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A Visit to the National Museum at Beaulieu, England

England's Equivalent of the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn

By Ben Scheiwe 

If you happen to be visiting England, try and squeeze an extra day into your itinerary to visit the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu.  Located near the south central coast close to Portsmouth, you will enjoy the lush, scenic Hampshire landscape as you motor to England's  equivalent to our Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn. 

Actually, to visit Beaulieu, the ancestral home of England's foremost automotive enthusiast family, the Montagu clan, is to celebrate a good slice of English history and culture.  Beaulieu (pronounced  BU-LEE), as the Montagu estate is known, is located adjacent to the picturesque hamlet of Bucklers Head Village, which mirrors its 13th century heritage.  In addition to the National Motor Museum, you can tour the original Beaulieu Palace House and Abbey, an accurate and living preservation of English monastic and aristocratic life. 

The current Lord Montagu, famous automotive historian, author  and enthusiast, created this wonderful National Trust in 1952 and has dedicated his efforts to the collection, preservation and presentation to the public, vehicles and materials related to the history of motoring in Britain.  His father John, was an early motoring pioneer who realized the dramatic impact that the automobile would create for the future and  further inspired his son to found The National Motor Museum.                                                  

Within the museum, is a faithful re-creation of a 1920 to 40’s garage and workshop, typical of  the period and outstanding in detail and presentation;  very entertaining and given to subtle “English Humor" this is not to be missed.

The basic exhibits are dedicated to the dawn of motoring, the overseas influence, automobilia, family motoring, the sports car, motorsports (includes Land Speed Record cars), motorcycles, and commercial and automotive artwork.  Special exhibits on display featured pedal cars, racing motorcycles, cars of 007 – James Bond, and  "A Century of Automotive Failures and Successes" (the good, bad and ugly...loads of fun ).  All were very well presented with interesting and informative oral/written storyboards and highlighted with mood lighting.

It must be noted that several American Classics™ are in residence and are considered favorites ― -a 1931 Duesenberg SJ Murphy bodied roadster, a 1935 Auburn 851 Speedster, a 1936 Cord, and a 1930 Packard 745 roadster; all received ample and accurate coverage.

Special mention must go also to the terrific collection of brass age and Edwardian cars, motorcycles, and racing cars.  The latter include the land speed record cars, The Golden Arrow and Bluebird, the respective mounts of Sir Henry Seagrave and Sir Malcom Campbell ― the benchmarks for mans’ quest for speed during the 1920 and 30’s.  There is also a great collection of Formula One race cars through the years.

Beaulieu is also an interactive, hands-on  facility for  visitors and students and is further enhanced by one of three theaters within.  As many know, Beaulieu is world renown as the home of the bi-annual “Auto Jumble” ―  the contemporary to our annual parts-Mecca in Hershey, Pennsylvania.  The grounds also host multiple, monthly events throughout the year to include parades, demonstrations, automarts, lectures, films garden parties and fireworks displays.

Of special interest to all  automotive enthusiasts, is the incredible and unique National Motor Museum Library, Motoring Picture Library   and the Film and Video Library.  Located in a three story building adjacent to the main museum, this facility is not open to the public but rather, by appointment only.(  I could have spent  an entire day there,  but in fairness to Jann we limited our explorations to about three hours). 

Established in 1960, the main Library has developed into one of the world’s finest resources of motoring information.  Millions of books, periodicals, sales catalogues, technical manuals, and letters / handbooks going back to the 1880’s, are found here. The collection also has rooms filled with  priceless, historical automobilia.  A Special Motoring Archive Research Service was also  established by the museum to provide information to both professional and amateur researchers.

The Motoring Picture Library is fantastic !  Over one million black and white pictures and over 100,000 color slides are catalogued and filed.  They even have a special section for sale brochures, paintings and posters from around the world.  The Film and Video Library is the world’s largest collection of motoring films, all contained within air conditioned vaults with some dating back to the early part of the 20th century.  Their services encompass film restoration, reproduction, transfer to video formats, and they offer assistance to world wide broadcasting and film companies.

You can get more information on the National Motor Museum at www.beaulieu.co.uk.

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