New cars

Ellis Hubbard

Lifetime Supporter
RIP Charles F. Seabrook II. Charlie is in the Drag Racing Hall of Fame and all of his cars have lots of horse power. Charlie was a friend and I purchased three (3) cars from his estate. The GT40 is chassis GT40P1137 and has 750hp. The Superformance PB Coupe is chassis 0067 and has 701hp. Last is the Zagato designed Superformance Perana Z One with a Z06 Corvette motor with 701hp. Only seven (7) of the Perana's are in the USA.
 

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Brian Kissel

Staff member
Admin
Lifetime Supporter
Well done Ellis. Looks like a great addition to your already fantastic collection of cars.

Regards Brian
 
I am so sorry to hear of Charlie passing. He was truly a great car guy who enjoyed his toys and passed his enthusiasm on to his boys. Charlie purchased his white with blue stripes GTD40 about the same time that I finished mine. I spent some time with Val, who built and did some modifications to the GTD. I especially remember Charlies need to have a trailer hitch mounted to the rear of the GTD. That way he would have plenty of room to carry the necessities required for him to talk his wife into a vacation trip to Florida. A great story told to me by Val. If the story is true it sure shows you how serious Charlie was about his favorite cars. He will be missed and I for one will miss his yearly Christmas card.
 

Ron McCall

Supporter
RIP Charlie. He was an amazingly kind and generous person. I met him about 10 yrs ago . I was building my RCR GT40 and he allowed me to come to his home and spend a few hours looking at every aspect of his MkIV GT40 so that I could get an idea of exactly how a GT40 should be built. When I finished my car Charlie and I ran a few times at Pocono Raceway and had a great time. His GT40 was an absolute rocket!! I got the idea of building my car the way I did from watching Charlie humiliate F40s and even the occasional 333SP around the track .

He will be missed.

Ron
 
What an amazing man. I didn't know him or know of him, but his record speaks for itself as a businessman.

BRIDGETON, N.J., Oct. 20—Charles F. Seabrook, whose early experiments with freez*ing fresh vegetables helped to change the eating habits of the nation, died today at his home in nearby Upper Deerfield. His age was 83.

Surviving are his widow, the former Norma Dale Ivins, whom he married in 1905; a daughter, Mrs. Robert Sidur of Maple*wood; 3 sons, Belford, C. Court*ney and John; 14 grandchildren than a seasonal livelihood.

An Agricultural Expert

Charles Franklin Seabrook was a farmer with a dream. When he took over his family's 60 — acre farm near Bridgeton, N.J., he decided to try to expand its produce, over*come its problems and make it a year‐round business, rather thean a seasonal livelihood.

The dream began in 1930, when Mr. Seabrook and his three sons began experimenting with quick‐freezing techniques for fresh vegetables. The begin*ning was crude. They collected some good‐looking lima beans grown on the farm and packed them into a wooden box with dried ice.

Some time later, Mr. Seabrook returned to the box, took out the lima beans and cooked them. They tasted better than he had expected. He was over whelmed at the success of the quick‐freezing techniques, and he realized the marketing pos*sibilities immediately.

Working with Clarence Birdseye, Mr. Seabrook con*tinued to study and experiment with the problem of packing frozen foods. By 1932, they be*gan marketing vegetables in consumer packs under the Birdseye label.

Mr. Seabrook was a farmer at heart as well as in his dreams. When he worked with his father, Albert P. Seabrook, on the family farm in 1912, he took charge of the planting and harvesting. His father handled the sales. By 1920, their farm had increased to 2,000 acres and they were shipping vegetables to commercial mar*kets by the carload.

Put In Artesian Wells

Because of his concern with what his farm looked like and produced, Mr. Seabrook pi*oneered in the development of overhead irrigation. He in*stalled artesian wells to feed the miles of overhead pipe with the water necessary for a por*table irrigation system.

He developed assembly‐line techniques for food processing and growing and was an early advocate of airplane spraying of crops. In addition, he devised a system of floodlights so that crops could be harvested at night.

At its peak, Seabrook Farms comprised 19,000 acres directly owned and crops from 35,000

Mr. Seabrook envisioned the large acreage as a site where displaced persons from other countries could thrive.

During World War II, he brought 2,000 Japanese who had been evacuated from the West Coast to his farmland. Later, he arranged for 3,000 refugees from Europe, primarily from the Baltic states, to come to this country and live on his farm*land.

Yet, there was a period when Mr. Seabrook was discouraged by farming. When the fresh vegetable market grew shaky in 1924, he sold the farm and set up the Seabrook Interna*tional Engineering Corporation, to construct highways.

Built Roads in Russia

For the next five years, Mr. Seabrook built highways in 11 Eastern states and in parts of the Soviet Union. He also built docks at Murmansk on the White Sea, paved streets in Paris and Berlin and surveyed the route of the Volga‐Don canal.

But in 1929 he returned to Bridgeton and bought back the farm from the people to whom he had sold it. During this period he and his three sons concentrated on canning food. Later, however, they paid little attention to anything that could not be quick‐frozen or de*hydrated. Their produce was sold under 150 different labels before they added their own “Seabrook Farms” in 1943.

In 1950, to dramatize his company's importance in the South Jersey financial picture, Mr. Seabrook paid 3,200 em*ployes their wages in 150,000 silver dollars. Merchants in the area keyed sales promotions to “hard money” only, and Mr. Seabrook made his point.

Later, the company ran into hard times and Mr. Seabrook turned over its management to his son, John. Meanwhile, his stock was placed in a voting trust. This led to a bitter family dispute, which was patched up before court action was neces*sary.

In 1959, Seabrook Farms was sold to Seeman Brothers, but Mr. Seabrook retained owner*ship of the farm land.
 

Brian Kissel

Staff member
Admin
Lifetime Supporter
RIP Mr. Seabrook. I had never met the gentleman myself. But, the write up from Lee, is confusing at first. If I read that correctly, that is information about his father. I see Ellis wrote "Charles F. Seabrook II". I see that there was a Charles F. Seabrook II that had a associate's degree in automotive engineering from General Motors Institute, that passed away August 25, 2016. Here is a little of his background.

His true passion in life was cars: purchasing them, working on them, but mostly racing them. Charlie had a long and storied career as a drag racer on the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Circuit. He was always viewed as an unorthodox racer who would pursue any avenue for engine power and speed. He set many records at drag strips on the East Coast in the 1950s and 1960s. In its prime, his roadster Jersey Jimmy secured wins at the Indy Nationals in 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966 and 1969. Charlie enjoyed collecting vintage exotic cars from Lotuses to DeTomasos to Lamborghinis and relished any chance to show them off. Well into his "later years" he enjoyed racing his vintage GT40 on weekends. When not cheering on and serving as pit crew for his sons at the New Jersey Motorsports Park, he continued to enjoy tinkering on his cars and watching Formula One races. He has been honored at multiple "Lifetime Achievement" ceremonies across the eastern coast, and was recently inducted into the NHRA Hall of Fame. He never discarded an auto part or tire or tool, regardless of its utility.

It is with deep regrets, that I never met him. He sounds like my kind of guy.

R. I. P. Charlie
 

Rick Muck- Mark IV

GT40s Sponsor
Supporter
What an amazing man. I didn't know him or know of him, but his record speaks for itself as a businessman.

BRIDGETON, N.J., Oct. 20—Charles F. Seabrook, whose early experiments with freez*ing fresh vegetables helped to change the eating habits of the nation, died today at his home in nearby Upper Deerfield. His age was 83.

Surviving are his widow, the former Norma Dale Ivins, whom he married in 1905; a daughter, Mrs. Robert Sidur of Maple*wood; 3 sons, Belford, C. Court*ney and John; 14 grandchildren than a seasonal livelihood.

An Agricultural Expert

Charles Franklin Seabrook was a farmer with a dream. When he took over his family's 60 — acre farm near Bridgeton, N.J., he decided to try to expand its produce, over*come its problems and make it a year‐round business, rather thean a seasonal livelihood.

The dream began in 1930, when Mr. Seabrook and his three sons began experimenting with quick‐freezing techniques for fresh vegetables. The begin*ning was crude. They collected some good‐looking lima beans grown on the farm and packed them into a wooden box with dried ice.

Some time later, Mr. Seabrook returned to the box, took out the lima beans and cooked them. They tasted better than he had expected. He was over whelmed at the success of the quick‐freezing techniques, and he realized the marketing pos*sibilities immediately.

Working with Clarence Birdseye, Mr. Seabrook con*tinued to study and experiment with the problem of packing frozen foods. By 1932, they be*gan marketing vegetables in consumer packs under the Birdseye label.

Mr. Seabrook was a farmer at heart as well as in his dreams. When he worked with his father, Albert P. Seabrook, on the family farm in 1912, he took charge of the planting and harvesting. His father handled the sales. By 1920, their farm had increased to 2,000 acres and they were shipping vegetables to commercial mar*kets by the carload.

Put In Artesian Wells

Because of his concern with what his farm looked like and produced, Mr. Seabrook pi*oneered in the development of overhead irrigation. He in*stalled artesian wells to feed the miles of overhead pipe with the water necessary for a por*table irrigation system.

He developed assembly‐line techniques for food processing and growing and was an early advocate of airplane spraying of crops. In addition, he devised a system of floodlights so that crops could be harvested at night.

At its peak, Seabrook Farms comprised 19,000 acres directly owned and crops from 35,000

Mr. Seabrook envisioned the large acreage as a site where displaced persons from other countries could thrive.

During World War II, he brought 2,000 Japanese who had been evacuated from the West Coast to his farmland. Later, he arranged for 3,000 refugees from Europe, primarily from the Baltic states, to come to this country and live on his farm*land.

Yet, there was a period when Mr. Seabrook was discouraged by farming. When the fresh vegetable market grew shaky in 1924, he sold the farm and set up the Seabrook Interna*tional Engineering Corporation, to construct highways.

Built Roads in Russia

For the next five years, Mr. Seabrook built highways in 11 Eastern states and in parts of the Soviet Union. He also built docks at Murmansk on the White Sea, paved streets in Paris and Berlin and surveyed the route of the Volga‐Don canal.

But in 1929 he returned to Bridgeton and bought back the farm from the people to whom he had sold it. During this period he and his three sons concentrated on canning food. Later, however, they paid little attention to anything that could not be quick‐frozen or de*hydrated. Their produce was sold under 150 different labels before they added their own “Seabrook Farms” in 1943.

In 1950, to dramatize his company's importance in the South Jersey financial picture, Mr. Seabrook paid 3,200 em*ployes their wages in 150,000 silver dollars. Merchants in the area keyed sales promotions to “hard money” only, and Mr. Seabrook made his point.

Later, the company ran into hard times and Mr. Seabrook turned over its management to his son, John. Meanwhile, his stock was placed in a voting trust. This led to a bitter family dispute, which was patched up before court action was neces*sary.

In 1959, Seabrook Farms was sold to Seeman Brothers, but Mr. Seabrook retained owner*ship of the farm land.

He was 83 but was married in 1905? He worked on the farm in 1912? Methinks there is some error here or else he was well over 100 YO!
 
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