Jamie Aislabie

[John McKechnie]

When I went to the racing as a teenager, I was fascinated by the Sports Cars.
Some were thundering Canam style cars, some were traditional British sports , some were Lotus derivations, then there was SID Mk1.
My memories was that it had a screaming Jaguar, and later a V8. It was unusual to look at, certainly didnt lack in speed or bravery.
I was collecting Motorman mags at the time and always there were featured pix of Jim Boyd- Lola T70, Graeme Harvey-Elfin 400,Garry Pederson -GEMCO special, but never any of SID.
This obviously was a home made car, same as Tyrell Turtle with his Continental Special.,sounded great, looked exciting and entertained the crowds.
With some the car was the star, others it was the driver, and others it was a named race car builder/ engineer.. Here Jamie was all three rolled into one.
For a few years he consistently entertained the crowds with his own non mainstream design car.
So Jamie, here is your very own thread to post your pic, tell your story of how you did it your way- no Mini, Anglia, Escort or Camaro.- thanks for the memories of giving the crowds something different
Lets ease in gently with Wide Wheels-July 1971 number 20, and then Driver May 1972 number 30.

[John McKechnie]

Bank of New South Wales
Round 9 -Timaru
May 31st .1971

[John McKechnie]

Dunlop Meeting,
Pukekohe- long circuit.
April 9-1972.
A wet meeting-Richard hit Brocklehurst at the elbow this day.
MC Bean photo

[GD66]

I recall seeing SID Mk 1 on the trailer, and the Fletcher windscreen was the dominant factor, shook my head and giggled briefly, until I saw it whiz down the back straight at Bay Park, whistle back towards the pits and scoot through the right-hander like a go-kart on steroids, HORN !!
What a weapon was it was...looking forward to more info from the Maestro.

BTW the fat bastard fourth from left, peering on in admiration in the white singlet as the beast scorches round Rothmans, is me...

[bry3500]

These are lifted from another thread

[bry3500]

From the SCANZ thread

[Grant Sprague]

Great to see a thread for Jamie...... I would love to add a bit .. I met Jamie back in the mid 80,s Jamie is one of the Mr nice guys in NZ motor sports & very humble at that a very talented driver, engine builder, race car chassis designer, fabricator, a true NZ champion.
I rocked up to Taupo with my SCANZ car to join Jamie,s band of merry men..... we had a few fun filled years Jamie excepted me with open arms & showed me a few things which I really appreciated these SCANZ cars were very fast even back then often breaking out right lap records there , Jamie,s car was a twin cam turbo a rocket in a straight line , I thought these guys were a lot of fun , Jamie being Mr SCANZ big brother we all went to him for advice etc & it was freely given with a smile , interesting each class of racing has a certain energy about it..... this class obviously suited Jamie there were no wwwaaaar wwwaaarrrs..no bull shit..no protests no one to get in your way or in your FACE just fast fun like big go carts ...you needed brains to build these cars & he has built plenty of them even to day & being NZ championship winners at that.
I did hear a little story about Jamie [hope you dont mind me saying] it goes abit like this , Jamie went off the end of main straight at Puke [1970s???] carried on straight ahead for some time though the farmers paddock out through his gate, drove up the main road down through the car park at Puke & re entered the race.......no DNF Your a good Bugger Jamie .....

[bry3500]

Jamie and the Bobtail....ex Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren ,Merv Neil, Doug Lawrence

[bry3500]

Photo from Bob Homewood

[bob homewood]

Jamie ,a bit of a unsung person as far as I'm concerned ,a great guy ,that you could race wheel to wheel with and you always knew he would do nothing stupid ,he always had a great talent for getting results with meagre resources and his own mechanical ability

[928]

did sid mk1 start out as the heron V8 then? it certainly looks like it in some views

[jamie]

Sid Mk1 Started in 1969 when I sold the Cooper to Lyn Neilson in the South Island he did not want the 3.8 Jag motor so what to do. Went and had a had chat with Ross Baker he said they had the front of the spare Mk2 Heron chassis with front suspension and front body so we had half a car glue the 3.8 Jag on to that but what to do for a gear box. Went back to Ross Baker who was in the middle of making a box out of a Mk 4 Zephyr 4 speed box and v 8 crown wheel and pinion which we intended to fit to the Jag bell housing. But that started dragging along ?? I had a talk with Keven Clark and was told that Feo Stanton had a HD 5 Hewland for sale so paid him a visit after Keven had jacked it up came away proud owners and Janice pocket depleted .Back to work to make rear Suspension Upright's ect had it running for Christmas and up and down the road New year 1970 much to the neighbours horror .More later Jamie

[bry3500]

Will we ever see SID Mk1 back on the track ? Didn't I read somewhere that it still survives ?
These pics are from the SCANZ thread courtesy of Markec

[bry3500]

SID Mk2 - from SCANZ thread

[jamie]

Hi Gang I believe Peter Benbrook has S I D Mk1 and 2. That photo Bry is of Bob Harden having rebuilt with a 2lt Twin Cam FT 200 Hewland box sadly Bob got the dreaded rust and passed on .Have talked to Peter and it is being worked on. Jamie

[Michael Clark]

Pizza Hut, Invercargill - late December 1990 - Allan Dick and I having pizza, surprisingly, with the late John Hawkins. At an adjacent table is Marcus Pye and the Aisablies. Eventually the groups merged and I got the chance to ask the creator of arguably NZ's most distinctive homegrown sports racer - what did it stand for?

I didn't actually get a definitive answer - instead there were options, three of them...

1 was 'Still in Debt'
2 was 'Something I Did', and
3 - that the car was named after Sid whatever his name was from the Carry On movies

I endorse all the comments about Jamie doing wonders with limited resources. For years I wondered whatever had become of the Ken Wharton Trophy - it wasn't just in good hands, it was in the most appropriate hands in the country - the ultimate sports car trophy for the ultimate sports car exponent.

[jamie]

Hi Michael Sorry to have kept you LIMBO for so long. After going to the movies and seeing Sid James in carry on up the KYBER as he was ugly and strange so like the car, the other names came later the and construction committee is still Out on those .BUT I AM
STILL IN DEBT FOR SOMETHING I DID Jamie A

[MadIrish]

Jamie,

Eugene Boyle (formerly of Te Aroha), it's been a long, long time! Great to see you have not lost any of your sense of humour! Fantastic to read both the SCANZ thread an now your tribute one. I still remember the advice you gave me when I was starting out way back ion the mid-80's, those days with SCANZ were great and remain firm and fond memories.

Kind regards.

Eugene Boyle

[MadIrish]

Jamie,

Eugene Boyle (formerly of Te Aroha), it's been a long, long time! Great to see you have not lost any of your sense of humour! Fantastic to read both the SCANZ thread an now your tribute one. I still remember the advice you gave me when I was starting out way back ion the mid-80's, those days with SCANZ were great and remain firm and fond memories.

Kind regards.

Eugene Boyle

[Oldfart]

This is a very fitting tribute for a "real kiwi bloke"
Sports cars have never received the support they deserve, and Jamie, John Mines, Lester Reader and a whole bunch of others have never wavered in spite of the lack of recognition from MANZ< Motorsport NZ or whatever the "ruling" body wanted to call itself.
You guys are the embodiment of the "Blokes in Sheds".
Thanks for the entertainment over the years.