Barry Grant began as a bracket racer with a knack for tuning carburetors; he continued to race, most recently in NHRA's Pro Stock ranks. No word yet on what future plans Grant may have.
Word has come to us at Hemmings that Barry Grant Inc. has ceased operations as of last Friday. The company included BG Fuel Systems, Demon Carburetion, Nitrous Works, Rush Performance Filters and Triple D Induction. The following statement was issued on the Barry Grant Inc. Facebook page:
Working with all of you has been the experience of a lifetime. The economic situation has put the company in the position of not being able to find working capital to continue operations after 26 years of business. As of today, Friday, February 18, 2011, twelve noon, we have closed all operations at our main plant and all subsidiary locations. Thank You for Your Many Years of Support.
Grant came from humble beginnings as a teenage bracket racer who developed a knack for tuning carburetors, which turned into a side business and continued to blossom into a full-time enterprise. As the carburetor business continued to grow, Grant used his experience with heavy equipment mechanics involving hydraulics and fluid transfer to develop a line of high-performance fuel pumps. Later, a line of nitrous oxide injection systems was also developed and marketed under the Nitrous Works brand.
Continued development work with fuel systems led to what was perhaps the company’s biggest venture: a line of brand-new high-performance carburetors. Demon Carburetion quickly gained recognition for using modern manufacturing techniques and innovative features to create its products, which included applications ranging from mild street cars to full race efforts. Later still, Triple D Induction was launched as a line of multi-carburetor systems, first with three two-barrel setups and then adding systems using multiple Demon 98s—Grant’s modern bolt-on alternative to the vintage-style Stromberg 97. The most unconventional offering in the Triple D lineup was the BadMan inline four-barrel carburetor the company was developing.
No doubt, the news leaves many performance fans and racers disappointed; it’s also not currently clear what, if any, support will be available for users of Barry Grant fuel system components. No further word has yet come from Barry Grant himself, who started his business back in 1984, but we’ll continue to monitor the situation and present any further developments that may unfold.