The host, columnist and journalist Jacques Duval has died, his family announced Thursday.
The one who was at the helm of the popular Car guide for decades died last Tuesday at the age of 89 “following a long illness”.
Known for his work as a chronicler of the automotive world, Jacques Duval has also been a radio and television host, in addition to taking the wheel as a driver in several major competitions.
Jacques Duval’s media career got off to a flying start. Born in Lévis in 1934, he found himself behind a microphone at the tender age of 16 after winning an amateur radio competition. The Quebec station CKVC subsequently hired him and it was on this channel that he made his debut by hosting two shows devoted to French song.
Two years later, he made the jump to the Montreal region with the very popular station CKVL. With the arrival of television, he moved to Télé-Métropole, the ancestor of TVA, still in the musical niche. We owe him in particular the concept of Disc Cemeteryin which he reviewed the new albums of the moment, an idea which would later be taken up by Claude Rajotte and Musique Plus.
At the same time, Jacques Duval discovered a devouring passion for automobiles that pushed him to participate in several important races. Obviously talented, he won the Quebec championship five times between 1964 and 1971, winning the Trois-Rivières Grand Prix in 1967. In 1971, he triumphed at the 24 Hours of Daytona in the GT category, thus becoming the first Canadian to achieve victory on the international automotive scene.
At the same time, he made a shift towards automotive journalism by hosting Take the wheel, on the Radio-Canada side. He will lead the show for eight seasons, from 1966 to 1974, taking great pleasure in analyzing and criticizing the latest models from car manufacturers.
In 1967, he published his first Car Guide in the same vein. Over time, the annual work will become a bestseller essential sold several hundred thousand copies.
Perhaps his greatest achievement was to create the profession of automobile columnist from scratch.
In those early days, there were no trips to car launches or a fleet of press vehicles to test merchandise, he recalled in an interview with Duty in 2015. “I called the dealers telling them that I was going to advertise their car and that we were going to give it back to them very clean. But that wasn’t true. Often, when we returned it, the car no longer had any brakes. This is what made the show’s reputation. People were watching us to see us breaking our heads! »
In 2011, the government of Quebec awarded him the Georges-Emile Lapalme Prize for his remarkable work and the exceptional quality of his contribution to the cultural development of Quebec society.
“When I started, we were talking about strapof fan and of brake. I have always had a very particular care for the French language. I tried to use the right term even if people didn’t understand at first. In the first edition of the Car Guide, I included a glossary so that people can find their way,” said Jacques Duval in an interview with Duty.
He was inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 2010, an honor which highlights his successes as a racing driver, but also his efforts to popularize motorsport among Quebecers.
He published his “self” biography, From Gilbert Bécaud to Enzo Ferrari in 2006. His departure is survived by his wife Suzanne Charest, as well as his three children.