Mr. & Mrs. Diederich holding their best selling USA Made Fans.

Walt Diederich keeps it COOL and Innovative

You know how folks say there’s nothing made in the USA any longer? This statement really makes a lot of people hot under the collar, but there’s a way to keep your cool and “buy American” all at the same time; buy Perma-Cool products. We’ve had the privilege of having Perma-Cool as a vendor at the Pomona Swap Meet for some time now and you shouldn’t be surprised if the company’s founder and owner, Walt Diederich, is right there in the thick of things, with his ear to the ground listening to the drumbeat of what people have to say. Then he turns that input into an innovative new product – made in the USA, of course.

We got the chance to speak with Walt recently about Perma-Cool and learned quite a few things. First of all, you might recognize the founder from his days on the racing circuit. Which racing circuit? How about off road? Or drag racing? Or how about over at Irwindale? The company’s products stemmed from Walt’s passion to improve racing, starting with the vehicles he was driving. “Used to be you could find refrigeration and coil products, but nobody really offered a complete solution,” said Diederich. So there he and his partners were, in the garage some 43 years ago, working on a better solution and what they came up with became the Perma-Cool company’s first product. “It’s like one of those garage-borne companies that gets turned into one’s livelihood”, recalls Walt.

A view of Perma-Cools’ Space and Product Display

Now, Walt and company have ten patents just on engine oil coolers alone. Innovation is the name of the game, but quality is the foundation on which it’s built.  For example, if you buy an oil cooler from Perma-Cool and have a problem, they’ll stand behind the product. “If you spring a leak you get a replacement – end of story”, states Walt. That’s what happens when the people who build your products also happen to work just down the street from you, instead of a boat ride across the ocean.

Perma-Cool has all sorts of products and are always working on other innovations. There are cooling fans, oil coolers, transmission coolers, oil filter relocating kits and much, much more. Oh, you say you’ve bought aftermarket cooling fans and they don’t work? Well, consider the source. “People buy cheap cooling fans and they may not work effectively, they may not have great controllers that last. They don’t build it for the American customer, they just do it to turn dollars”, adds Walt. Walt is pretty passionate about his products as is the family of workers who build them. You can easily pick that up in even a short conversation with the innovative manufacturer. “Our fans aren’t noisy, they don’t hi-amp, they have simplified controllers”, Walt states proudly.

One of the reasons Walt loves coming to the Pomona Swap Meet is that he can listen to what customers are saying. Not only his own customers, but all the thousands of people who bring their experience to the Swap Meet. The kind of life experience everybody brings to the show is invaluable. You can bet that if more than a few people say they are looking for a similar solution, you might find it on Perma-Cool’s website or right here in Pomona. For example, some of the newest products in the catalog are the Cool-Tech line which are specifically designed for sport compacts. They’ve also created a line of power steering cooling kits which are really popular with drifters. Their oil filter relocation kits allow you to use stock oil filters if you care to. “What’s kept us in the forefront is coming out with new products”, boasts Walt.

Walt helping out a customer who’s looking for a cooling system.

So, while summer’s on its way here and it’ll get nice and hot at the Swap Meet, you and your ride will be able to keep your cool with a quick stop at the Perma-Cool booth located on Road 22, Spaces 28, 30 & 32. Map of Vendor Spaces (PDF). Or you can contact Walt at (909) 391-9000 or visit Perma-Cool’s website at www.perma-cool.com.

This article was written by Tony Barthel from the Curbside Auto Column and Car Show Calendar. For auto articles, news and an on-line calendar of automotive events, please visit www.curbside.tv.