Seaman/Silver Arrows Documentary

[mgmark]

Anyone watch the brilliant documentary on Richard Seaman last night on Channel 4?   Wonderful archive footage (much of it new to me) of the Mercedes and Auto Union cars,  factories and races of the mid-late 30s in Europe and UK.   Real hero material stuff !    

[Mr. Rick]

Saw the first few mins and taped the rest - looking forward to that when I get a few mins to myself late one night!

 

[pretzel]

Yes.

The footage of the British GP at Donington was truly amazing, as was the stuff from Avus.

I knew a little about Seaman before this but the words of a couple of his contemporaries and other people who actually knew him certainly brought the man to life. He was clearly very talented too.

It struck me he was a bit of a s**t though to have been SO single minded in wanting to prove his worth at the expense of family, and to have raced (effectively) for the Third Reich in times of extreme political turmoil and the threat of war.

The footage of him accepting a trophy from Hitler was uncomfortable viewing - so how was it for him?

Notwithstanding all that it's a shame so much of his career is not more widely documented.

[Steve Pyro]

I watched the Spitfire Ace programme after it.  It gave me the urge to save up vast sums of money and join the waiting list for a flight in the twin seater Spitfire - I've already got the leather helmet !

[Mr. Rick]

Yeah, left the tape running for that one too - gonna be a cracking bloke night when I get to sit down with a glass or two of Scotland's finest and watch the lot!

 

[Mr. Rick]

And interestingly, just noticed that my spam filter deletes the reply notifications on this thread, presumably due to Mr. Seaman's name!!!

[BigH]

- I've already got the leather helmet !

Yes, it's a problem this time of year.
Prevention is obviously the best thing, nice pants and some good quality trousers.
If it's too late, and it sounds like a bad case to me, then Nivia followed by furniture polish should do the trick.
H

[hgb]

There is a good article about Dick Seaman at http://8w.forix.com/seaman.html. Shocking to hear that he died at Spa-Francorchamps in 1939.  

[Steve Pyro]

- I've already got the leather helmet !

Yes, it's a problem this time of year.
Prevention is obviously the best thing, nice pants and some good quality trousers.
If it's too late, and it sounds like a bad case to me, then Nivia followed by furniture polish should do the trick.
H

It must be the cold weather H.  Thermal long johns and duct tape may help I reckon.

[gibberish]

Yes.

The footage of the British GP at Donington was truly amazing, as was the stuff from Avus.

I knew a little about Seaman before this but the words of a couple of his contemporaries and other people who actually knew him certainly brought the man to life. He was clearly very talented too.

It struck me he was a bit of a s**t though to have been SO single minded in wanting to prove his worth at the expense of family, and to have raced (effectively) for the Third Reich in times of extreme political turmoil and the threat of war.

The footage of him accepting a trophy from Hitler was uncomfortable viewing - so how was it for him?

Notwithstanding all that it's a shame so much of his career is not more widely documented.

Pretty much agree with all of that Pretzel.  What about the wreath that Hitler sent to his funeral............VERY uncomfortable to watch

[Abs]

Watched both the Seaman doc and the Spitfire Ace last night, from what I remember there is going to be a second part to the Spitfire Ace coming up.

[mgmark]

going to be a second part to the Spitfire Ace coming up

Indeed - next week I presume, when the lucky ba***rds young chaps get to fly more, and one of them gets 9 hours throwing a real Sptifire around the skies pretending to be chased by Messerschmitts  

so much of his career is not more widely documented

- I seem to remember seeing somewhere before Christmas that a book was about to be published

[gibberish]

Watched both the Seaman doc and the Spitfire Ace last night, from what I remember there is going to be a second part to the Spitfire Ace coming up.

I think it's a four part series

[mgmark]

I seem to remember seeing somewhere before Christmas that a book was about to be published

Here it is:

Shooting Star: the Life of Richard Seaman - Nixon, Chris

"The story of Richard Seaman, the greatest British racing driver of the 1930s. It is an ultimately tragic tale of a handsome and gifted young man whose single-minded ambition propelled him to the very top of his profession."

Seems to be available for about £20

[Fax]

There have been a couple of good Seaman books published and the Chris Nixon book should be terrific, he's the guy who did "Mon Ami Mate".  A few years ago there was a nice article about Richard Seaman in Car magazine, had a pretty ghastly photo of his burning Merc wrapped around a tree at Spa.  Looks like his accident happened right about where the pits are located now, on the approach to the La Source hairpin.
Personally I've always been more intrigued by Bernd Rosemeyer, the forerunner of Rindt, Peterson & Gilles Villeneuve.
John