Bob Sayle - Inducted 2005

Pioneer - Sports Car and Road Racing

Bob Sayle in his self-built Formula Junior, Westwood, 1960  (SCCBC Archives)

Excerpt from SCCBC Pit Pass 1958 - edited by Tom Johnston, 2005

Bob Sayle was born in Shanghai in 1920, a city where his father was associated with Standard Oil. Schooling was both in Shanghai and Hong Kong while he remained in the East, but brief trips to England gave Bob a touch of European tutoring as well. The combination culminated in university entrance.

After school he entered an insurance office where he remained until 1940, when the RAF in London beckoned at the start of World War II. A portion of his training was taken in Canada where the climate inspired the resolve to return there someday.

Bob was stationed in the Western Desert for eight months, including participation in El Alamein and Tobruk. He finished up in Tripoli ahead of the 8th Army as a prisoner of a Mr. Rommel after being shot up and falling down during a bombing raid he was escorting. A machine gun bullet left Bob with a stiff knee, but as you will read later this did not affect his exploits in the motoring field. Bob gives excellent praise to the wonderful care given him by German Army Doctors. He was exchanged before VE day and spent the balance of the war as a flying instructor.

His first civilian position after the war was as an underwriter with

Bob Sayle, 1958

his old firm in Hong Kong, but after the excitement of wartime experiences he could not settle down so he migrated to Canada, joining his family here. He still stayed In the insurance business, but eventually joined Standard Motors as wholesale manager.

Bob's first contact with motorsport came in the form of a
PA type MG in England running on primarily 120 octane aviation fuel. After settling down in Vancouver he purchased a courting Plymouth wagon which was exchanged for a Flying Standard 8 after its purpose was

accomplished with the acquisition of Barbara Sayle. The Standard was followed by a succession of Minors and Standard Cadets for transportation, concurrent with two Morris specials and brief race outings in company Triumphs.

Bob served his club, SCCBC ,well taking terms on the executive as secretary.

Sayle and his wife and three children lived for years in a large rambling home In North Vancouver’s Lynn Valley. The home was also the base from which he constructed and raced his many home-built road racing specials that raced at Abbotsford, Westwood and other circuits. Later, Bob built an airplane, perhaps the ultimate special.

Bob Sayle left us years ago, but one of his treasured cars is still running in the Vancouver area: his pre-war MG