Jaime Sarte, Innovative And Prolific 1970s Funny Car Chassis Builder Has Passed At Age 72 – Built Some Of The Quickest Cars Of His Era


Jaime Sarte, Innovative And Prolific 1970s Funny Car Chassis Builder Has Passed At Age 72 – Built Some Of The Quickest Cars Of His Era

(Lead photo credit: American Nitro FB page) – We were informed last night of the passing, at age 72 of Jaime Sarte who was an innovative, popular, and well known drag racing chassis builder in the 1970s and well into the 1980s. He built cars for the likes of Tom Hoover, Tom McEwen, Ron Colson, Johnny Loper, and the list could go on for a mile. Sarte was profiled in the awesome old drag racing film “American Nitro” and his cars were known for being lightweight and perhaps more individually tailored than anyone else’s of the time. The general design of the chassis in that era was shared by virtually all of the builders but as usual, the devil is in the details and Sarte’s cars were known for them. Like fingerprints they were all a little different and if you hunt around the internet you will find a lot of threads of guys with old chassis trying to identify them. The Sarte cars seems a harder nut to crack than many others as things were constantly tweaked.

Among Sarte’s customer base was Tommy Ivo. Jaime built the first three funny cars that Ivo raced and undoubtedly that helped business. Alas, all good things come to an end and Sarte’s chassis business did just that. We do not know the exact year but believe that it was in the first half of the 1980s that Jaime closed the doors and stepped away from the sport of drag racing. At the time of his passing he was living in Florida. He has a son that still resides in Southern California and at least one other child that resides in Hawaii where Sarte was originally from.

It may seem like a small thing, maybe some sort of footnote when a guy like Jaime Sarte passes but it isn’t to us. Without the likes of Sarte and his contemporaries pushing each other, pushing the bounds of engineering, and constantly trying to build a better mouse trap we would not have the incredible fire breathing rocket ships of today. Was everything Sarte did a winner? No. Was everything that any chassis builder in history has ever done a winner? No. Innovation means finding out what works and what doesn’t. Sarte was a dominant builder during an era where there were some huge names vying for business. To stand in there with the likes of Pat Foster, Woody Gilmore, The Logghe Brothers, Steve Plueger, Buttera, and others was and will forever be a big deal.

There are still Jaime Sarte chassis being run all over the country today. Some are under injected cars and others are under cackle cars, but it is important to know that the man left a physical legacy that will be going fast, honoring history, and serving as a visual map into the colorful history of drag racing. The big strip in the sky has a new chassis man. Everyone else better look out.

Here’s a fine Jaime Sarte creation, Tom Hoover’s Showtime Corvette –

sarte


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6 thoughts on “Jaime Sarte, Innovative And Prolific 1970s Funny Car Chassis Builder Has Passed At Age 72 – Built Some Of The Quickest Cars Of His Era

  1. doug gregory

    Successful chassis folks are super impressive to me. I see it as art and science in a perfect mix. The challenges facing these folks are making something rigid enough to handle the current power levels, but also being supple enough to ‘work’. To have a name associated with the top builders is certainly an accomplishment and a serious contribution to the sport. Another bright light extinguished, but his legacy will live on in his creations.

  2. Chaun Benfield

    Sad day indeed, we have lost one of the very best craftsman and human beings again. Gone but not forgotten GOD Speed Mr. Jaime Sarte.

  3. lopaka robb mccann

    I was lucky enough to have worked with Jaime back in the early eighties, never saw him without the biggest smile in the world. Sad to hear this news but glad I still have friends that remember him as well. My wife met him once but never forgot his name, and us being invited into his home. RIP and Aloha, Jaime.

  4. Jadolyn (Jade) Sarte'-Martin

    I am the eldest of Jaime Sarte’s seven (7) children and live in Panama City, Florida near my father. Dad passed on Monday, Dec 1, 2014, just one day before his 73’rd birthday. He is survived by his wife, Emelie of 35 years. My brothers, Jaime Sarte’, Jr. and Jarrett Sarte’ worked alongside him during the “good old days’ and remembers them well. They, along with my sister Jocelyn Sarte’-Boniface reside in Thousand Oaks, CA. Son, Shane Sarte’ of Utah, Daughter, Jennifer Sarte’-Larck resides in Spain and youngest daughter Shar Sarte’-Prince of Bellingham, WA. We are very proud of our father not only for what he has created in the industry but for the very person he was. He was one of a kind and will be missed. He continued to have ideas on how to make everything better. His workmanship was always completed to perfection. I know he missed building and the thrill of it all too. Thank you for your kind words. Our family truly appreciates it.

  5. Armand verdone

    I met Jaime in the fall of 1973,he built his very first pro stock car for me, a Camaro, which was finished in the fall of 1974. He had just moved into his brand-new shop at Van Nuys Airport from his old shop on Sherman Way. While I was there many times watching the production of my car many of the big funny car names would come in and out of that shop! Jaime and I became the best of friends, I lived in Arizona, I always stated his house when I came over.

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