determined as Stan: “He was a very stubborn
man. Everyone knew him as a genial, friendly,
generous guy, but he knew what he wanted and
was determined to make it happen.”
“Stan said to me that his one wish was that
his engine went on,” added Marg. “He told me:
‘I’d rather see the engine used and raced to
its absolute limits; I don’t want it to become a
coffee table or be thrown away as scrap.’”
“He didn’t see this as work,” Julie says. “He
never saw it as work. It was his blinding passion.
It was what he loved to do.”
Stan held in his head the secrets to the
machining of these engines and he spent his
last valuable weeks trying to pass on his skills
and knowledge to Terry, himself a machinist.
“I’m not too sure about the future,” says Terry
hesitantly. With eight complete motors and 17
finished blocks stockpiled at home, there is
plenty in reserve, but still...
“It takes a lot of money to run these cars these
days,” he continues. “Tyres used to cost $700
a pair, now they’re $3500, and they wear out
more quickly. And that’s just one item.
“It will depend on what the crew wants to do.
If they want this to go on, well, I suppose it will,somehow.
“The money issues aside, making this work
will be a matter of teamwork, family and
camaraderie, and they’re the factors we’ve
always been strong on.”
Stan Sainty was a genius, even if his
methods were sometimes unorthodox. He had
the same drive and determination as a Jack
Brabham, but was just directing his efforts
into a smaller pond, where the audience
was measured in tens of thousands,
not tens of millions. We’ll never see his
ike again. sHE NEVER SAW THIS AS WORK. IT WAS HIS BLINDING PASSION.
IT WAS WHAT HE LOVED TO DO
02: Determined to carry the team name forward
into the future is Stan’s wife Marg, son Terry,
brother Norm and daughter Julie01: The day after Stan’s funeral was the AC
Delco East Coast Thunder event at Sydney
Dragway, where the team paid tribute to its
fallen figurehead with special livery on its new
car. The track held a minute’s silence to honour
the great man’s contribution to the sport