Chassis 7/C/101
After the first Jomar was wrecked at Virginia International Raceway in August of 1958, Ray Heppenstahl returned the Jomar to the Merrimack Street Garage. The body panels were later given to Johnny Boyd of Buffalo NY along with the body panels from Bob Columbosians wrecked 7/C/102 (Limerock July 1958). The climax engine and transmission were installed in the empty notchback coupe chassis 7/C/107. The frame/suspension/etc remain in the attic above the racing shop at Merrimack Street Volvo today.
Chassis 7/C/103
Chassis 7/C/103 was raced up until the late 1960s when it was sold to a young racer by the name of Will Talmedge. Supposedly he was bringing the car to Road America when he had a trailering accident with the car and the trail goes cold here. Picture of Frank Payton mid to late 1960s.
Chassis 7/C/104
Chassis 7/C/104 was retired by Saidel Sports Racing after the 1958 season and its body was removed and installed on chassis 7/C-S/116 for the 1959 season. The chassis was stripped and put in the basement of the Merrimack Street Garage until 2004 when it was restored and rebodied using the body of 7/C-S/116 as a guide. The car was sold to Mark Brinker and campaigned at such places as the Monterey Historics.
Chassis 7/C/105
This roadster currently resides in the New York area and has been unrestored except for mechanical upkeep.
Chassis 7/C/109
Sold as a bare chassis to Johnny Boyd of Buffalo NY along with a new Stage III CLimax Engine and body panels from both 7/C/101 and 7/C102. Johnny completed the car and raced it in the 1958-1959 seasons. He later modified the frame and had the body completely remade by Bill Sadler. Picture on the left is Boyds Jomar at Thompson 1959 (SSR1 in the backround). Picture on the right is Bodys car after Sadler rebody circa 1962.
Chassis 7/C-S/116
This car is fully restored and has never left the Saidel stable.
Chassis 7/C/111
This chassis was cut up and used to make the SSR1, single seat Jomar racer. This Jomar has never left the Saidel stable.
Today's JOMAR Racers
Chassis 7/C/102
After Bob Columbosians spin at Limerock Raceway his Jomar was hit by several Austin Healys. The car was written off and the Jomar body panels, and chassis were given to Ray Saidel. As mentioned above the aluminum body panels were given to Johnny Boyd who constructed his own Jomar body on the Climax Chassis Ray had sold him. The drivetrain ended up in the hands of a Derrick Durst of Massachusetts. The rear end was recovered decadess later by Walt Armstron and sold to Alex Saidel. The Coventry Climax engine was sold to a man with a Lotux XI. For decades this Lotus XI changed hands but always carried the name "the lotus with the Jomar engine". Thanks to Dave Handy of Sasco Sports who had facilitated the last change of hands of the Lotus, Alex Saidel was able to contact the owner of the Lotus and work out a trade for the Climax engine. In the mean time 7/C/102 had been completely restored with a duplicate alloy body and Climax engine. Picture below October 2016 at the Rev it up for Vets car show. Ray Saidel sporting his 1st Armored Division hat and shirt. Ray served with the first AD in North Africa and then Italy from Jan 1943 till the end of the War. Ray and his comrades in G Company, 1st Reg, 1 st AD who survived that period recieved 6 Bronze batlle stars as well as the French Liberation Medal as North Africa had been under French rule before the Germans occupied the area.
Oldsmobile 215 cid V8 returns home to Merrimack Street Garage after 50 years. When the engine arrived Roger Jackson pointed to the aluminum carb interface plate (showing file marks) and said, "I made that while I was working in the service department". Lou Turner also pointed out all of the brackets that he had drilled like swiss cheese. "Weight is power" Lou would say. Lou had also installed baffling in the oil pan as well as air cooling tubes that run through the oil pan.
7/C-S/113 The Daytona Car
Ray Saidel did not run this car after 1959 until 1960 or 61 when he installed an Oldsmobile V8 motor. The car was sold to Roger Jackson (who worked at the Merrimack Street Garage for 40 years) who campaigned the V8 Jomar at Bryar Motorsports Park in New Hampshire. Roger sold the Jomar to Scott Woodman who later sold the car to Harry Parkinson. The V8 engine was removed to fix a crack in the aluminum bellhousing of the transmisison. The car is still at large. The engine was purchased by Alex Saidel. Picture below courtesy of Roger Jackson.
