Eastern Emerging Speedworks
That wave known as turbo-charging is certainly taking its hold in Canada too. Mike Digby (from Belleville Ontario) is yet another racer that has jumped on board with a very interesting final product…
Digby first debuted his 1968 Camaro Top Sportsman entry last season for some limited testing. He has re-emerged this year within Eastern Canada’s Quick 32 circuit where he is determined to become a front runner.
Mike Digby self assembled his new Top Sportsman/Q32 turbo-Camaro
His car features a 570 CID Big Block Chevy outfitted with 88 mm twin turbochargers. It is in fact a home built effort with Digby himself doing all the fabricating and assembly using a Vanishing Point Race Cars blue print kit.
“I am a very hands-on guy – to be honest I enjoy building as much as I do driving,” Mike revealed. “It took me about 1.5 years from concept to completion. The finished product is pretty rewarding to me because I did it mostly in my garage.”
Mike is a sheet metal mechanic by trade and that skill and touch is very apparent throughout an examination of his Camaro.
He also does his own motor assembly work – that along with building the rear end assembly and automatic transmission too.
Prior to debuting this car Mike did drag race normally aspirated and nitrous injected cars over about 20 seasons.
Performance wise — Mike is making progress but at a calculated pace. To date he has carved out a couple of 6.8 secs elapsed times with a best speed of over 213 mph. With some off-season upgrades, he has set his sites in pursuit of eventual 6.5 secs time slips and potential 220 mph top ends.
Mike Digby is hoping some off-season upgrades will push his Camaro to big peformances
Mike races his car completely independently with his only crew being his wife Cathy and daughter Sophie.
Editors Note: Digby’s Camaro is not the only turbo door car active within Eastern Canada’s Q32 circuit — watch for a feature on the Frank Goddard/Fred DeJong Colbalt — coming soon to the Lucas Oil Hotzone!
(Bruce Biegler Photos)
