Folks Of Interest Jim Diest

Met him in 98 at Bakersfield,we had the Mazmanian Corvette on display,what a nice guy......May he RIP....

 

Lemme tell ya what kind of guy Jim Deist was. About two years ago, my son finished work on his F.E.D. and badly wanted to make the Hangover Nats on New Years. Naturally, we left buying the dated safety gear to the last minute, but hadn't realized that it being holiday week everybody would be closed. We called Deist. Jim Deist opened up the shop, personally sewed the belts, showed my kid how they should be installed and worn. You'd of thought my son was John freakin' Force instead of some nobody novice with his first ancient race car. Jim Deist gave us a good six hours of his time and we had full run of the place. It was one of the most extraordinary events in my automotive lifetime, much less my sons. God bless ya, Jim, and thanks for all you've done for racing of all sorts for so many, many years.

 

for as long i as i can remember jim used to camp out near the inspection area with his truck full of gear during speed week. any time we'd have a problem with a car in inspection we'd tell them 'go see deist...he'll square you away'. sure enough he had what they needed whether it was a custom door net, fire bottles, limb restraints, or fire wall putty. jim was a great supporter of land speed racing and a true asset to racing throughout.

 

I can't begin to tell you how saddened I am. I talked to Jim at length some months back about making another chute for my '64 Dodge Charger. He made the original some 45 years ago. He has worked on hundreds of cars, make that thousands, but had a very crisp memory of making the chutes for the 3 original cars (the history of the the Dodge Chargers and restoration of my car is in the current issue (May) of Hot Rod) and said he would be glad to make another. This is a very sad time for Hot Rodders and racers around the world. My thoughts and prayers to his family and friends.

Frank Spittle

 

Sad news about a guy who literally saved lives in the racing business! What better legacy can one want? Another pioneer of drag racing and dry lakes racing gone. RIP.

 

R.I.P. Jim Diest.

Here's one for Frank Spittle!

 

RIP Jim,,,, he broke my balls a few times callin me the cheap kid from new jersey when I purchased my first fire suit for the B/A I made sure i called him back a few years to try to get it cheaper

I loved every minute of it! God Speed Jim

 

This is a photo from Jim's memorial.

 

I couldn't count the number of chutes I've packed,with his name on the flap. RIP Jim, you were a pioneer in the sport.

 

Nobody lives forever, but thanks to him a lot of folks lived longer.

So long Mr. Deist...