Famed author and longtime Old Cars editor died Aug. 24 at age 76
by Angelo Van Bogart, Editor, Old Cars Weekly
Renowned automotive journalist and historian John. A. “Gunner” Gunnell, of Iola, Wis., died suddenly following a medical procedure on Aug. 24 in Marshfield, Wis. He was 76.
John Gunnell in 2018 during one of the weekly gatherings of Old Cars editors and other local gear heads.
Gunnell grew up in Staten Island, N.Y., and despite moving to Iola in 1978 with his young family packed into a ’53 Pontiac to join the Old Cars staff as its technical editor, he never lost his New York accent. The move to rural Iola, with a population of about 1,000 people, didn’t seem to phase the adventurous Gunnell, who flourished in his new role in a place where the automobile was a necessity rather than a hinderance.
Although an untrained journalist — he had previously been a baby food salesman in The Big Apple — Gunnell initially developed his writing craft by serving as editor of the Pontiac Oakland Club International’s Smoke Signals publication. It was from Gunnell’s experience with the POCI that Old Cars’ founder, Chet Krause, and Terry Boyce, then the Old Cars editor, hired Gunnell and brought him into the Krause Publications fold.
Soon after Gunnell joined Old Cars, which became Old Cars Weekly almost immediately after Gunnell’s arrival, the publication spun off its pricing section into the separate publication Old Cars Price Guide, and Gunnell was charged with editing it. Just four short years later, Gunnell had risen to the position of senior editor of Old Cars Weekly, then publisher in 1991, by completely embracing what had become his dream job. On press junkets and at car shows and auctions, Gunnell regularly rubbed elbows with legendary hobby heavy hitters — Barry Meguiar, Craig Jackson of Barrett-Jackson, Dean Kruse, Richie Clyne, Briggs Cunningham, Don Williams, Henry Austin Clark, Jr. and scores of others — many of whom became his friends. Nearly any time a hobby legend was named, Gunnell could recall an interesting personal experience he shared with that person. It was from these experiences that Gunnell’s true gift to the hobby really shined: through his prolific writing, Gunnell took what insight and news he learned from the famous or the everyday hobbyist and regularly shared it with the world in printed form. In each issue of Old Cars Weekly — and there were many given its frequent publishing schedule — Gunnell’s byline could be seen on multiple articles, and was absent on many others that he ghost wrote. Even in retirement, Gunnell continued to write, saying, “Two articles a day keeps the bill collectors away.” While the second part of that statement was a joke, the first part was true, and represented the minimum number of articles he would write each day. At the time of his passing, there were thousands of published articles capped by his byline in not only Old Cars Weekly and Old Cars, but For Vettes Only, Wheels of Time, Ol Skool Rodz, Car Kulture Deluxe, Smoke Signals, Turning Wheels and many others.
The incredible number of articles penned by Gunnell becomes even more impressive when placed in the context of his additional professional accomplishments. Between writing articles, Gunnell was usually authoring another automotive book, with Pontiacs his particular specialty. The books that seemed to bring Gunnell the most amount of pride were “Chevrolet Pickups 1946-1972” from Motorbooks, “75 Years of Pontiac: The Official History” from Krause Publications, “75 Years of Pontiac Oakland” from Crestline Publishing, “GMC: The First 100 Years” from Krause Publications and his many books in Krause Publications’ Standard Catalog series. These titles represent just a few of the dozens of books that Gunnell authored or edited in four decades of writing them.
In order to transition into a book editing position in 2001 under the same roof at Krause Publications, Gunnell officially left his full-time editor position at Old Cars Weekly, passing the torch onto Keith Mathiowetz, whom he brought on as editor, and Angelo Van Bogart, whom Gunnell hired as associate editor. However, Gunnell continued to write articles for Old Cars Weekly and subsequently Old Cars from across the office building, and only increased his article writing beginning around 2008, when he officially retired from editing at F+W Media, which had purchased Krause Publications in 2002. At the time of his passing, Old Cars had dozens of articles submitted by Gunnell waiting to be published. While Gunnell will best be remembered by the world for the countless friends and contacts he made in the automotive hobby, always his ultimate goal was to provide for his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, whom he dearly loved; he was just fortunate to do so in a career that he loved and for which he held great passion.
For those who are able to attend
A Celebration of Life Visitation for John will be held on Friday, September 1, 2023 from 2:00 – 6:00 p.m. at the Iola Old Car Show Activity Center, 700 E State Street in Iola, Wisconsin. As one last memory for the family to cherish, please bring your classic car, as John never could pass up a car show, and please dress in casual attire as John would have preferred it that way.
In lieu of flowers and memorials, please consider donating to the American Heart Association in his name.