Henry E. Payne III (1935 – 2008)

Vintage racing lost one of its most avid and dedicated participants on Friday June 27, Henry E. Payne III. After fighting a rare blood disease for most of his adult life it finally took his life; he died peacefully at home. Henry surprised the experts at Duke University and became their poster boy for a very rare stem cell transplant operation. He was only the fourth person to have the operation and the only one to survive more than a few months. He fought hard for almost three years after the operation and making the next race was a major motivation for him. Despite his weakness he could still stay within a few seconds of his best time at every track, including the test track he built at his Florida plant.

Henry started his racing in SCCA in 1959 and raced an AC Bristol and Lotus XV against the likes of Mark Donohue, Roger Penske and Chuck Stoddard. When SVRA had its earliest beginnings at Sebring in the mid ’70s, Henry had found a home for his collection of plastic Porsches and he raced exclusively with SVRA every year until last year. He had one of each – 904, 906, 907, 908, 910, and 917. His son, Henry IV who is a political cartoonist for the Detroit News, began vintage racing with him in the 906 in the early ’90s. Henry treasured the experience of racing with his son.