From The Rodder's Journal issue #63 webpage: The subtitle of our feature on hot rodder Tom Prufer says it all: “The Inimitable, Indefatigable, 100-Proof Hot Rodder.” Tom’s been involved with hot rodding and drag racing virtually his entire life. Rodder’s Journal issue #63 features the first in a two-part story on his exploits, penned by his friend and hot rodding cohort, Pat Ganahl. Part one focuses on Prufer’s prolific rod building career, from his early coupes and roadsters to his well-known hot rods like the “Cop Shop Coupe” ’33 Ford three-window. His tales from the road are often hilarious and always interesting, and many of them are told first person by Tom himself. And they all provide context for his participation in the nostalgia drag racing scene, which we’ll delve into in part two. From The Rodder's Journal issue #64 webpage: For years Pat Ganahl has been pitching us on the idea of doing a profile on prolific hot rodder Tom Prufer. Sometimes we just don’t know what part of yes Pat doesn’t understand. We’ve been proponents of the idea since we first discussed it nearly a decade ago. The problem was how did we fit all of the story and photos of a character like Tom Prufer within the confines of a magazine article. The truth is you can’t. But we found the best solution was to break it into two parts. Last issue we concentrated on Tom’s street oriented cars and in this issue we devoted the space to Tom’s drag racing efforts. Prufer is certainly an iconic figure and we think that these two articles showcase Pat Ganahl at his best as well.
Prufer's first Hot Rod was this flathead-powered '29 RRU that he purchased in the early '50s from Lyle Fisher (of Speed Sport Roadster fame) while he was in the Air Force (stationed in Tuscon, AZ): Tom later swapped-out the flattie in favor of this 303ci Olds with four Stromberg 97s:
Prufer's second Hot Rod was a '32 5wd Coupe that he found & built while still in Tuscon . . . In 1956, Tom drove the coupe from Arizona to Michigan to show it at the Detroit Autorama: Tom with his Deuce Coupe at the '56 Detroit Autorama
Here is an old thread with pics of a bunch of fantastic TOM PRUFER HOT RODS. He definitely had top of the talent pool craftsmen build quite a few top tier Hot Rods over the years! https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tom-pruffer.703417/
In the mid '70's when I worked at Pete & Jake's, We built the chassis, mounted the body & more on this roadster for Tom. Years later, I bought the car from Tom. I sold it to a guy in Santa Barbara and then it disappeared. I think it's Tom's best hiboy!
@Pete Eastwood - I think it's his best hiboy as well! It’s kinda crazy that you just now posted in this thread . . . as I just came across this in my "Tom Prufer" archives : Feel free to share some of your memories of Tom and/or any of your “Prufer stories” in this little tribute to him. - Todd @HEMI32 Olson
HAMBer @Deuce Bruce Meyer is the current caretaker of one of Prufer's Deuce 3wd Coupes: Bruce giving a tour of the "Meyer Garage" at the 2014 GNRS (snapshots by me) image by Ryan Reed
Another one of my favorite Prufer cars was/is this full-fendered '34 3wd Coupe: from the June 1980 issue of If my memory serves me correctly, Tom debuted the car at the 1979 (2nd Annual) NSRA Western Street Rod Nationals in Merced . . . where my father (& I) picked it for an award . . . and that Chuck Olsen bought it soon thereafter. Dennis and Debbie Kyle are the current caretakers of the car: circa 2016 images by Craig @CW's40TPU Wise at the 2021 Gathering at The Roc (Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve)
Just a week or two ago, Another one of Tom Prufer's Roadsters showed up in the HAMB Classifieds.. The Black Flamed one with the BBC.
That last roadster is the one he built when he lived near me. A friend painted it. I think Rod Powel did the flames. Rod did a lot of his flames.
Back in October of 2018, the late great Pat (@pgan) Ganahl posted a (as he called them) "column" about Tom on his Blogsite . . . check it out: PRUFER’S LAST RIDE
His cars were always “right”. The “cop shop coupe”has to be my favorite hot rod of all time. That stance is just so perfect, along with the entire rest of the car. He knew the craftsman to pick to make his cars what they were. God speed Tom, lay some rubber for the rest of us. You will be missed. Condolences to his family and many friends.
Hot rodding legend. Tom enjoyed the golden era of drag racing, street rodding and nostalgia drag racing... and was smack dab in the middle of it all making it happen. RIP
In the ’80s, Prufer (& Brian Burnett) founded the Nostalgia Drag Racing Association ... and rented out BAYLANDS Raceway (in my hometown of Fremont, CA) to hold their "Nostalgia Nationals" events. At the '83 event, Tom's original Power King "Too" Top Fueler (less engine) showed up in the "swap meet" area of the pits ... and without hesitation, Prufer bought it! Here's some photos of the (restored) Power King "Too" at STREET RODDER Magazine's Sixth Annual Nostalgia Nationals (held May 2nd, 3rd, & 4th 1986): images by (the late great) Gray Baskerville . . . from the Petersen Archives . . . and here's a circa 1986 photo of the Power King "Too" at FOMOSO Drag Strip (in Bakersfield, CA): image by (the late great) Pat @pgan Ganahl . . . from the Petersen Archives
Here's a few more random photos of the (restored) Power King "Too" in the '80s & '90s: at Fremont Dragstrip (Baylands Raceway) - image by Mark Johnson at Fremont Dragstrip (Baylands Raceway) with starter Chet Carter - photographer unknown at Sears Point Raceway - snapshot by me
Tom debuted this Deuce 3wd Coupe at the 44th Oakland Roadster Show (held January 13 - 17, 1993): In June of 1993, Member Emeritus @3wLarry Roller bought this bitchin' 3-window from Prufer. The car was featured in the January 1994 issue of American RODDER magazine: page 47 page 48 & 49 page 50, 51, & 52 page 53 & 54 page 55 . . . and again in the May 1994 issue of : page 75 page 76 page 77
RIP Tom... I've seen this photo before... Does anyone else see a similarity? And, I don't mean to be disrespectful.
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