More than 34,000 enthusiasts enjoyed a sunny festival-feel weekend packed with automotive bargains and exciting auction bidding at Beaulieu International Autojumble.
Event-goers hunted for treasures across more than 2,000 stands at the event on September 1st and 2nd, while historic vehicles went under the hammer at Bonhams auction.
Would-be buyers battled over the 1903 Panhard et Levassor 7hp Type A that was once an exhibit in the National Motor Museum‘s forerunner, the Montagu Motor Museum, with lively competition before a telephone bidder bought the prestigious veteran car for £212,750 (including Bonhams premium).
The hammer also fell on a desirable 1959 Jaguar XK150 ‘S’ barn-find which had not been used for 40 years and sold for £66,125. A 1957 Heinkel Kabine bubble car sold for £13,800, while £40,250 was realised for a water-going 1911 racing hydroplane powered by a vintage Vauxhall engine. A rare 1908 Phoenix 10hp Sports smashed its £12,000-£15,000 reserve to sell for £25,300.
Beaulieu Events Manager Judith Maddox said: “Glorious sunshine across the weekend gave an upbeat feel and spirits were high at this year’s event. Trading was so strong that nobody wanted to stop selling on the Saturday.”
Winning the show’s Best Stand Award were long-standing autojumblers Andrew Honeybill and Martin Gee, who share a stand and have been part of the show for over four decades, selling veteran, vintage and classic car spares.
Martin said: “I’ve been coming to Beaulieu’s autojumble for 41 years, since I was just 14. Apart from one year when we attended a family wedding, we haven’t missed an autojumble since. I always came with my dad and since he passed away, we have kept coming back in his memory.” Andrew said: “We both met at Beaulieu’s autojumble and keep coming back to the same spot in the show with our stand.”
They were presented with their award by Lord Montagu, Lolly Lee – who donates a trophy in memory of her late father and autojumbler Terry Lee – and judge James Walshe, the Deputy Editor of event media sponsor Practical Classics. James said: “Yours is truly a stand of friendly faces, with all the little bits and pieces for sale that we love. We felt that you captured the spirit of the Beaulieu Autojumble.”
Also celebrating 40 years of exhibiting at the show was the Jansen family from the Netherlands. Specialising in parts for Lancia cars but also offering a variety of spares for other prestige classics on their stand, Theo Jansen and his family started attending the show in the 1970s and it has been an unmissable event in their annual calendar ever since.
The Practical Classics team displayed two fascinating vehicles, with a Tofaş Serçe rarely-seen derivative of the Fiat 124 which was driven to the show from Turkey, plus a crowd-pleasing pre-war American La France – showing the contrast of vehicles covered by the magazine.
PreWarCar.com embraced the spirit of the show by breathing life back into a 1930s Lancia Augusta, which they had only just acquired. Decades of inactivity for the unusual saloon didn’t slow the online magazine’s team as they battled to get its non-original MG engine running. Cheered on by show-goers, it finally roared into life on Sunday afternoon.
A colourful addition across the weekend was a display by the Morgan Sports Car Club, with examples of the V8-powered Plus 8 in amongst the line-up to celebrate 50 years of this legendary model.
At Automart, one of the oldest cars on offer was a 1925 Morris Cowley 11.9hp which had been carefully maintained over 93 years, painted yellow when owned by an AA patrolman’s son in the 1960s and on sale at £17,750.
A spectacular sight was a 1962 Chrysler Newport, an extravagant American classic on offer at £25,000. Equally eye-catching was a diminutive but immaculate1967 Fiat 600D which was priced at £8,750, while an unusual find was a 1980 Peugeot J7 classic French panel van which was still branded from its working life on the continent and on offer at £4,500.
Traders offered a variety of top condition classics for sale in Dealermart, ranging from an ex-rally Ford Escort Mk1 to a rare 1948 Delahaye 135M.
Always eagerly anticipated by show-goers, Trunk Traders was particularly busy with bargain-hunters crowding around the pitches on Sunday. Business was brisk early in the day as amateur traders sold mirrors, lights, wheels, tools, books, complete body panels and even seats and dashboards.
Plans are underway for Beaulieu’s 2019 International Autojumble and dates will be announced on the Beaulieu website later in the year.