Folks Of Interest RIP Bluto (Jim P)

RIP, he was such a great car guy.

 

RIP

 

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/media/albums/blutos-stuff.9309/

Here are some of his photos from the Cyclecar thread.

 

Bob,

I just watched the video - thank you so much for posting this! I did not know Mr. Proffit nor did I ever get to speak to him but after watching that video I deeply regret that I did not. He seemed like a uniquely interesting and passionate man who had a zest for life. You and all the others here that had a relationship with him however small were truly blessed for having known him. Treasure and savor those memories!

Steve

 

I never met him but I saw them at Bonneville in 2008. Didn't know anything about him except what I read here. The HAMB lost someone special. I learned a lot from his posts. R.I.P. BLUTO

 

Funny... has not snowed here til two days ago since december. kinda strange for North Eastern Wisconsin. Fresh Virgin snow on what Jim called a "snow rod"

I find it sort of funny that most think his HAMB avatar is Nicola Tesla... alas, it is a photo of Maurice Varet, Jim's "hero"


God Speed Jimski

 

On behalf of Bob...while the link to Blutos Youtube racing does work it is easy to miss so I will post this and hope anyone interested in watching that may have missed it can see it...its interesting...he lived large...
Thanks @The37Kid
RIP Bluto



Regards,
Stogy​

 

Thanks Stogy!

 

Jim told me he never had a job...It wasn't clear if he was being sarcastic or not...He also said as a young man , I assume around 18 year of age, he bought a car and sold it for a profit, no pun intended, and then bought another and so on...
Jim like to talk to my wife about his women problems, this was before Sofia...A few ex wives and or girlfriends and one of them he called a "small person"...never knew if that meant mentally or physically... Then there was the "redhead"..............My opinion, Jim liked to be a bit mysterious and it added to his character..He mentioned his outfit of coveralls was to annoy the suffy high end car guys...

 

Another of these threads where I am glad I know it but sad to see. I new nothing about Jim other than what he wrote here. Always enjoyed what he shared with us. Found him to be very knowledgeable and refreshing.

Thanks also for posting the link to the video. It lets me see the person behind the name. In the video he was well versed as were his posts.

RIP Bluto, you will be missed.

 

It seems like he had owned every car I dreamed about. I learned a lot from him. RIP.

 

Read his posts and found them interesting but now I'm curious about the man. Someone mentioned he moved to Poland? When/why?

 

Simple answer is he fell in love with Zofia, and she fell in love with Jim. He packed everything he had in nine or ten cargo containers, the big ones, and moved lock stock in barrel to Poland, and restored an old house to live happily ever after.

Bob

 

It makes me smile to read all the stories about my friend Jim. I first met him at B&O Motorcycle Consultants. In Long Beach around 1966 or 67. Inn those 1%er days, everyone had a nickname. His was “Ugly”. Earned by people who were stupid enough to try and cheat him. I lost contact for several years but ran into him when he worked as the doorman and bouncer at the Blue Cafe. More years passed and we ran into each other on the HAMB. He and Zofia stayed with us until they moved to Poland. He was one of the good guys for sure. Smarter than the average bear.... Godspeed buddy,I’ll see you at the top end.

 

Jim reminded me just recently that "It takes a long time to grow old friends". He was very adamant in making that statement to me as he knew his days were counting down. It applies to many of you who were his true long time friends in his life. His life was better because of many of you ultimately and he was the first to admit that.

Also note that Jesse has a nice salute (and picture) to Jim on his West Coast Choppers page on Facebook that will make a few of you smile.

 

@9:30 in the video he says "real men, driving real cars, making real history". I love it! Godspeed Bluto.

 

I'm not a Facebook person but did go to check that out. Thanks Jesse for posting the early Bluto photo, he looked like any bar would hire him as a bouncer back then. Bob

 

an old email i dug up... forgot about his malaria flare ups
til i re-read this email

 

RIP Bluto
GBNF

 

Does anyone have a link to Jim's obituary? HRP

 

Been off the HAMB for a couple weeks with school business. SO sorry to hear of Jim's passing- he was a good friend.

 

He was too cool!! Was lucky to meet him once at Hershey
Rest in peace!

 

you know Jim... more than likely wont be one on the web

 

Obituary? I will post something in a few days. Currently putting it together as numerous automotive publications have requested as a salute to him to make in print.

Memorial services? None per request. Jim would be the last person that would want to go to such an event as many of you know. But if anything should happen, you know that nitromethane and methanol will inevitably be involved and it will happen really fast...

Last year when Jim's vision started to seriously deteriorate, I cnc'd a few of these up for him out of 6061 and shipped to Poland. The HAMB gave him great happiness and especially when he moved to the Eastern Front and his medical extracted more from himself over the past decade. He loved this forum and his interaction with everyone.

 

Sad news. Rest in peace Jim

Hennie

 

From the West Coast Choppers page........

Thank you Jim Profit for the 25+ years of friendship. So many good times at the Long Beach Shop. Also thanks for for being the voice of reason and telling me when I was being a F-Up. Showed where your heart was really at. I’ll never forget doing doughnuts main street in Downtown Seal Beach in the 1939 Mille Miglia winning BMW coupe. And Me talking the cops out of impounding a 20 million dollar car with zero vin numbers and registration.

Memories of a Lifetime.

Rest In Peace Jim...

 

Thank you so much OL 55! Love that young Bluto photo. Bob

 

R.I.P. sorry I never met you in person.

 

Crap... Rip Bluto... His posts were always must-read material.

 

if there is anything, ANYTHING i learned from Jim, it is this...

never be afraid to blow stuff up