Sad Day for Good Guys

[Danno]

"Gary Meadors, founder and chairman of the Goodguys Rod & Custom Association, died Sunday of natural causes. He was 76.

Driven by his passion for family, hot rods, cool cars and good people, Meadors touched the lives of millions of car enthusiasts with his vision and enthusiasm for all things automotive. With his high school sweetheart and wife of over 50 years Marilyn riding shotgun, Meadors founded Goodguys in 1983 in Northern California then branched out to stage a national series of hot rod and custom car events beginning in 1987. What started as a passion-based idea blossomed into one of America’s premier automotive event production companies in Goodguys. Today, Goodguys Rod & Custom Association has a worldwide membership of over 70,000 people, and promotes 21 hot rod and custom car events that attract millions of visitors each year. The Goodguys Gazette, the official magazine of Goodguys was first published by Meadors in 1989."

-- Good Guys Rod & Custom Association

 

Gary Meadors was a big supporter of the model car hobby.  Many of the Good Guys events feature model car shows/contests that have always received the enthusiastic encouragement of the Good Guys organization, from the top down.  In the early 2000s, Mr. Meadors forged an alliance with Revell that brought free Make-n-Take promotions to Good Guys events around the country.  Thousands of new builders, under the age of 12, have been introduced to the hobby through Good Guys.

In my years with the Good Guys organization, I found Mr. Meadors to be an avid fan of the model car shows.  He visited the displays and made known his appreciation of the work involved, both in the workmanship of the entries and in the efforts of the volunteers who put on the model car events.  The model car hobby has always been a valued component at the Good Guys events, inspired by his example.

 

[JTalmage]

Saw this yesterday as well. Sad times indeed. 

[tim boyd]

Wow...this is a huge shock.  Reiterating what Danno says above, Gary was a HUGE supporter of the model car hobby.  

I first met Gary when he was a member of the Danville Dukes, a loose association of fun-loving street rodders who lived in and nearby Danville, CA, a suburb along the East Bay of the San Francisco area.  I was introduced to Gary by Bill Burnham, a fellow Street Rodder magazine columnist and Danville Dukes member, shortly after I relocated to the San Francisco area in April of 1982.  

I'll never forget one Saturday a couple of years later when Gary called me at home, pitching his idea for a model car event at his car show series, which was soon to go national.  He asked me to take the lead in organizing the model car series.  I was hugely flattered, but immediately knew I could not take on the responsibility given my existing commitments to my full time employer and the magazine column I was already producing.  I had to decline the offer, which was not easy to do.  

I can't recall exactly what happened next, but I know that Pryor Passorino played a big role in defining the model car show element of the Goodguys shows and leading their implementation in the early years, and to this day Tom Dillion and the local model car club members near Columbus basically run the model car even there every year.  

As Danno mentions, Gary had a huge interest in and respect for model car builders, particularly those of us who have enjoyed the hobby as adult builders. Gary also had a "joy for life" as I call it, that was hugely infectious and perhaps the single most important ingredient in the growth and success of the GoodGuys organization.  

Godspeed, Gary, and thanks.   TIM 

[TooOld]

I believe "Shocked" is the best description of how those of us whom have met Gary feel .

Thank you Gary and Godspeed . 

[louie]

Very, Very sorry for the passing of Gary Meadors. My Thoughts and prayers are with him and his family. Sincerely.      Jeff 

[charlie8575]

Indeed most unfortunate. 

From reputation, Good Guys really does do its best to live up to its name, and has done a lot to help promote the 1:1 car hobby. 

The promotion of modeling was a nice bonus.

Hopefully, I'll be able to make their Springfield show in 2016. 

Charlie Larkin

[wayne swayze]

Condolences to the Meader family and their friends. Gary's name was known to me, as I read so much about Good Guys. Rest in peace.

[Skip]

Sorry to hear that news, saw it on another car related forum the other day.  Met Mr. Meadors once in the car corral at the Puyallup Good Guys show probably ten years ago.  

I was just parking my lil' Red Mini, Gary introduced himself and asked why I didn't have it inside with the other cars, told him it wasn't a Hot Rod.  He just looked at me and told me that it was interesting and cool enough to be in any Good Guys event.  Then he surprised me with besides, "a Mini Cooper is the fastest Ten Feet money could buy!"  An old quip that a lot of the Autocross Guys used to say, or maybe the higher horse powered car owners used to say about getting whooped by a LBC!  Anybody who knew about more than American Hot Rods truly was a Real Car Guy, not just a Hot Rodder.  

I was impressed that he would take time from the Fairgrounds Show to go out to the "Parking Lot Show" to check out the other interesting cars and talk to and encourage their owners!  I think he knew that many of the cars out there were works in progress that would be inside in the years to come.

[lordairgtar]

Sounds like he was a cool guy. Wished he'd been around when I got thrown out of a Goodguy's event for drawing cars. My GF and I were pretty much manhandled out of the venue. The reason was I had not paid the $300 per day vendor fee. I was just pulling my little wagon with art supplies through the grounds. I was getting $30 dollars for a drawing which takes an hour and a half to do on site. I tried to negotiate a percentage but they weren't having any of it. Not denying that Goodguy's is a business and businesses  exist to make money, but I could have been treated/handled better. BTW, I do this at all the local car shows in our area and I never have been hassled. In fact, I have been invited to come and do what I do by organizers of shows.