FIFTY YEARS OF THE NATIONAL MOTOR MUSEUM

The year is 1976, it is 20^th December, and a K-registered Dyane 6 heads westwards along the A27. The fabric rattles alarmingly once the Citroën finally achieves 60 mph, and draughts leak into every corner of the interior, but this is of little matter as I am being taken to a mysterious place called ‘Beaulieu’ for my seventh birthday. The journey appeared to last forever, not helped by the Dyane’s limited accelerative powers. In addition, I was initially doubtful that this venue could be even more thrilling than watching Herbie Rides Again at the Eastleigh Regal or a revival of The Jungle Book at the Southampton ABC. But on entering The National Motor Museum for the very first time, I knew I was wrong.

After several hours, I was finally persuaded to leave, although the fact it was closing time made little difference to me – I was quite prepared to set up home by Paddy Hopkirk’s Mini Cooper S. There was also the Monorail, an impossibly exotic concept to the average child in the mid-1970s, the fascinating double-decker bus with its external stairs and the various side shows with a myriad of buttons to press. Most importantly, there were the cars, housed in that distinctive building created by Leonard Manasseh.

The origins of the collection date from 8^th April 1952, when Lord Montagu of Beaulieu opened the Palace House and grounds at Beaulieu to the public. One of the major attractions was five veteran cars at the entrance – a 1898 Daimler, an 1896 Leon Bollee Tricar, a 1898 Benz, a 1903 De Dion and a 1904 Vauxhall. Seven years later, the growing number of automotive exhibits were housed in a larger wooden building, and the Transport Library was established in 1960. Eight years later, attendance figures exceeded the half-million mark, and by 1970, plans were underway for a new building encompassing 70,000 sq. ft. of exhibition space on a one-acre site. The opening ceremony took place on 4^th July 1972, and The Daily Mirror of 5^th July proclaimed:

Ronnie Edmunds said ‘Goodbye’ yesterday to Britain’s oldest working Mini – and ‘Hello’ to a new, gleaming, white Mini 1000. The new model - Ron’s prize as winner of the Daily Mirror ‘Oldest Mini’ Contest – was presented to him by the Duke of Kent at the opening at Beaulieu, Hants, of the new National Motor Museum. Then Ron’s banger – a 1959 model – will be handed over to the museum, where it will share star-billing with more than 200 veteran, vintage and post-1930 cars.

Today, the name ‘Beaulieu’ is synonymous with the fine motor cars of all ages, with the Autojumbles an essential part of the automotive calendar. And, should it survive, that 1972 beige-coloured Citroën Dyane 6 would surely be a candidate for the National Motor Museum…