I dug out some very old copies of Mechanix Illustrated from the 30's to the 60's and feeling rather nostalgic, decided to go through most of Tom McCahill's columns. What strikes me about this guy is how succint and to the point he was. Some comments and opinions were way off base but for the most part, he seemed to know what he was talking about.

Another fact I was not aware of is that he is attributed as inventing or implementing the 0-60 bracket for testing cars speed and acceleration.

Anyone else remember him?

When I worked for Chrysler in the 1970's the older guys remembered him as the guy they would not let drive the cars. He had a reputation for trying to trash the prototypes that the press would evaluate. He had an unusual turn of phrase as I remember.

He wrote one of the more obscure Z16 test drive articles. He really liked it and especially liked the fancy AM-FM stereo set-up installed in all the Z16s so he could listen to Bach while driving it. I think he called the Z16 he drove a "CheVROOOOM!".

He sure didn't candy coat anything.....

His articles were the first thing I would read. ;)

The Buicks were always the fastest cars!
I think Ole Tom must have got a pool in his backyard.. If you know what I mean. ;)

The Buicks were always the fastest cars!
I think Ole Tom must have got a pool in his backyard.. If you know what I mean. ;)

I know exactly what you mean. LOL.....I know there were quite a number of things that he wrote or said that pissed off a lot of people, but in the end he still kept his job. A lot of people may not have agreed with what he had to say but in the end they respected him for having the balls to put things in black and white without sugar coating things. I have read many of the responses to his readers and some are quite hilarious.

One reader wrote:

"Tom, what do you think about the very short skirts that are being featured today?" Esther Broderick-Denver, CO.

Toms reply:

"Esther, on me they look simply awful"

A little old fashioned humour to bring on a smile.