15 replies to this topic

[Tuboscocca]

I just learned that Jacques Swaters passed away yesterday.

http://www.ferrarich...php?p=140121990

Regards Michael

[Gabrci]

That's a great loss, one of the greatest guardians of the Ferrari legacy, and of course a Grand Prix driver himself.

[AAA-Eagle]

Sad news.

Jacques Swaters was born on 30th October 1926 at Woluwe-St-Lambert, Brussels. A great enthusiast of motor sport, Swaters made his racing debut in the 1948 Spa 24 Hours in an MG shared with his friend Paul Frere. In 1950, he was one of the founders of Ecurie Belgique and initially handled a Veritas, but when Pilette was injured in the team's Talbot at the 1951 Dutch GP, Jacques stepped in to take his place. For 1952, the team bought a Ferrari 500, which was mainly raced by de Tornaco, but Swaters drove it in two Grands Prix the following year and also won the AVUS F2 race. For 1954, Jacques raced the Ferrari fitted with a 625 engine, but found greater success in sports car events with the team's recently acquired Jaguar C-Type, taking fourth at Le Mans and third in the Reims 12 Hours with Laurent. Swaters then concentrated on sports cars, taking the team's D-Type to third place at Le Mans with Claes in 1955, and finishing fourth in 1956 with the same car, partnered by Rousselle. By this time he was busy with the management of Ecurie Francorchamps, and his thriving Ferrari concession, and retired from racing after a final appearance in the Sarthe classic in 1957.

R.I.P. Jacques

[pilota]

Very sad. He was a real gentleman, and a legend. I went to see him a few years ago and he was most courteous.
My condolences to his family.
Nathan

[Doug Nye]

Always high on the good guy scale, Jacques was very kind to me on the occasions we met. I had a lot of respect for him - as did that fellow hard-nosed motor dealer-cum-racer, Enzo Ferrari.

Sincere condolences to his friends and relatives.

DCN

[Richard Jenkins]

A much under-rated driver and a proud custodian of the history of the sport, amongst many other attributes. He seemed to me to be a very dignified and friendly man. He will be much missed. RIP, Jacques.

[Nanni Dietrich]

Did not know. Sad news.

Incredibly, just this morning I was reading a 1965 issue of magazine Virage-Auto, looking at a picture of Jacques Swaters in the pits at Le Mans, cleaning the windscreen of the yellow Ferrari 250LM of Taf Gosselin-Pierre Dumay. The caption was "Le coup de chiffon du patron: J. Swaters et Gosselin".

[Bjorn Kjer]

Sad to hear . Just yesterday I was writing a peace on Ecurie Belge , Ecurie Belqique , Equipe National Belge , Ecurie Francorchamps and Garage Francorchamps on how they were or not were out of Jaques Swaters hands.

Edited by Bjørn Kjer, 13 December 2010 - 22:34.

[Doug Nye]

Take a look at jacquesswaters.com set up by his daughter Florence. His wartime story is particularly extraordinary. When he stood on the winner's podium after the 1953 Berlin GP, and tens of thousands of Germans heard the Belgian national anthem played in his honour, he must have been fit to burst...

DCN

Edited by Doug Nye, 11 December 2010 - 18:39.

[Graham Gauld]

Very sorry to hear about Jacques' passing. As Doug says he was a great character. A few years ago I was at Paul Ricard circuit for one of the historic Ferrari races and had with me a photo I took of one of his 1958 Testa Rossa's photographed on its trailer at Oulton Park that year. He smiled, pointed to the rough trailer and told me that he had bought the trailer immediately after the war which was, in fact, a German moveable searchlight that had been used during the war. Jacques explained that he took off the searchlight and what remained was used by the team for a few years afterwards.
When I was in Modena at the end of last year visiting the site of the new Enzo Ferrari Museum, which is being built on the site of the building and house in which Enzo Ferrari was brought up, I was told that Jacques had promised his huge archive to the museum which is due to be completed sometime towards the end of next year. It will be interesting to see what happens.
I have attached a photo of the trailer and one of the model for the new Enzo Ferrari Museum. It shows the original building on the left and the yellow roof of the additional section is meant to represent a hand holding the building but is finished like the hood of a Ferrari.





Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[EvDelft]

Rest in Peace, Jacques.

[philhitchings]

[raceannouncer2003]

a photo I took of one of his 1958 Testa Rossa's photographed on its trailer at Oulton Park that year.

Was this driven by de Changy? Was it 0736TR? If so, does John McCaw still have that?

Very sorry to hear about Jacques Swaters, and that I never got to meet him.

Vince H.

[Igor_E]

That's very sad news. One of the few surviving Old Guards of "Gladiatorial 50s".

Hopefully, he's chatting with Commendatore now and they remember days of old glory...

I never had a chance to meet him, but everywhere I read about him, people say that he was a real gentleman. And he was a great driver too.

I wrote to him back in July and sent few photos bo be autographed and he was very fast to respond in just a couple of weeks.

RIP Jacques.. My sincere condolences to family, friends and everyone for whom his name mattered and will matter a lot.

Here is very nice article, that mentions his passing:
Jacques Swaters, In Memoriam

Here are some photos that I received from him:

August 5, 1951 - driving his Talbot T26C #110006 at the Grand Prix D'Albi


1953 Swiss GP, Ferrari 500 F2, Ecurie Francorchamps


July 12, 1953 - Swaters driving his Ferrari 500F2 at the Grand Prix Berlin




1954 Formula One Swiss Grand Prix held at Bern on August 22, 1954


Jacques Swaters and Roger Laurent after finishing third at the 1954 12 hours Reims with a yellow Jaguar C-Type


Swaters in his Ferrari 750 Monza at the Grand Prix De Spa, Finished 2nd. May 8, 1955


1962 Tour de France at Spa-Francorchamps:
Ferrari 250 GTO #150 (Robert Darville - Gérard Langlois van Ophem) #150

Edited by Igor_E, 13 December 2010 - 14:59.

[wolf sun]

Sad news. RIP Jacques, legendary man of Belgian motorsport.

[Tim Murray]

This is a great photo. This must be the defining moment of this race when Alan Brown, leading in the Cooper-Bristol, crashed out of the race leaving Rodney Nuckey in the other Cooper-Bristol to harry Swaters until suspension problems dropped him down the field.

RIP Jacques.