Doug Roe & Quadrajet

[leland l garland]

I occasionally see Doug's name mentioned in this forum in connection with

available, but not from Doug. He passed away several years ago in Payson
Ariz -- a victim of cancer.

Doug is somewhat of a legend in Arizona racing circles because of his
success back in the sixties in beating just about everything, including
Corvettes, in hill climbs and other sports car events. Doug had all this
success driving a 1960 Corvair which eventially was turbo-charged (using a
turbo off the Corvair Spyder).

Doug was employed at the General Motors Desert Proving Grounds near Mesa AZ
for many years. I believe he was one of GM's carburetion / induction
engineers and was a principal designer/tuner of the quadrajet.

I am a former member of the Cactus Corvair Club, as was Doug, but I never
met him. The club now honors members who have done outstanding things on
behalf of the local club and promotion of interest in Corvairs with an award
named after Doug.

I have talked with many people who raced against Doug and knew him in
Corvair circles and he was highly regarded by all.

Lee Garland
'75 Eleganza Omaha

 

[mark grady]

Lee --

Thanks for the background on Doug Roe. As a younger man, I read and followed
the advice in his books. It's nice to get additional info on his life.

Mark

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-gmcmotorhome
> [mailtowner-gmcmotorhome]On Behalf Of Leland L
> Garland
> Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 1999 11:29 PM
> To: gmcmotorhome
> Subject: GMC: Doug Roe & Quadrajet
>
>
> I occasionally see Doug's name mentioned in this forum in connection with

> available, but not from Doug. He passed away several years ago in Payson
> Ariz -- a victim of cancer.
>
> Doug is somewhat of a legend in Arizona racing circles because of his
> success back in the sixties in beating just about everything, including
> Corvettes, in hill climbs and other sports car events. Doug had all this
> success driving a 1960 Corvair which eventially was turbo-charged (using a
> turbo off the Corvair Spyder).
>
> Doug was employed at the General Motors Desert Proving Grounds
> near Mesa AZ
> for many years. I believe he was one of GM's carburetion / induction
> engineers and was a principal designer/tuner of the quadrajet.
>
> I am a former member of the Cactus Corvair Club, as was Doug, but I never
> met him. The club now honors members who have done outstanding things on
> behalf of the local club and promotion of interest in Corvairs
> with an award
> named after Doug.
>
> I have talked with many people who raced against Doug and knew him in
> Corvair circles and he was highly regarded by all.
>
> Lee Garland
> '75 Eleganza Omaha
>

 

[blank]

Lee,

Thanks for the update and the history lesson. I thought that Doug may have
passed away, but wasn't sure. The book is still available from
amazon.com(and probably other online sources). While doing some searching
on this subject yesterday, I found much info suggesting that the jets and
metering rods are still available from GM.

Patrick

> I occasionally see Doug's name mentioned in this forum in

> carburetor. I'm sure the book is still available, but not
> from Doug. He passed away several years ago in Payson
> Ariz -- a victim of cancer.