International Autojumble at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu

At the weekend, I headed down to Beaulieu with Nick and Molly for the International Autojumble at the National Motor Museum. As we are around classic cars every day, it can take quite a lot to wow us when it comes to motoring history. However, after spending some time in the museum and browsing the autojumble, all three of us were very impressed

We would all like to say a big thank you to Poppy and the rest of the team at the museum for reaching out to Molly and inviting us to the event – we all had a fantastic day!

The Best Bits of the International Autojumble

1. The National Motor Museum

The National Motor Museum is home to close to 300 vehicles, from early motor cars to more modern machines.

A personal favourite of mine was the 1000bhp Sunbeam that is currently being restored at the museum.

This car, known as ‘The Slug’ was the one that Major Henry Segrave drove on Daytona Beach at more than 200mph on the 29th of March 1927. This was the first time that any car had ever reached this speed and set a new land speed record. Now, almost 100 years later, the museum is slowly bringing this ground-breaking car back to life thanks to its fundraising campaign.

The campaign aims to raise £300,000 for a full restoration and to take ‘The Slug’ back to Daytona Beach in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the record in 2027. Restoring a car that has two 22.5-litre V12 engines is obviously a huge task so a major fundraising campaign is needed to make it possible.

As well as ‘The Slug’, Nick clearly enjoyed seeing a 1953 Volkswagen Type 1 “Beetle” that was very similar to one he used to own. He has also said that 1953 produced his favourite version of this iconic classic.

Molly also had a great time putting the many interactive exhibits to good use!

2. Classic Cars for Sale

It was great to be able to spend some time getting a closer look at some of the cars going under the hammer with Bonhams. From MGBs to E-Types and everything in between, there was a huge variety of vehicles up for sale.

The three of us haven’t been to many car auctions so to get up close with cars of this calibre certainly added another level of excitement to our day.

3. The Automart

The Automart is where you go to find a project. Whether you are looking for a shell of a car to rebuild and bring back to life or a non-runner that will be back up and running with a little bit of time and attention – there are plenty of options.

We see cars in various stages of restoration in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop so it’s really nice that everyone in attendance had the opportunity to see some of the best-looking cars of all time in various states of repair!

4. The Autojumble

The International Autojumble is a huge event that features a wide variety of car parts, memorabilia, display pieces, and everything in between.

Perhaps one example that goes some way in explaining the range of things available is by looking at what the three of us purchased. Nick got a framed poster of the Silver Arrow W196 that sold for £19 million, Molly bought a Lambretta poster, and I got a small Rolls-Royce picture and a steering wheel!

In addition to our purchases, we saw old workshop manuals, vintage petrol pumps, signs, classic car brochures from back in the day, and more tools than the entire workshop team could ever need!

The Monorail, Top Gear, and More

We couldn’t visit the National Motor Museum without taking a ride on the monorail. The short trip allowed us to see a big part of the autojumble from above (and have a great time while doing so).

The Top Gear exhibition was definitely something all three of us loved. With Top Gear and The Grand Tour now coming to an end, it seemed so relevant that we could see some of the most iconic and memorable vehicles from the show in person.

The on-screen cars exhibit also brought back memories of TV shows and films that we have all watched over the years.

Bridge Classic Cars at the International Autojumble

The International Autojumble was a fantastic event for us to attend. There was so much to see and so many different vehicles to look at on top of the vast number of stallholders selling some hard-to-find pieces.

As I have said previously, we have cars from the early 1900s all the way through to modern cars around us every day in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop but, even with that in mind, Molly, Nick, and I found the display vehicles to be attention-grabbing and we loved every minute of our visit.

This was our first time at the International Autojumble and we will certainly be going back again. Once again, thank you to everyone at the National Motor Museum for such a great day and we hope to see you again very soon!

Our full photo gallery can be seen here.

Full highlight video coming soon…