ABOUT STAN POBJOY
Stan Pobjoy was born in the country town of Temora, NSW Australia in 1949. In the late 1950's, Stan's family moved to Kogarah, South Sydney before finally settling in Lalor Park, Western Sydney. Stan’s father was a mechanic and encouraged Stan’s fascination with engines. This led to experimentation with model airplanes and motorbikes at an early age. Stan finished high school and secured a highly sought after apprenticeship at Hawker de Havilland (HdH) aircraft factory in Lidcombe, NSW. HdH were contracted at the time by both Civil Aviation and the Australian Department of Defense to build and overhaul aircraft engines. After completing an apprenticeship as a Fitter, Machinist, Toolmaker and Welder, Stan continued on with HdH working his way through various sections (including Sub-assembly of T53 Jet engines) over a period of 18 years.
In the early 1970's, Stan set out to build a drag bike that could break the Australian Motorcycle Speed Record. Research led Stan to select the VW flat four engine for the project. Stan determined that the VW engine could supply the power to weight ratio required and could cope with significant modification. This was the beginning of Stan’s long term affinity with the flat four VW engine. Between 1974 and 1975 Stan’s record breaking performance and tyre smoking runs made him famous in the Australian drag racing scene. Stan's 1600cc Supercharged VW drag bike (Top Bike) became the first Australian motorcycle to exceed 150mph (156.75mph) and first to complete a 9 second pass (9.95sec) in the ¼ mile. The VW bike went on to record a best time of 9.38sec which was just short of the world record at the time. After the VW bike was contentiously speed restricted by ANDRA to 160mph for being powered by a "car" engine, Stan replicated his success by building a 1100cc Supercharged Suzuki drag bike (A/CB) that ran in Top Bike competition. The Suzuki was only a fraction off the world ¼ mile speed record in 1984 at 159.5mph (without nitro).
In the early 1980's, Stan registered the business name “Stan Pobjoy’s Racing Engineering” and opened his own performance workshop in Marayong, NSW. Three years later, Castlereagh International Dragway closed and after two years of continuous interstate racing, Stan sold the Suzuki Drag Bike and focused his energy on developing a performance engine for his 1970 VW beetle.
Stan’s famous maroon VW street beetle with its 1916cc engine shocked many with its outstanding performance at the oiled dirt, super sprints and Oran Park’s 1,000ft drags. Stan continued to experiment with various combinations of bore, stroke, cam etc. to get the best from the flat four VW engine. The "Base 1916cc" and the high performance "1916cc on Steroids” proved to be the most successful packages for customers.
An invitation to race the beetle at Dapto Hillclimb in 1990 led Stan into a new type of motorsport. Stan drove his beetle to every hillclimb venue and blitzed the Group 2E Club Car (under 2ltr) class winning back to back Championships titles in 1991 and 1992.
In the early 1990's, Stan moved his business to a larger premises in Arndell Park, NSW (near Sydney Motorsport Park) and formed a team of Pobjoy powered hillclimb cars that dominated the Group 2E Club Car (under 2ltr) class. In 1993, Stan took on a new challenge by acquiring a Formula 2 open wheeler and customising it to accommodate his signature 1916cc engine. Stan entered the Formula Libre (under 2ltr) class and won 6 x NSW and 2 x Australian Hillclimb Championship titles while Greg Ward and John Spinks continued to lead the Group 2E Club Car class with Pobjoy Powered "1916cc on Steroids" engines. In the mid 1990’s, Craig Torrens joined Team Pobjoy in Group 2E Club Car (under 2ltr) class with his 1976 Beetle and a Pobjoy "1916cc Works" engine which dominated the class with 7 x NSW and 6 x Australian Hillclimb Championship titles.
In the late 1990's, Stan received a number of requests to build performance VW engines for both light aircraft and trike applications. Stan willingly developed new packages for these emerging markets with great success.
In 1999, Stan Pobjoy moved to Nana Glen and relocated his workshop to Coffs Harbour. In 2004, Stan set up a workshop on his home property in Nana Glen and still works there to this day. Stan continues to compete at hillclimb events in Grafton and Mount Cotton.
Over the many years of Stan’s involvement with VW engines, Stan has gained a reputation for outstanding performance and reliability. Stan personally plans and builds each motor to ensure that it is accurately machined, perfectly built and correctly tuned.
Stan is the right person to speak to about performance VW engines for any application, be it racing, aircraft, streetcar or trikes.
Contact Stan Pobjoy today to discuss your next project.