Born on 4 February 1913 to wealthy parents, Seaman fell in love with cars as a schoolboy. He would spend endless hours drawing pictures of racecars including a Seaman Special. As soon as he was old enough to get a license his parents bought him a Riley sports car and later replaced it with a MG Magna. Seaman was enrolled in Cambridge at this time but his heart was in cars. He entered several local races with minimum success. In 1934 he returned from school and announced to his distressed parents that he would not be going back. Instead he was joining Whitney Straight and his racing team. He purchased Straight’s MG Magnette and set off for the continent making his debut in the GP de L’Albigeois where he promptly stalled on the grid. The next race was a Voiturette event, which preceded the Coppa Acerbo. On that difficult 36-km circuit he finished a commendable 3rd place. His first victory came in a support race leading up to the Swiss Grand Prix where he started from the ninth row of the grid to take the lead on the 11th of 14 laps. His victory was marred by the death of his teammate Hugh Hamilton.
Seaman was supported all the while by his reluctant mother who had taken over the families finances due to the ill-health suffered by his father. His father died on 3 February 1935 and for the rest of his life there would be battles with his mother, first over his racing and then over his marriage. Seaman meanwhile had purchased an ERA but found the Bourne outfit unable to support his car effectively. He decided that he needed to establish his own team. The most important person in this new team was Giulio Ramponi who used to work for Alfa Romeo and knew everything there was to know about a racecar. The effect was immediate and Seaman began a string of victories that brought him to the attention of the factory teams. For 1936 Ramponi recommended that Seaman purchase a 10 year old Delage from Earl Howe. Feeling that the car was obsolete he was incredulous at first but Ramponi saw in the car the potential to dominate the 1500 cc class. Howe was more than glad to sell the car and all the spare parts that he had. Ramponi went to see Monsieur Lory at Delage and was given plans and some new parts to bring the Delage up to date. The car was stripped and modified extensively. One of the strengths of the car in addition to its drivability was its fuel consumption, which allowed it fewer pitstops than the opposition.
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Seaman was supported all the while by his reluctant mother who had taken over the families finances due to the ill-health suffered by his father. His father died on 3 February 1935 and for the rest of his life there would be battles with his mother, first over his racing and then over his marriage. Seaman meanwhile had purchased an ERA but found the Bourne outfit unable to support his car effectively. He decided that he needed to establish his own team. The most important person in this new team was Giulio Ramponi who used to work for Alfa Romeo and knew everything there was to know about a racecar. The effect was immediate and Seaman began a string of victories that brought him to the attention of the factory teams. For 1936 Ramponi recommended that Seaman purchase a 10 year old Delage from Earl Howe. Feeling that the car was obsolete he was incredulous at first but Ramponi saw in the car the potential to dominate the 1500 cc class. Howe was more than glad to sell the car and all the spare parts that he had. Ramponi went to see Monsieur Lory at Delage and was given plans and some new parts to bring the Delage up to date. The car was stripped and modified extensively. One of the strengths of the car in addition to its drivability was its fuel consumption, which allowed it fewer pitstops than the opposition.
