Don Garlits

DRAG-RACING GODFATHER AND PIONEER

- Rob Geiger

IN DRAG RACING , there is “Big Daddy” Don Garlits and there is everyone else. Some won more races and championships, but Garlits will always loom largest among the straightliners. He was the original badass. He foraged through junkyards for parts to build his own engines, fabricated his own cars from scraps, put them together, tuned them up himself, and then kicked everyone’s butt up and down the strip. Now 85, Garlits is still a powerful presence, working his 57th year for Mopar and Dodge. He has an incredible memory and loves to tell stories with zeal, even though he’s likely told them all 1,000 times before.

As we recognize Mopar’s 80th  anniversary, tell us about your association with the brand.

DG: Even today I do appearances for them. I actually got involved with them in 1958 when they started sending me engines out of warranty cars, mostly Chrysler 300s. That was a big help because those engines would cost about $450 in the salvage yard. So to get a couple of them every few months was a really big help to me. But that was unofficial. In 1961, I got the official call from Dodge, and they flew me to Detroit. I’ve been with them ever since.

Can you believe nitro engines still use the same basic 426 from the ’60s?