Richard Megugorac (February 5, 1928 – January 13, 2016), commonly known as Dick or by his nickname Magoo, was an American land speed racer and customizer.

Early life

Megugorac was born in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, on February 5, 1928. In his early teens, he began working on cars, starting before he got his driver's license; he joined the Low Flyers Racing Club whose members included Stu Hilborn, Jack Engle, George Barris, and Jack McGrath. He spent 18 months with the American occupation forces in Japan after World War II as a mechanic's instructor, and returned to settle in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, setting up a garage there.

Customizing career

In the 1960s, Megugorac and brother-in-law Carl Riggen co-founded Riggen Slot Cars to capitalize on the fad at the time; the company became one of the most successful makers of slot cars. In the 1960s, he opened Magoo's Hot Rods in

Canoga Park, California Canoga Park is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Before the Mexican–American War, the district was part of a rancho, and after the American victory it was converted into wheat farms and the ...

; he would be aided by his (later) wife, Lois, who did upholstery work. Megugorac built "some of rodding's most prominent hot rods", including a number of entries for the

Grand National Roadster Show The Grand National Roadster Show (a.k.a.: GNRS, or sometimes referred to as ''Oakland Roadster Show'' but never officially called that), started in 1950, and is one of the oldest and longest continuously operating exhibitions of custom vehicles in t ...

at Oakland, among them the winning car of the 1979

America's Most Beautiful Roadster "America’s Most Beautiful Roadster" or (AMBR) is an award given out at the Grand National Roadster Show since 1950. It was started by Slonaker as a 9-foot "megatrophy" that engraved the winner's name on it. At that time, it was the largest trophy ...

trophy. Known as ''Deucari'', and built for Brian Burnett, this was a highboy Deuce powered by a

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

V-12, and is still running. Megugorac provided the first-ever Goodguys giveaway car, a '29 roadster, and built early giveaway cars for the National Street Rod Association. Megugorac customized almost all aspects of his cars, including chassis fabrication, engine building, body work, and custom paint, although he left upholstery to his wife. Megugorac focused on getting the details correct when car customizing, and had a reputation for building cars that had "bomb-proof reliability" and "could be driven anywhere, anytime". "Lil' John" Buttera said that if he wanted a custom car to actually drive, he would go to Megugorac. Many of Megugorac's project cars were featured in major magazines, including ''

Hot Rod Hot rods are typically American cars that might be old, classic, or modern and that have been rebuilt or modified with large engines optimised for speed and acceleration. One definition is: "a car that's been stripped down, souped up and made ...

'', '' Rod & Custom'', ''

Street Rodder A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, ...

'', and others. Megugorac was named to Darryl Starbird's National Rod & Custom Hall of Fame. Among his admirers, and a longtime friend, was Tom Medley, creator of Stroker McGurk, who drove a signature '29

highboy A tallboy is a piece of furniture incorporating a chest of drawers and a wardrobe on top. A highboy consists of double chest of drawers (a chest-on-chest), with the lower section usually wider than the upper. A lowboy is a table-height set of dr ...

roadster. "Magoo builds really bitchin' '29s," Medley once said. "Stroker would have approved!"

Personal life

Megugorac met Lois Riggen, Carl Riggen's sister, in Los Angeles in the 1940s. They were married for 40 years and had two sons. Megugorac died on January 13, 2016, in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

, age 87.

References

External links

Hot Rod.com
(bio)
Jalopyjournal.com
(bio)
Goodingco.com
(Magoo's '29 roadster)

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Megugorac, Dick 1928 births 2016 deaths American people of Greek descent Kustom Kulture artists People from Santa Monica, California Military personnel from California American automobile designers Vehicle modification people