"Uncle Tom" McCahill Road Tests of Chrysler cars for Mechanix Illustrated 1946-54

[JonathanC]

In 1946, "Uncle Tom" McCahill started performing and reporting on the first real road tests of American cars for American magazine readers in the pages of Mechanix Illustrated. While his technical methods initially were fairly crude (painting quarter-mile marks on rocks and trees and timing his runs with a stopwatch and the car's speedometer), his candor and writing style engaged the public and made him a regular feature in the magazine for the next three decades. He was known for humourous turns of phrase and hilarious similes, as well as riding test cars hard and putting them away wet. Starting as an occasional feature in 1946, Uncle Tom was usually publishing two feature articles per issue by the early '50s, often two road tests of cars. A true "car guy", Uncle Tom tested everything from workaday American family sedans to quirky imports to exotic performance machines.

 

I've discovered that you can read through back issues of Mechanix Illustrated on the Internet Archive (www.archive.org), at least up to 1961. These are mostly B&W scans from microfilmed copies. You can even download the magazines as pdfs or page images.

 

Here is a list I made of all Uncle Tom's road tests of Chrysler automobiles from 1946-54, with links that should open to the exact page of the article (For some reason the scans were named "Today's Homeowner Solutions").

 

1946 Chrysler (May 1946): https://archive.org/details/sim_todays-homeowner-solutions_1946-05_36_1/page/54/mode/2up

 

1946 Dodge (July 1946): https://archive.org/details/sim_todays-homeowner-solutions_1946-07_36_3/page/54/mode/2up

 

1946 Plymouth (September 1946): https://archive.org/details/sim_todays-homeowner-solutions_1946-09_36_5/page/54/mode/2up

 

1949 Dodge (June 1949): https://archive.org/details/sim_todays-homeowner-solutions_1949-06_41_2/page/84/mode/2up

 

1949 Chrysler, DeSoto, and Plymouth (July 1949): https://archive.org/details/sim_todays-homeowner-solutions_1949-07_41_3/page/n91/mode/2up

 

1950 Plymouth Suburban (April 1950): https://archive.org/details/sim_todays-homeowner-solutions_1950-04_42_6/page/86/mode/2up

 

1950 Chrysler Station Wagon (January 1951): https://archive.org/details/sim_todays-homeowner-solutions_1951-01_44_3/page/90/mode/2up

 

1951 Plymouth (March 1951): https://archive.org/details/sim_todays-homeowner-solutions_1951-03_44_5/page/76/mode/2up

 

McCahill wins Speed Title in 1951 Chrysler (April 1951): https://archive.org/details/sim_todays-homeowner-solutions_1951-04_44_6/page/72/mode/2up

 

1951 DeSoto (August 1951): https://archive.org/details/sim_todays-homeowner-solutions_1951-08_45_4/page/76/mode/2up

 

1951 Dodge Wayfarer (October 1951): https://archive.org/details/sim_todays-homeowner-solutions_1951-10_45_6/page/76/mode/2up

 

1952 DeSoto Firedome (August 1952): https://archive.org/details/sim_todays-homeowner-solutions_1952-08_47_4/page/76/mode/2up

 

1953 Dodge V-8 (April 1953): https://archive.org/details/sim_todays-homeowner-solutions_1953-04_48_6/page/82/mode/2up

 

1953 Plymouth (June 1953): https://archive.org/details/sim_todays-homeowner-solutions_1953-06_49_2/page/72/mode/2up

 

1953 Chrysler (August 1953): https://archive.org/details/sim_todays-homeowner-solutions_1953-08_49_4/page/72/mode/2up

 

1954 Dodge (January 1954): https://archive.org/details/sim_todays-homeowner-solutions_1954-01_50_1/page/80/mode/2up

 

1954 Chrysler New Yorker (June 1954): https://archive.org/details/sim_todays-homeowner-solutions_1954-06_50_6/page/84/mode/2up?view=theater

 

If you want to see how your favourite car stacked up against its competition, there's a good chance that at some point Uncle Tom tested those cars as well, so this link will enable you to look through the whole compendium of the magazine (which started out as Modern Mechanics and Inventions in 1928, then became Modern Mechanix, and Mechanix Illustrated in 1938). Prewar they didn't seem to do any road test articles, but would do annual surveys of the new models.

 

 

[Bob Riding]

Thanks for the awesome research and time you spent compiling for the Forum. I bought the March 1951 Mechanix Illustrated just for the Plymouth article, only to find someone had cut it out with a razor blade! The eBay seller refunded my $. Now I can read it!

[JonathanC]

8 hours ago, Bob Riding said:

Thanks for the awesome research and time you spent compiling for the Forum. I bought the March 1951 Mechanix Illustrated just for the Plymouth article, only to find someone had cut it out with a razor blade! The eBay seller refunded my $. Now I can read it!

Glad you enjoyed - if you look at this post, you will find links to a couple of other '51 Plymouth road tests.

[greg g]

He said the new Plymouth gains momentum nicely.  In the same issue has his test of a Studebaker.

 

Can you put these links into a file for the downloads area?

Edited July 8, 2023 by greg g

[Bryan G]

I very much appreciate these links; I'd long been wanting to know what Uncle Tom thought of the new '49s, and I'm pleased to read how impressed he was. I have a smattering of issues through the years but not the ones I needed.

[Dan Hiebert]

Thanks so much for posting this info and the links!  I've never had exaggerated expectations for performance from the '46-'48 Dodge cars, but I enjoy reading how someone else describes it, especially from a period standpoint.  

[KLyons]

Thank you for the list. I have read a lot of his reviews in my old magazine collection  which are just about worn out! and you are right he was a true car guy. Good to have a list of our Mopars!

[lepic56]

Wow!! Thank you for the list. I will read them all,,  

[RNR1957NYer]

One of my favorite quotes is from his road test of a ‘54 DeSoto:  “Solid as the Rock of Gibraltar and just as fast.”