Looking Back at Diesel World Magazine and the Diesel Scene in 2008

A Look Back at Diesel World Magazine in 2009

Every now and again, it’s nice to take a stroll down memory lane. Nostalgia, though often rose-tinted, still serves as an important reminder to us all. To some, it’s a memoir of better days. To others, it serves as a benchmark for where we once were as individuals with our builds and as an industry as a whole.

I recently did some digging on eBay for a few well-seasoned issues of Diesel World magazine. After a few days of sifting through listings, some back and forth with sellers, and a few lowball offers, I became the proud owner of this copy of Volume 3, Issue Number 7 of Diesel World magazine. Dated July 2008, this particular issue is well-loved and is not a pristine copy. Despite that, I thought it might be interesting to take you, the reader, along with me as we thumb through this trip down memory lane together.

The Builds

One of the first things you notice when you pick up this July 2008 copy of the magazine is how different the world of diesel performance was back then. Thumbing open the front cover, you’re immediately hit with a two-page layout from Banks Power highlighting its Banks Brake system for 2004.5-2007 Cummins trucks. Turning the page once more, you’ll land on the table of contents. The feature vehicle, a GMT-800 Silverado with dual exhaust tips, stands proudly at the bottom of the page.

As you continue to take it all in, there’s a familiar sense of nostalgia in every page. The truck builds feel like coming back home for the holidays after being away at college. There’s a certain comfort that you feel as you read articles on the latest and greatest in GM tie rod end upgrades, event coverage from diesel drag racing events, and truck build features that spotlight passes as fast as 12 seconds. As you flip through the pages, you can’t help but remember earlier days and the status of the diesel aftermarket at that time.

The Parts

If you were to read this copy of the mag cover to cover, you’d be pleasantly surprised at the number of familiar names and faces still contributing to the magazine today. Brands like ATS Diesel Performance feature full-page ads for its Aurora Compound turbo kit that’s good for 620 horsepower. Or what about Bilstein advertising its all-new Motorhome Shock lineup? Or perhaps Edge with a full-page advertisement for its Juice With Attitude? Some of these products may seem outdated, and the horsepower gains minimal for 2026 standards, but back then these products would’ve been cutting-edge and at the top of their game.

The Industry

The more pages you read, the more you start to understand just where the industry was back in 2008. It was a time when the diesel performance market was really starting to come alive. The LLY/LBZ Duramax were General Motors heavy-hitters, and the 6.7 common rail Cummins had just hit the market a year earlier. Even Ford had a seat at the table. Though the 6.0L Navistar-built Power Stroke would prove to be troublesome, it was still a large player in the game at the time.

Diesel Motorsports was still in its infancy, with events like Crude Drags pitting diesel-powered builds against each other for a winner-takes-all shootout-style event. Though many of the prevalent names in the industry of today were still too young to be a part of things like this, a keen eye and a bit of searching will show you that guys like Lenny Reed of Dynomite Diesel Performance, Gale Banks, and even racing legend Mario Andretti find a home within the metaphorical walls of the pages. There’s even a section at the end covering diesel tractors, which we thought was pretty neat (obviously).

The Meaning

If you’ve made it this far in the article, you may be wondering, “Why are you dragging us down this memory lane?”

It’s not to spend our time looking in the rearview mirror or to toss out some bold statement about how things were better in the good old days. Instead, we’re taking a second to reflect on exactly where we came from. Looking back nearly two decades ago, it’s almost surreal to think about how far we’ve come. And perhaps what’s even more encouraging is that we’re still just getting started. The diesel performance industry is still so young, and even now we’re just starting to break the surface as to understanding exactly what these incredible machines are capable of.

While this is certainly not a regular article, we do hope that you enjoyed a quick trip in the wayback machine. They say that life isn’t lived looking in the rearview, and they’re correct. Still, those days shaped the things we do today, and these days will shape the things we do tomorrow.