Marlan Davis, longtime tech editor for Hot Rod and Car Craft magazines, lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on January 15. He joined Hot Rod in the late ’70s and spent the next four decades helping automotive enthusiasts understand engine and vehicle performance.
Said David Freiburger, “Roadkill” host, on his Facebook page:
“Marlan was a car-loving teen who was a bag boy at a grocery store, but living next to Hot Rod publisher Dick Day led to him getting a job at the magazine as an assistant when he was 18 in 1977. He eventually became senior technical editor at Hot Rod and Car Craft and was renowned as the most detailed tech writer in the industry. When his job was downsized out of existence a couple years ago, he was happy for the early retirement funds, and walked away as the longest-standing editorial staffer in the lineage of companies that have owned what started as Petersen Publishing. He helped and entertained droves of gearheads for nearly 45 years. Godspeed, Marlan.”