Automotive columnist Jack Duvall (1934-2024) has died.

Host, columnist and journalist Jack Duvall has left us, his family announced Thursday. Who was at the top of popularity Car guide Decades ago, he died last Tuesday “after a long struggle with illness.” He was 89 years old.

Best known for his work as an automotive columnist, Jack Duvall has also been a radio and television broadcaster, as well as being a driver in several major competitions.

Jack Duvall's media career got off to a great start. Born in Lévis in 1934, he found himself behind the microphone at the age of 16 after winning an amateur radio competition. The Quebec station CKVC then hired him, and he made his debut on this channel by hosting two shows dedicated to the French song.

Two years later, he moved to the Montreal area to work at the famous CKVL station. With the arrival of television, he moved to Télé-Métropole, the predecessor of TVA, which remains in the music field. We owe him in particular a concept Disc Cemeterywhere he previewed new albums at the moment, an idea that would later be taken up by Claude Ragot and MusicPlus.

At the same time, Jacques Duval discovered his intense passion for cars, a passion that led him to participate in many important races. Clearly talented, he won the Quebec Championship five times between 1964 and 1971, and won the Grand Prix of Trois-Rivières in 1967. In 1971, he triumphed at the 24 Hours of Daytona in the GT class, thus becoming the first Canadian to take victory. On the international automotive scene.

At the same time, he made a shift towards automotive journalism through hosting Take the wheel, by Radio-Canada. He would lead the show for eight seasons, from 1966 to 1974, and would greatly enjoy analyzing and criticizing the latest models from automakers.

In 1967, he published his first book in the same context. Car guide. Over time, the annual became an unmissable success and sold hundreds of thousands of copies.

Create your own vein

Perhaps his greatest accomplishment was creating a career as an automotive columnist from scratch.

In his early days, there were no trips to car launches or a fleet of press vehicles used to test the goods, he recalled in an interview with duty In 2015. “I called the dealers and told them that I would advertise their car and that we would return it to them very clean. But that wasn't true. Many times, when we restored it, the car no longer had any brakes. This is what made the show's reputation. People were watching to see us break our heads! »

In 2011, the Quebec government awarded him the Georges-Emile Lapalme Prize for his outstanding work and the exceptional quality of his contribution to the cultural development of Quebec society. “When I started, we were talking about beltl a fan And based on Brakes. I have always had a very special interest in the French language. I was trying to use the correct term, even if people didn't understand at first. In the first edition of Car guideI put together a glossary so people can find their way,” he confided to a collaborator on the project. duty.

He was inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 2010, an honor that highlights his successes as a racing driver, but also his efforts to popularize motorsport among Quebecers.

In addition, he published his autobiography “Automatic”, Jack Duvall. From Gilbert Picaud to Enzo Ferrariin 2006. He is survived by his wife, Suzanne Charest, and three children.

To watch on video