Hundreds of Beaulieu Spring Autojumble event-goers crowded to watch the National Motor Museum Trust’s 1950 BRM V16 roar into life with the first start-up of its newly restored engine.
Chief Engineer and National Motor Museum Manager Doug Hill took to the wheel of the iconic British Formula One racing car for the octane-fuelled spectacle.
In an emotional reunion with the BRM, 77-year-old visitor Tony Draper travelled from his home in Yorkshire to see it for the first time since childhood. His father worked on the car as an engineer for BRM and Tony treasures a picture of himself taken with the BRM nearly 70 years ago.
As many as 15,132 visitors and 2,905 exhibitors enjoyed the scorching sunshine across the Spring Autojumble weekend on May 19th and 20th.
MoggyFest and Friends was a crowd-pleaser brought together by the Dorset Branch of the Morris Minor Owners’ Club to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Morris Minor. Around 300 Morris Minors and contemporary classics offered a colourful show of saloons, Travellers, vans, pick-ups and convertibles. A birthday cake was cut by Beaulieu’s Managing Director Russell Bowman, who also presented commemorative glasses to club members.
At the heart of the display was a timeline representing each decade of Morris Minor’s production run from the 1940s to 1970s, featuring immaculate cars such as one of the oldest surviving ‘lowlight’ Minors from the first production year in 1948 and one of the last Morris Minor Royal Mail vans. Complementing the cars were period-perfect antiques, record players, toys, kitchen appliances and bicycles, while the owners dressed up in trilby hats with waistcoats or hippy outfits with wigs and bright coloured flares.
The displays continued with a range of classic and prestige cars owned by members of the Wessex Car Club, while Morgan Sports Car Club showcased a great selection of the hand-built British sports cars.
Automart was the place to find a complete classic car for sale, with vehicles including a Citroen 2CV project at £525, tidy Morris Minor saloon at £2,995 and Jaguar Mk1 3.4 at £22,950.
Spring Autojumble media sponsor Practical Classics also displayed a selection of classics on their stand, including a stunning Citroen D-Special, Eastern-bloc Wartburg and the magazine’s Ford Model T rebuild project.
Sunday’s highlights included Land Rover Rummage, with a trading field dedicated to spares for the popular 4×4. Windscreens, wheels, transmissions, roof panels, body tubs and even a complete military Land Rover project were for up for grabs. The Solent and District Land Rover Club put together a line-up of seven Land Rovers that had been modified for serious off-road terrain.
