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Paolo Castellano · December 31st, 2003, 10:52 AM

I had the pleasure of meeting John Lingenfelter twice. The first time was back in the summer of 1997 when I had this vibration in the driveline of my 1996 Trans-Am at around 5,000 RPM. The local dealerships could not figure out what was the problem and told me I should not be driving the car at such a high RPM anyway. I was on my way back from a Florida trip and stopped by LPE. John was there and actually took the car out for a test drive himself. He had respect for that F-body and told me it was a nice car even though it was a stock w/ auto trans.

The second time I met him was day where I had only one appointment in the morning of fall 1999. I had the dog with me and drove around 600 miles that day to Decatur, Indiana and back. He greeted me at the front door and insisted on my bringing the dog inside. Yes! Even my little dalmatian, Wee-Wee Dots has met John Lingenfelter. Usually she is a little apprehensive when meeting men... She walked right up to John and practically sat on his lap. She even gave him a kiss! We were walking throught the shop and one of the mechanics was doing his job with some air tool and the dog freaked out from the whooshing... John had the the guys stop using the air tools for a few minutes for the dog. That's just the kind of guy he was. I got to see George Bryce's engine on the dyno with a milder cam than the original one from the Motor Trend test. He was showing me how they made even more power doing a couple of different things while at the same time going to a more stock cam. He had Graham take me for a ride in both an LPE TT Vette AND an LPE 540 CI Viper(Both Stock-like sound but FAST AS SHIT!{OF COURSE}). I asked Poor old John the patented Paolo Castellano 'million fucking questions' and he answered all of them and taught me a thing or two about a thing or two. I was skeptical about piggyback fuel systems and he said they are just fine and that was a legitimate way to tune the car if it's done right. I asked him about all kinds of pie in the sky shit and he always came back and said "Hey, 'Stock is Best'" He is definitely right. He was the man and will definitely be missed. I know I did not know him very well and I did not have a clue about much when it came to cars except wanting to go fast, but he gave me respect and imparted knowledge to me in a generous, calm and matter of fact manner that I will always appreciate and will never forget! John, thanks for everything and keep an eye on me when I do the high speed shit you loved to do. Paolo

You always see pictures of John in the magazines with that sunny, effortless smile. He was exactly that way in person. Such a genuine, unassuming guy he definitely was. It is such a shame he is gone...

December 31st, 2003, 10:52 AM	#11
Paolo Castellano Senior Member Paolo Castellano is offline Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 2,516 Rep Power: 10	Re: John Lingenfelter I had the pleasure of meeting John Lingenfelter twice. The first time was back in the summer of 1997 when I had this vibration in the driveline of my 1996 Trans-Am at around 5,000 RPM. The local dealerships could not figure out what was the problem and told me I should not be driving the car at such a high RPM anyway. I was on my way back from a Florida trip and stopped by LPE. John was there and actually took the car out for a test drive himself. He had respect for that F-body and told me it was a nice car even though it was a stock w/ auto trans. The second time I met him was day where I had only one appointment in the morning of fall 1999. I had the dog with me and drove around 600 miles that day to Decatur, Indiana and back. He greeted me at the front door and insisted on my bringing the dog inside. Yes! Even my little dalmatian, Wee-Wee Dots has met John Lingenfelter. Usually she is a little apprehensive when meeting men... She walked right up to John and practically sat on his lap. She even gave him a kiss! We were walking throught the shop and one of the mechanics was doing his job with some air tool and the dog freaked out from the whooshing... John had the the guys stop using the air tools for a few minutes for the dog. That's just the kind of guy he was. I got to see George Bryce's engine on the dyno with a milder cam than the original one from the Motor Trend test. He was showing me how they made even more power doing a couple of different things while at the same time going to a more stock cam. He had Graham take me for a ride in both an LPE TT Vette AND an LPE 540 CI Viper(Both Stock-like sound but FAST AS SHIT!{OF COURSE}). I asked Poor old John the patented Paolo Castellano 'million fucking questions' and he answered all of them and taught me a thing or two about a thing or two. I was skeptical about piggyback fuel systems and he said they are just fine and that was a legitimate way to tune the car if it's done right. I asked him about all kinds of pie in the sky shit and he always came back and said "Hey, 'Stock is Best'" He is definitely right. He was the man and will definitely be missed. I know I did not know him very well and I did not have a clue about much when it came to cars except wanting to go fast, but he gave me respect and imparted knowledge to me in a generous, calm and matter of fact manner that I will always appreciate and will never forget! John, thanks for everything and keep an eye on me when I do the high speed shit you loved to do. Paolo You always see pictures of John in the magazines with that sunny, effortless smile. He was exactly that way in person. Such a genuine, unassuming guy he definitely was. It is such a shame he is gone...