today.
As one of the original staffers at Hot Rod we should note that Medley was in charge of much more than a monthly cartoon. He shot photos, wrote features, and hustled like all of the other staffers in those exciting days in ’48. Medley was a WWII veteran and a man who you’ll never hear a negative word about. Up beat, funny, and completely in love with the hot rodding universe, Tom Medley was one of those fortunate souls that found his calling in life and took great advantage of the opportunity. He leaves a great legacy and while he may be gone, his work will forever live in the halls of hot rodding’s colorful history.
Tom Medley was 93.
