Friday, May 18th, 2012
One of the world’s most accomplished and skilled chassis builders, James “Puppet” DiTullio passed away today.
DiTullio succumbed after a long and hard-fought battle in the hospital for the past several weeks.
Puppet had been building dragbike frames since the 1970s, when a young Paul Gast went to his shop to get some welding done on his Kawasaki Pro Stock two-cycle. Puppet would go on to build chassis for legendary riders such as Jim McClure, “Pizza” John Mafaro, Dave Schultz, Elmer Trett and the world’s quickest dragbike racer Larry “Spiderman” McBride.
“It is a great loss. He was the best Top Fuel chassis builder in the world and a great man,” McBride said. “I talked to him on the phone regularly. He was hilarious. I will miss him.”
Utilizing the chassis Puppet built for him in 1994, McBride set the world record for a Top Fuel Motorcycle at 5.79 at 245 mph.
Considered an artist and a pioneer by his peers, Puppet will be greatly missed throughout the motorcycle drag racing community.
Tags: James "Puppet" DiTullio, Larry McBride
rip puppet
James “Puppet” DiTullio rip what can i say but puppet & trett are up there building another bike
You guys r the greatest!! Thank you .. He is the best!!!
Rest in Peace brother.
Puppet. We were room mates in the late 60′s and early 70′s. Explored a lot of buffalo bars together. I watched Jim transform from family man to hippy overnight. What a fun guy he was. Puppet, John Oldfield and I spent a lot of time together in those years. Now that they are both gone I can only hope that someday we will be together in the “Open House” Restaurant on Delaware Ave again. Rest in Peace. Truly one of the original “characters” in my life.
Pup was a great man who I grew up with. He took time, talked to me, and even taught me to draw a few choice cartoons. He came down to our home one time, and stayed with us. At that time, he took time to show me how to weld on Daddy’s Tig Welder. He was an artist and a pioneer. The world will be a dimmer place without him, but Heaven will be a better place. I’m sure he’s enjoying his ‘new life’ up there with his ‘old’ friends….There are so many of them with him now.
Puppet was the finest cycle craftsman on the planet. I was proud to have raced one of his creations. Rest in Peace, Jim.
Love you Pup, miss you like crazy.
Twink aka weembagirl
Gonna miss you Pup!
God Speed, and say hi to Jim, Dave and Elmer for me.
Cyalaterbye
I met Puppet in the early 70′s. I gave him anold air brush and he immediately did some awesome graphics with it. We used to say he could weld wood. Great guy, true artist. Buffalo and the world lost a great one. RIP Puppet
It was an honor to know and work with Puppet. He will be missed more than words can do justice.