Just looking at Michael Turner's print of Richard Seaman in the Delage at Donington in 1936. Is that car still around? If so, where?
Vince Howlett, Victoria, B.C., Canada
Richard Seaman Delage
Started by
raceannouncer2003
, Dec 06 2005 07:41
13 replies to this topic
#3
Doug Nye
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Posted 06 December 2005 - 13:53
Present owner of what remains of 'The Seaman Delage' is Aba Kogan.
I saw the rolling chassis a couple of weeks ago at Auto Restorations' workshops in Christchurch, New Zealand. The assembly was so bright and shiny it looked as if it had been made brand-new the week before, but this is typical of Auto Restorations' concours mindset.
Nice and capable people though, and after all they only do what a client requests.
DCN
I saw the rolling chassis a couple of weeks ago at Auto Restorations' workshops in Christchurch, New Zealand. The assembly was so bright and shiny it looked as if it had been made brand-new the week before, but this is typical of Auto Restorations' concours mindset.
Nice and capable people though, and after all they only do what a client requests.
DCN
#4
simonlewisbooks
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Posted 07 December 2005 - 13:07
Isn't this the car that was almost burnt to a crisp in the Rob Walker workshop fire in 1968?
Simon Lewis
Simon Lewis
#5
David Birchall
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Posted 07 December 2005 - 16:53
That's a bit of irony-Vince (raceannouncer2003) is in Victoria and Aba Kogan was in Vancouver for many years. Made his money on Pachinko machines I believe. When he put his house up for sale in Vancouver he had several serious historic cars in the basement garage; a Japanese guy came over, saw the house, and bought the lot, even though the cars were not for sale!
#6
Doug Nye
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Posted 07 December 2005 - 23:25
Originally posted by simonlewisbooks
Isn't this the car that was almost burnt to a crisp in the Rob Walker workshop fire in 1968?
Simon Lewis
It is. I went to see the damage at Rob's place next day, and I saw the Delage chassis. It was bent into a deep-vee shape by a heavy ceiling girder which had crashed down across it laterally amidships - each end being propped up on the surviving axles and the steel brake drum liners and mechanism, the alloy parts having melted. The body was completely burned off it and every alloy casting was in one hell of a state with harder steel components protruding from the melt. I have some photos of it somewhere, but I haven't happened upon them for years. Thankfully, 'The Seaman Delage' had not been very original in any case, but this was still a sight which made some pretty strong men weep...
DCN
#7
Gary C
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Posted 07 December 2005 - 23:33
so where has it been in the intervening years?
#8
David McKinney
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Posted 08 December 2005 - 06:05
It had been rebuilt for Walker by 1980, and was on display at Donington for some time. Passed into Serge Pozzoli’s collection in France, and acquired after his death by Kogan about ten years ago
Not to be confused with Walker’s ERA-Delage, which has been raced fairly regularly since 1950, and still appears occasionally in historic races
Not to be confused with Walker’s ERA-Delage, which has been raced fairly regularly since 1950, and still appears occasionally in historic races
#9
Tom Glowacki
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Posted 09 December 2005 - 02:29
Rob Walker did an article about the reconstruction of this car after the fire for Road & Track. If anyone is interested, I could dig it up.
#10
raceannouncer2003
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Posted 09 December 2005 - 05:38
Thanks, guys...fascinating stuff!
My dad saw Delages race at Brooklands before he came to Canada in 1930. Would this car have been one of them? He always raved about them!
My wife and I will be going to New Zealand and Australia in January...hmmm, let's see, add Auto Restorations to the list...what else...Tempero?...Teretonga, Invercargill?...check out Albert Park?...try to find Brian Wilson's "other" Brabham BT5 that used to race at Westwood?...Frank Gardner at Holden Driving Centre?...
And Aba Kogan...he used to own Ferrari 250TR 0704TR that Neil Twyman had at this year's Goodwood Festival...see more on this car in Martin Rudow's book, Long Straights and Hairpin Turns http://www.rspubs.com
My dad saw Delages race at Brooklands before he came to Canada in 1930. Would this car have been one of them? He always raved about them!
My wife and I will be going to New Zealand and Australia in January...hmmm, let's see, add Auto Restorations to the list...what else...Tempero?...Teretonga, Invercargill?...check out Albert Park?...try to find Brian Wilson's "other" Brabham BT5 that used to race at Westwood?...Frank Gardner at Holden Driving Centre?...
And Aba Kogan...he used to own Ferrari 250TR 0704TR that Neil Twyman had at this year's Goodwood Festival...see more on this car in Martin Rudow's book, Long Straights and Hairpin Turns http://www.rspubs.com
#11
David McKinney
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Posted 09 December 2005 - 06:33
No. Malcolm Campbell raced a pair of cars in 1928. He raced one of them again in 1929 when the other was run by W B Scott and his wife, but neither of these went to either Seaman or WalkerOriginally posted by raceannouncer2003
My dad saw Delages race at Brooklands before he came to Canada in 1930. Would this car have been one of them? He always raved about them!
#12
Ray Bell
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Posted 09 December 2005 - 09:15
Keep in touch, raceannouncer...
See if we can get together somewhere when you get here.
See if we can get together somewhere when you get here.
#13
simonlewisbooks
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Posted 09 December 2005 - 10:07
Originally posted by David McKinney
No. Malcolm Campbell raced a pair of cars in 1928. He raced one of them again in 1929 when the other was run by W B Scott and his wife, but neither of these went to either Seaman or Walker
Earl Howe also had a pair of these exotic cars around the same time, famously writing one off against a tree and coming out with the comment "never mind I have another at home"...
Was this the Seaman car? The history of each Delage chassis was the subject of a chapter in the book CASE HISTORY published in the 1950s but I don't have one in stock the check it out at the moment.
Bira also ran one Delage in 1937 and I believe had some replica chassis built up , one of which , I think, was the ERA-Delage that Walker also owned and Tony Rolt and Eric Thompson campaigned in the early 50s(which of course would mean that with an ERA engine, there wasn't much genuine Delage left even in 1950...)?
Simon Lewis
Transport Books
#14
GIGLEUX
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Posted 09 December 2005 - 12:19
Case History is a fairly good book. About the Delages, the races account is good, about the chassis story it is, alas, not accurate: only five chassis insted of six and chassis n°3 and 5 analysis are false. Nevertheless, when you think it was writen in 1958, you can consider that Norman Smith was a precursor!
