The summer of centenary events will start with star appearances at Heveningham Concours and Bluebird Chelsea, building towards Blue Bird’s return to Pendine Sands where it became the world’s fastest car reaching 150.76mph on July 21st 1925.
National Motor Museum engineers will start up the record-breaker at Pendine to mark the 100th anniversary and aim to take it on to the beach for a static photo opportunity, before putting it on show outside the Museum of Land Speed.
National Motor Museum Trust Chief Executive Jon Murden said: “We are excited to honour such a landmark World Land Speed Record anniversary with a series of events, which will both celebrate its importance in motoring history and provide more opportunities to see Blue Bird.”
Summer events
- See Sunbeam 350hp run again at Heveningham Concours when it appears at the annual show at Heveningham Hall, in Suffolk, on the weekend of June 28th & 29th.
- Join a celebratory event on Wednesday 16th July at Bluebird Chelsea, the renowned restaurant, bar and café which was originally the location of the Bluebird Motor Company. The evening will feature a Champagne reception, three-course dinner, talk by record breaker Don Wales and silent auction – as well as a rare opportunity to see Sunbeam 350hp on display. For tickets and details visit The Bluebird Legacy: A Century of Speed | D&D London | Online Shop.
- Hear the start-up of Sunbeam 350hp and see it on display on Monday 21st July at Pendine in Carmarthenshire, Wales, where it made World Land Speed Record history. More details and timings to follow.
On the road to Pendine
In 2014, completion of the painstaking rebuild of the 1920 Sunbeam’s complex V12 engine enabled a crowd of onlookers at Beaulieu to hear it roar again for the first time in over 50 years.
That led to its triumphant return to Pendine for the 90th anniversary in 2015, when National Motor Museum engineers were permitted to run Sunbeam on the beach for a low-speed reconstruction of its record-breaking run, with Sir Malcolm’s grandson Don Wales at the wheel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkC3DUDoKTk&t=15s
The non-original Albion 35hp van gearbox which had been added to Sunbeam 350hp before it arrived at Beaulieu was always its Achilles’ heel, as it was only designed to handle a tenth of the engine’s power and lacked a transmission brake. By 2020, a fundraising campaign helped to replace it with a Bentley C-type gearbox adapted to fit Sunbeam’s chassis with custom-made mounts – to better handle its colossal 18 litre engine.
National Motor Museum engineers used experience from the Sunbeam 350hp rebuild to more recently begin work to bring Sunbeam 1000hp back to life. Funds are still needed to complete the full restoration project – to see it run again and take it back to Daytona for the centenary of its record-breaking run in 2027. Find out more and donate at https://nationalmotormuseum.org.uk/sunbeam-1000hp-restoration-campaign/.
Land Speed Record breakers Sunbeam 350hp and 1000hp can usually be seen on a visit to Beaulieu. A ticket includes entry to the National Motor Museum and its new exhibition Icons of Formula 1, as well as Palace House and its newly opened private wing rooms, recently opened We Had One Of Those featuring popular cars from the 1960s to the noughties, adventure playground Little Beaulieu, 13th century Beaulieu Abbey, the Secret Army Exhibition, unlimited rides on the tree-top monorail and beautiful grounds and gardens. For tickets and details see www.beaulieu.co.uk or call 01590 612345.