Sad News - RIP Jim Barillaro

[jayb]

I was greatly saddened this morning to hear of the passing of my friend Jim Barillaro.  Jim was a lifelong SOHC racer and was a big help to me when I was first getting involved in those engines.  I spoke with Jim a lot on the phone back in 2005-2008 when I was just learning about the SOHC.  In 2006 I bought my Galaxie from a guy in South Carolina and was able to visit Jim's shop on my way back to Minneapolis.  I was stunned by his cars, which were Jack Chrisman's original flip top fuel funny cars, a 65 and a 66!  Jim was kind enough to show me the cars and give me a tour through his shop, and seeing Chrisman's old race cars in person is an experience that has stuck with me ever since.  Jim manufactured some small parts for the SOHC, including timing gears and backing plates, plus he modified Edelbrock water pumps for use on the SOHC.  He also reproduced the Hilborn plate that covers the fuel pump gear inspection cover and allows use of a distributor or Hilborn pump in that location.  He was a true race car guy.

I lost touch with Jim after about 2008 or so, but then last year Don Prudhomme emailed me, looking for an original magnesium blower manifold for his Super Snake restoration.  I recalled that Jim had one of those that he showed me when I visited him, so I called him to see if he still had it.  He did, so I gave Prudhomme his contact info, and as far as I know, Jim's manifold is now on the Super Snake.  It was pretty cool to be able to hook up two legendary guys on a famous race car restoration.

When I visited Jim he gave me a couple of posters showing his cars.  I have them hanging up in my shop, and took the pictures of them below:






Here are some details on the Barillaro Speed Emporium Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/Barillaro-Speed-Emporium-Inc-163767966980524/?hc_ref=ARQq0GBwJ208bSWpc8NTWZZ4ks1rVZo_WP0GBSzusseBLEZSPRvJokB5NPWAXY--y9I&fref=nf


RIP my friend, you will be missed - Jay

[nhsohc]

Great guy and always willing to help.
Plus he could out talk Ted Nugent once he got wound up!

Lots of SOHC info will be lost without him around.

[machoneman]

Sad news indeed to lose one of the old guard Ford and SOHC campaigners.   

[hyper64]

Jim was a good guy. I knew him from when he lived up in Connecticut and operated cranes. He was also a big Lionel train fan and dealer. He sold Lionel out of a shop in Colchester CT and had a full size caboose there. I got to know him when I went into his train shop once and told him about my 1964 Custom X Virginia State cop car.  He gave me both of those same posters which I have hanging up here. I lost touch when he moved south. Sorry to learn of his passing.
Jim M.

[George vega]

It's always sad to hear the passing of a good friend. These old fe guys are like walking libraries and when we loose one of them, we sometimes not only loose a friend but in some cases we loose their lifelong knowledge. 

[cjetmech]

Sad to hear that. I didn't know the man but he made a big impression on me in about 1983. I had just bought my Fairlane and was just getting into FE engines. Anyways I'm at a car show and in pulls this incredible car on a flat bed. It was Jim with Chrismans 65 Comet which I believe he had just finished restoring. Needless to say every person at that show flocked to the car. I can't tell you how long I looked that car over and I was just blown away seeing an SOHC in person. He became kind of an idol to me since he was a local guy who had the baddest FE car on the planet. RIP

[cjshaker]

Sad to hear that. I didn't know the man but he made a big impression on me in about 1983. I had just bought my Fairlane and was just getting into FE engines. Anyways I'm at a car show and in pulls this incredible car on a flat bed. It was Jim with Chrismans 65 Comet which I believe he had just finished restoring. Needless to say every person at that show flocked to the car. I can't tell you how long I looked that car over and I was just blown away seeing an SOHC in person. He became kind of an idol to me since he was a local guy who had the baddest FE car on the planet. RIP

By any chance was this at the Ford Expo drag day at National Trail? If so, I was there and remember that day. I have pictures somewhere, of the car running on the track. It left 2 black marks down the entire 1/4 mile, just as it did in the Hot Rod article back in '65. That was running on a very light load of fuel, and it still ran in the 8's if I remember correctly, smoking the tires the whole way. That was a major thrill for me, seeing the car in real life. A memory I will never forget. I talked to the owner then, but didn't know who Jim was at that time.

[bn69stang]

Sad to hear the new s , RIP Jim

[feadam]

New Jim quite well sorry to hear. I had a set of SOHC heads that the UPS man dropped, the only one that would repair them was Jim. It took awhile but when he was done you almost couldn't tell they had been damaged. I think I had more fun the times I went to his place just looking at his engine stuff, and would plan trips out of my way just to go across route 40 so I could stop.

[cjetmech]

Sad to hear that. I didn't know the man but he made a big impression on me in about 1983. I had just bought my Fairlane and was just getting into FE engines. Anyways I'm at a car show and in pulls this incredible car on a flat bed. It was Jim with Chrismans 65 Comet which I believe he had just finished restoring. Needless to say every person at that show flocked to the car. I can't tell you how long I looked that car over and I was just blown away seeing an SOHC in person. He became kind of an idol to me since he was a local guy who had the baddest FE car on the planet. RIP

By any chance was this at the Ford Expo drag day at National Trail? If so, I was there and remember that day. I have pictures somewhere, of the car running on the track. It left 2 black marks down the entire 1/4 mile, just as it did in the Hot Rod article back in '65. That was running on a very light load of fuel, and it still ran in the 8's if I remember correctly, smoking the tires the whole way. That was a major thrill for me, seeing the car in real life. A memory I will never forget. I talked to the owner then, but didn't know who Jim was at that time.

No, it was at a tiny little car show in Connecticut, right down the road from the now closed CT Dragway. I'm sure it drew crowds wherever he took it.

[Leny Mason]

Hi, Jim was vary helpful to me on my cammer I talked to him regularly, He met us in Bowling Green with both his cars what a sight we got to sit in both of the cars my wife bought him ice cream so she was his best friend he always remembered her name when we talked, he got in a car  wreck a few years ago  I do not think he ever recovered from that, Dang it. Leny Mason