Page 22 - The Bill Sadler Story sample pages
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With this new lead and a possible link to a Sadler raced by Bill Kitching, we established the
early history of my car. However, no photographs of the Kitching Formula Junior existed that
showed the all-important air vent and would confirm the link. A lead on a speedway bike
forum led me to the family of Bill Kitching, and photographs of the car received from the
Kitching family showed the vent and confirmed its history.
What follows is the history of the Bill Kitching Sadler-Vortex known as “Aunt Marge”, and the
history of Jeff Crawford’s Sadler-Vortex.
The Sadler Formula Junior was available from the factory both in finished form and as a kit
with two cars documented being constructed from kits. Bill Kitching and Jeff Crawford each
bought a Sadler Formula Junior kit. Local body man, Jimmy Mellor shaped the aluminum
bodies. Therefore, with twelve factory assembled Sadler Formula Juniors and the two kits, it
is possible that fourteen Sadler cars were constructed.
The Sadler-Vortex Formula Junior Kits
Bill Kitching was born in Blackpool, England. At the age of twenty, he joined the British Army,
eventually becoming a Tank Commander for the Royal Dragoons in the desert war in Egypt
during the 1956 Suez Crisis.
Bill and his best friend, Jeff Crawford, had raced
speedway motorcycles. Both were successful,
competing in events at Wembley Stadium in
London and earning their way to the World
Championships.
In 1956, three months after getting married to
Pat, the Kitchings decided to emigrate, boarded
the Cunard liner Ivernia, and headed to Canada.
Jeff Crawford, on his return from Egypt, also
emigrated to Canada. All of them settled in
Toronto.
In 1959, the pair acquired two Sadler Formula
Junior chassis and suspensions in kit form from
the Sadler Car Company, and in a joint project
began simultaneously constructing the two
Formula Junior cars in the basement of the
Kitching apartment.
The pair worked every evening and weekend for
twelve weeks. After spending CAN$1,400 and
putting in 450 hours of labor, the two friends’
cars were completed in time for the Harewood
Carling 300 meeting at Harewood Acres on
May 28, 1960.
In a British Empire Motor Club newsletter,
Small Torque, photographs, and a report on
the two nearly completed cars give a detailed
description. The cars were fitted with the
modified BMC 950cc Sprite engine, A-series
gearbox, Sprite radiator, rear axle, and
suspension as per the factory-built cars. The
Vortex, as they were called, differed from the
Sadler factory-built cars in having the steering
wheel, steel disk wheels (undrilled) and front
brakes from a donor Riley 1.5, and a rack and
pinion from a Morris Minor. Initially, they were
OPPOSITE: The June 1960
Small Torque magazine cover,
Table of Contents and an
article about Bill Kitching
and Jeff Crawford and the
creation of their cars. (BEMC
Archive Collection)
BELOW: Bill Kitching and Jeff
Crawford, the Sadler-Vortex
builders featured in the June
1960 issue of Small Torque.
(Paul H. Gulde Collection)
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