Don Lamont is known first and foremost as one of the most talented drivers ever to come out of the Greater Vancouver area. At the recent Royal City Motorsport Reunion in 2003, whenever you spoke to someone about the good old days and stories about the best drivers of all time, Don Lamont's name came up over and over again.

Don started out competing in parking lot gymkhanas that were popular in the fifties and sixties. He then went on to road racing at places like Westwood, SIR. road course in Seattle, the Rose Cup Race in Portland, as well as journeys to Alberta. His need for speed transferred over to rallies where he not only could drive fast but drive fast for a long period of time!

His talents as a rally driver did not go unnoticed. Don picked up the sponsorship of a smaller automotive shop (Doug’s Automotive) in his hometown of New Westminster. Owner Doug Morgan was astute enough to become the second dealer in BC to acquire sales and maintenance of a new Japanese car on the market called Datsun. The manufacturer wanted to be noticed in a hurry and supported Doug's racing team efforts. The Shell 4000 Rally was a huge undertaking for an independent team so

DON LAMONT - Inducted 2004

Pioneer - Sports Car and Road Racing

Don Lamont, in his Datsun at Westwood, 1965  (SCCBC Archives)

by Doug Harder, 2004

Don Lamont, 1967

a new supporter was appreciated. Don as driver and his friend Ed Deak as navigator not only competed but excelled and placed very high in the standings every year and finished second one year. Both were volunteer writers for "Motorsport in BC Magazine" and their journey was well documented.

When Datsun sales picked up for Doug's Automotive, Don was hired as a sales manager and he left his printing trade. It turned into a great career as Don not only had a job in sales of selling cars he raced and could relate to, but he had a sponsorship program and a

shop to work in. He also gained a pit crew manager and a mechanic in the person of Terry Morgan, Doug's son. Terry worked with Don for five years.

When the late Billy Foster, of Victoria, died in a race car test in Riverside California, local newspaper columnist Denny Boyd of the Vancouver Sun wrote that racing was a waste of life. Don took Boyd to task in print as it was a brake drum failure and said "engineers will be all over that car and people in the future will drive better cars as a result". That has turned out to be true.

Don was an active member of the Royal City Sports Car Club. Don was single most of his life but married later on. He survived a surgery for the treatment of throat cancer several years ago.

Besides racing, Don loved to fish. He was on his way to Alaska, off the coast in the early 1990s when his boat was found running in a circle with no one on board. They never found his body. His wake was apparently a party to remember as 300 people turned out to mourn his loss. Our loss, really. The loss of a Pioneer.