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REUNION VIII
Guasco named grand marshal of eighth reunion
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Hot rodding pioneer Rich Guasco, who made his mark with award-winning entries at the famed Oakland [Calif.] Roadster Show and campaigned the famous Pure Hell AA/Fuel Altered, will serve as grand marshal for the 8th annual California Hot Rod Reunion, to be held at Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield, Calif., Oct. 15-17.
Said CHRR Director Greg Sharp, "Rich has been involved in hot rodding for nearly 40 years as a car builder, tuner, driver, and owner. His dedication epitomizes the spirit of our sport, and he is most deserving of this honor."
Sharp also noted that 1999 will mark the second consecutive year in which the CHRR will be held in October. "Last season, conducting the reunion a month earlier than the past gatherings proved to be a tremendous success in terms of warmer weather and increased attendance and participation by car clubs with street-driven hot rods. With the NHRA national event schedule stretching into mid-November, this has proven to be the logical date for our event."
Guasco's hot rodding career began in 1951, when he began building his first roadster from a Ford Model A body installed on a '32 Ford frame, both of which he acquired from his father's wrecking yard in Pleasanton, Calif. The car originally sported two different candy-apple-red paint jobs, then was upgraded with a candy-purple paint scheme and pearl-white upholstery, which earned the America's Most Beautiful Roadster honors at Oakland's Grand National Roadster Show in 1961. The following year, Guasco's Top Fuel dragster won the America's Most Beautiful Competition Car title in Oakland, making him the only hot rodder to have his name on both sides of the show's nine-foot perpetual trophy.
Later in 1962, Guasco was hospitalized following an accident with his dragster in which the rear-end housing separated from the car. He spent the next two years in and out of the hospital to complete his recovery.
During this period, one of Guasco's drivers, Pete Ogden, began construction on the Pure Hell AA/Fuel Altered, which Dale Emery began driving in 1964. The car was campaigned with the same small-block Chevy used in Guasco's fueler until 1966, when a Chrysler Hemi was installed.
Following a towing accident in New Mexico that damaged both the tow truck and the race car, Guasco transplanted the Hemi into Ed Carter's Proud American early Corvette Funny Car, which was runner-up at Lions Dragstrip on its first time out, in the late 1960s. Said Guasco, "I made more money that night than I had in all my time with the AA/Fuel Altered."
Guasco accordingly switched to Funny Car, first running a Dodge Demon driven by Elwin Carlson. He then paired with Larry Huff for another entry that sported two bodies - a Pure Hell Dodge Demon and a Soapy Sales Dodge Dart. Dave Beebe drove this entry to a win at the '73 Springnationals.
The last two stints for Guasco in drag racing were working with Emery on Raymond Beadle's Blue Max Funny Car in the late 1970s and assisting crew chief Jim Brissette on Dan Pastorini's Top Fuel team in the late 1980s.
Fortunately for Guasco, the resurgent interest in nostalgia cars gave him a new outlet for his racing interests, and he ran a restored version of the Pure Hell fuel altered at the California Hot Rod Reunion, from 1992's inaugural event through 1997, with Huff behind the wheel. "The new Pure Hell ran a best of 6.36, 238 mph," said Guasco, "and that compares pretty good to the 7.28, 214 that we achieved with the original car. We qualified every year for the Reunion's Top Fuel shows and even won Top Fuel at other nostalgia events."
For the 1999 Reunion, Guasco will show up with a restored version of his street roadster, which was on display at the 50th anniversary of the Grand National Roadster Show in January at the famed Cow Palace in San Francisco. He will lead Saturday's Hot Rod Cruise parade with the roadster, using it as a tow car for the Pure Hell altered.
Said Guasco of his selection as grand marshal, "For a guy who has never really done anything, I couldn't imagine why I was picked over all the other people out there. I was really astonished. But I'm really looking forward to being there this year. After beating my head into the wall for so many years, it's good to finally have something like this happen."