Jack Richard; Retired Auto Mechanic for Classic Cars

Jack Richard, a resident of Granada Hills for 45 years and a retired classic car auto mechanic, died Tuesday morning at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center. He was 71.

Before retiring three years ago, Richard worked for 25 years on antique and classic cars at the Merle Norman Nethercutt Collection in Sylmar.

In the early 1950s, while at C & T Automotive in North Hollywood, Richard was part of a team of mechanics that implemented a new concept in race-car engine construction. Their “stroker” V-8 engines became the state-of-the-art and were used in many race cars in that era. Richard worked on pit crews of cars equipped with these engines at racetracks throughout Southern California and for cars attempting land-speed records at the Bonneville salt flats in Utah.

Born in Los Angeles in 1925 and raised in Pasadena, Richard exhibited an interest in auto mechanics at an early age. At the age of 3 he took a tractor apart, and at 13 he assembled his first car engine.

While serving in the Navy in the South Pacific during World War II, Richard was trained in diesel engines. After the war, he returned to his first love, hot rods, eventually becoming a master mechanic.

Richard is survived by his wife, Rosemarie; daughter, Pamela Richard-Checkie of Toluca Lake; son, Michael Richard of Ventura, two granddaughters and two great-grandchildren.

Services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at Praiswater-Meyer Mitchell Mortuary, 5940 Van Nuys Blvd., Van Nuys. Burial will take place at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Mt. Whitney Cemetery, U.S. 395, Lone Pine, Calif.