That old chestnut. Seagull or Marston? - OP597
Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2023 2:24 pm
The closest I thought I'd ever come to owning a Marston was when a beautifully restored SD came up for sale on Ebay. I imported this from UK to NZ.
Like most highs in life the law of diminishing returns applies.
Coincidentally the opportunity to own a Marston came up recently in the form of an OP - OP597. Knowing these opportunities don't come up often, (especially in this part
of the world), I decided to jump at the chance of owning it and I hope to take delivery of it very shortly.
After doing a bit digging and reading through posts on this forum, I soon realized an OP is often classified as a 'transitional' engine. That is neither a Seagull not a Marston but a bit of both.
A bit more digging seems to suggest the earlier OP's are more towards the Marston end and later OP's more toward the British Seagull end of the spectrum. Part of the justification being that the earlier OPs branded on the tank as Seagull Marston and the later OPs branded as British Seagull.
Again from my best guess from ploughing through the literature I'm guessing around a 1938 / 1939 model OP (based on series starting at 100 and being able to manufacture roughly 200 models per year). Which would make it a British Seagull decal on the tank.
?
Question.
Is it a Marston? Is it a Marston Seagull, or a British Seagull? What's the closest I can get away with in terms of being able to have it described as a Marston? Would it have been made in Sunbeam factory, or Wolverhampton or Poole? What year could it?
I note a couple of observations which seem to be reiterated by those in the know.
1) It qualifies but be able to go on the Marston register.
2) Marston or not, it's an early rare engine which was designed by Marston.
TIA to Charles L and other like minded clones of him.
P.S I'd like to get my SD, FV and FVP on registers also if I can.
[
Like most highs in life the law of diminishing returns applies.
Coincidentally the opportunity to own a Marston came up recently in the form of an OP - OP597. Knowing these opportunities don't come up often, (especially in this part
of the world), I decided to jump at the chance of owning it and I hope to take delivery of it very shortly.
After doing a bit digging and reading through posts on this forum, I soon realized an OP is often classified as a 'transitional' engine. That is neither a Seagull not a Marston but a bit of both.
A bit more digging seems to suggest the earlier OP's are more towards the Marston end and later OP's more toward the British Seagull end of the spectrum. Part of the justification being that the earlier OPs branded on the tank as Seagull Marston and the later OPs branded as British Seagull.
Again from my best guess from ploughing through the literature I'm guessing around a 1938 / 1939 model OP (based on series starting at 100 and being able to manufacture roughly 200 models per year). Which would make it a British Seagull decal on the tank.
?
Question.
Is it a Marston? Is it a Marston Seagull, or a British Seagull? What's the closest I can get away with in terms of being able to have it described as a Marston? Would it have been made in Sunbeam factory, or Wolverhampton or Poole? What year could it?
I note a couple of observations which seem to be reiterated by those in the know.
1) It qualifies but be able to go on the Marston register.
2) Marston or not, it's an early rare engine which was designed by Marston.
TIA to Charles L and other like minded clones of him.
P.S I'd like to get my SD, FV and FVP on registers also if I can.
[