Frank loved Krags and with an equal passion, the Mercedes Benz Roaster nicknamed the Pagoda because of the shape of it's hard top. He had a 1967 250sl that he had picked up at the factory and had the factory add some custom touches that they never duplicated. The question is frequently asked "where is Frank Mallory's 250sl?"

To address this question Frank Mallory Jr. posted on the pagoda forum. Much of the response is strictly related to the car and of limited interest here so I did not copy it. I did however copy those portions which tell us more about the man. There is some bitterness and a lot of sadness here but by "opening up", I hope Frank Jr. is more at peace.



Frank Sr was put into a military academy at a young age by his mother.  Always an overacheiver, he was class Valedictorian when he graduated FUMA ... Fork Union Military Academy. He attended The University of Maryland, and was certified a genius. He was president of the Math Club and also the Chess Club in college.
   He joined the Air Force, and acheived the rank of Captain. His duty at the Air Force was to work at the NSA ... The National Security Agency. Dad used his math skills as a codebreaker... a cryptologist. He served for 18 years, mostly in The Reserve.
He had a "Top Secret" clearance into the 1980's.

As for me, Frank Jr; I do currently own a 1968 280SL Euro-spec 4-speed. Why? Well... I ask myself that question most every day when I go out to my shop, and I see that beautiful white car sitting there. That's about all it does: just sit.
See.. (there's a pun here!) I have my fathers genetic trait... which means that I am too blind to safely drive, thanks to retinitis pigmentosa. I do have a 10 degree field of view, and I DO enjoy wrenching on... Mopars :0

Continued in the next post

Even though I live on the West coast, I was fortunate enough to meet Frank twice. My firm had some products (which I'd helped to design) being tested at UL in Chicago, and i was able to be there over the weekend of Graham Burnside's annual hog roast. The late GB was a very well known gun writer of the 50s-80s. Frank (with whom I'd corresponded while he was writing his book) heard that I was going to be there, and he drove out (straight through) to GB's home in Dundee IL, in his blue 250SL. We all had a great time.

A couple of years later, I was involved in a project just outside of Richmond VA, and was able to squeeze in a visit at Frank's house. That was the weekend of the Allentown show - which, to a person from my area was like being a kid in a candy store. We don't see that volume of goods, or levels of choice, out my way - not even close. While at the show, I got a chance to shake hands with Joe DeChristopher and the late Burt Kellerstedt as well. Wonderful memories!