Doug Thorley
Doug Thorley’s driving career ranged from a stock ’38 Buick to an upset Funny Car Eliminator victory at the US Nationals. But perhaps, when all is said and done, it won’t be his own race cars or his driving prowess he will remembered. Throughout the 60s the legend “Headers by Doug” was a true status symbol on the side of any full-bodied drag race car. When racing ended for the winter in the east, the early super stock and FX racers migrated to the west coast, and Thorley’s shop on Whittler Boulevard in East LA was literally surrounded by ramp trucks. A few passes in customer cars led Doug to build his first altered wheelbase “Chevy 2 Much” injected four-speed funny car. Its performance and immaculate appearance made it one of the most steadily booked cars on the coast. When the tube-framed flip-top funnies were created, Doug stepped up to an extended nose Corvair entry built by Ronnie Scrima and Pat Forster and powered by a Gary Slusserbuilt blown big block Chevrolet. At the 1967 US Nationals, Doug’s unlikely, unsponsored, non-flip top Corvair ran in high sevens consistently and beat several factory backed machines for the title. His 7.69 ET and 192 mph performance was largely responsible for the rapid switch to blowers in the funny car ranks. Doug later built an innovative pair of Javelin- bodied rear-engine funny cars with AMC backing, but when the factory asked him to participate in their Super Stock program he retired from driving. He just couldn’t slow down.