Gim was born in Vancouver’s Chinatown in 1922. Despite the depression of the 1930s, he built his own go-kart at the age of 13. Before he turned 17, Gim won the Western Canada Model Plane Flying Contest with a three-flight average of three minutes 56 seconds.

Gim says he could write a book on the interviews and applications he had to go through to finally be accepted into the Air Force in 1944. After boot camp and watching his friends being shipped out, Gim was asked to volunteer for training as a Flight Engineer. Gim survived the course, completing it in six months as opposed to the normal 17 months. He also trained as an air gunner and co-pilot for the Halifax bomber.

Between 1948 and 1959, Gim owned a couple of midget racers. His first midget had a Star motor in it, and later he ran a Ford V8 60. Gim raced at all the local tracks as well as Penticton, Aurora Speedway in Seattle and Portland. The last car he owned was powered with a Chevy II and was sold in Seattle in the late 1980s.

Gim got the most out of his equipment. A win at Digney Speedway

GIM WONG - Inducted 2001

Pioneer - Oval Racing

by Cheryl Harder, 2001 - edited Brian Pratt, 2004

Gim Wong with his midget, 1948  (Brian Pratt collection)

Gim Wong, 2005

had the former owner of the Star-powered midget, on the public address system at the track, saying he’d never seen the car go so fast. In the late 1950s, on the insistence of Gordon Reelie, Gim made the tow to Aurora Speedway for a big race. With some alcohol fuel from Reelie to replace the normal gas he ran that Gim needed to make himself competitive, Gim tuned his car up and finished better than the normally front running Reelie car.

Gim also helped young racers. Mel Keen told a story of asking Gim how to lock a rear-end on his stock car.

Gim's first response was to send the "green" Mel to the hardware store to buy a lock. The chagrined Mel returned to the playful senior mechanic who gave him the information he needed.

Gim owned his own automotive collision repair and painting shop. His pursuit of speciality vehicles led him to work customizing many cars; from MGs to Jaguars during the 1940s and, Lincolns and Cadillacs in the 1960s. Gim’s versatile skills included hand-made parts such as panels and fenders as well as painting flames and stripes. Gim has owned a variety of motor-cycles and automobiles before and after the war, including a 1931 Auburn straight 8 and a 1946 Lincoln Continental V12. Today, Gim owns a 1986 Honda Elite 250 scooter and two show bikes - a 1987 Honda Magna V4 and a 1998 Yamaha V-Star. He is currently building a 1985 Honda Interstate 1200.

Gim retired and lives in North Burnaby in a house he built in 1986-1987. Gim figures he will be 100 years old by the time he finishes his ongoing projects.