A multi-generation Californian, Pat Ganahl was intrigued by hot rods he saw on the street as a young boy. He subscribed to Hot Rod magazine, built model cars, and customized his 2nd-hand bicycle. By 15 he inherited his grandfather's abandoned '48 Chevy sedan, which he rebuilt several times. He drove it to high school and then to college, where he majored in surfing, rugby and Mechanical Engineering until his teachers convinced him he was better at writing than Calculus. Eventually earning an M.A. in English Lit., he planned to be a writer, never expecting to combine it with engineering skills. But after teaching, collecting rejection slips, marriage to Anna, and building a black-lacquer '49 Chevy pickup from another junker that they drove across the U.S. on backroads, he happened into a job at fledgling Street Rodder magazine in 1973, where he learned to be an editor and photographer, promoted the return of custom cars, began collecting vintage photographs, and built a '32 Chevy coupe.

After the birth of son Bill in 1977 came more freelancing in the U.S. and abroad, publication of technical books ranging from Ford engines to supercharging, and a 3-year stint as an outdoor travel editor for Sunset magazine, before being coaxed to join Petersen Publishing where he was editor of Hot Rod magazine and then rebirthed Rod & Custom magazine (after a 17-year hiatus) in 1988. During his 13-year tenure he also wrote more books and promoted nostalgia drag racing, building a Hemi-powered Altered roadster, a Top Fuel dragster, and a yellow '56 F-100 push truck.

Next Ganahl concentrated on writing books on topics such as Von Dutch, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, and the history of the custom car, producing his own video magazine, and freelancing for numerous magazines, including the high-end The Rodder's Journal, of which he became editor in its infancy in 1995. Having always rebuilt and customized his own cars in his home garage, during this time he was finally able to acquire a genuine 1932 Ford roadster with a '51 Cadillac engine, which took several years to complete. He also recently restored the Ike Iacono dragster from 1959.

At this point Pat has published some 18 books, the most recent including the search for Lost Hot Rods and a Gallery of the best images from his huge archive of collected early photos dating to the 1930s. He has won several Moto and Maggie awards for his writing and his photography, is a member of five Halls of Fame, and continues to write books and magazine articles, dividing his time between that and projects in the garage. In his spare time Ganahl enjoys blues and roots music, playing and collecting vintage guitars, mountain hiking, and driving two-lane roads across the U.S. with Anna.