15 replies to this topic

[a_tifoosi]

Lately I have read different books —from memory: "Delage Records & Grand Prix" by Daniel Cabart and Sébastien Faurès Fustel de Coulanges, "Ballot" by Daniel Cabart and Gautam Sen or "Pure Henry" by George F. Wingard— that mention, among other sources, René Thomas' autobiography. As I understand, this is an unpublished manuscript.

 

Does anyone have information about the extent, interest, etc. of this text?

[Steve L]

I understand the manuscript (or at least a copy) is owned by one of the authors of the books you mention, although there are no plans to publish it or write a book/autobiography of Thomas (a suggestion which I have made!)

[robert dick]

In 1970 and '71 Paul Yvelin (apprenticeship at Delage in thse 1930s, after-sales manager at Peugeot in the 60s) published privately ("hors commerce") two booklets, a first one a compilation of Peugeot successes titled "50 Ans de Compétitions Automobiles", and a second one titled "Delage, Levallois-Courbevoie, Notes et Souvenirs".

In particular the Delage booklet was based on the memories of René Thomas. 

 

Then, in a second step, Borgeson's Automobile Quarterly stories of the Peugeot twin-cam head ("The Charlatan Mystery", vol. XI, no.3, 1973) and of Delage (vol. XIV, no. 2, 1976) were based on the Yvelin/Thomas memories.

 

As far as I know, following Yvelin's death in 1989, the René Thomas manuscript (= a batch of letters sent to Yvelin) was taken over by Les Amis de Delage and is preserved in their archives.

 

[marksixman]

In 1967 my late Father accompanied his friend Aubrey Forshaw to the Le Mans 24hr, with Aubrey's 3-litre Sunbeam. They stopped overnight at the museum at Cleres and were welcomed by host Jacky Pichon. He introduced them to Robert Laly, a local who had been riding mechanic to René Thomas at indy in 1914. 

 

He was full of stories, of course, and even produced a postcard signed by him and Thomas of the Indy win - long since gone to auction to cover my late Mother's care costs.

 

Can't say I have anything else to offer, but nice to see this discussed.

Edited by marksixman, 27 February 2025 - 10:04.

[a_tifoosi]

Great, many thanks!

 

 

In 1970 and '71 Paul Yvelin (apprenticeship at Delage in thse 1930s, after-sales manager at Peugeot in the 60s) published privately ("hors commerce") two booklets, a first one a compilation of Peugeot successes titled "50 Ans de Compétitions Automobiles", and a second one titled "Delage, Levallois-Courbevoie, Notes et Souvenirs".

In particular the Delage booklet was based on the memories of René Thomas. 

 

I don't have the book in front of me, but from memory I'd say that "50 Ans de Compétitions Automobiles" is just a list of results accompanied by pictures —what I want to say is that there's no body text. I didn't know "Delage, Levallois-Courbevoie, Notes et Souvenirs", but from the few pictures I can easily find in Google, apparently it follows a similar approach. How are the memories of René Thomas integrated in the book(let)? Thanks!

[robert dick]

The content of the René Thomas memories were used by Borgeson in Automobile Quarterly for his stories about the early Peugeots, Ballot and Delage.

 

Yvelin's Delage booklet was much more than just a compilation of race results. It turned into Jacques Rousseau's "Les Automobiles Delage", published in 1978.

A few pages with memories of Robert Laly (mechanic for Barriaux, Chassagne or Thomas, later Ariès driver) were published in the French magazine "L'Automobile" (strictly "L'Automobile - Sports Mécaniques") in the 1960s.
 

[GMiranda]

I wonder if he mentions Albert Guyot's demise in any way

[robert dick]

Robert Laly and René Thomas in 1966, at Pichon's musée automobile, Clères:

 

 

Edited by robert dick, 27 February 2025 - 07:54.

[a_tifoosi]

George F. Wingard in 'Pure Henry', p. 70:

 

When I was restoring the Delage La Torpille formerly owned by Nigel Arnold-Forster, I asked him if he knew much about René Thomas, and he said he knew his widow. He sent me part of the Thomas autobiography.

 

I was so fascinated with it that I asked him if he'd had it translated. He replied that he had not, and would leave the translation up to me. I asked him if I could have the rest of the autobiography, and he declined, explaining that René hadn't wanted it published. Nigel was honoring his request, since René didn't want folks to know how badly he was treated by some major auto people of the day. He went on to ask that I not share with anyone what I had obtained from the section on La Torpille, except for the explanations of the events. Then, a few years ago I received an almost complete version of the autobiography, which was also in French. Though I would have liked to publish it, I instead chose to honor René Thomas' wishes. Now I see that the recent magnum opus on Ballot (Daniel Cabart and Gautam Sen; Dalton Watson, 2019) has published freely from Thomas' autobiography; so, I think it's time to give René Thomas his due by dedicating this book to him (...)

 

Unfortunately I have the Ballot book (and the Delage ones by Cabart et al) far away from home, so to check to what extent was Thomas' autobiography 'disclosed'.

Edited by a_tifoosi, 01 March 2025 - 12:51.

[robert dick]

The "French team" arriving at Indy in 1914,

Chassagne with bowler, then Boillot, Goux, Bradley, Guyot, Thomas, Christiaens, and Duray sitting in the foreground

(Indianapolis Motor Speedway collection):

 

 

[Sterzo]

A great picture, and rare to see so many personalities from that time. Apologies for being the dim one at the back of the class, but would it be possible to associate the names with the numbers below please?

 

[Collombin]

Number 3 looks like Pop Myers.

[robert dick]

1 = Jean Chassagne

2 = Georges Boillot

3 = Pop Myers

4 = Jules Goux

5 = William Bradley

6 = Albert Guyot

7 = Marc Dills = mechanic for Christiaens

8 = Arthur Duray

9 = René Thomas

10 = Henry Matthys = mechanic for Duray

11 = Joseph Christiaens

 

fourth from left = Percy Mitchell = mechanic for Chassagne

[bradbury west]

Thanks, Robert

Roger Lund

[Sterzo]

That was quick, Robert, thank you very much!

[robert dick]

"Une autobiographie jamais publiée de M. René Thomas",

from Pionniers: Revue Aéronautique Trimestrielle des Vieilles Tiges,

July 1995:

https://gallica.bnf....40314b/f56.item

 

"Souvenirs d'un Précurseur", October 1995:

https://gallica.bnf....40315q/f12.item

...

https://gallica.bnf....40315q/f17.item