This year’s Spring Autojumble was held at Beaulieu over the weekend of 14th and 15th May, and to the joy of attendees and stallholders, was dry for the Saturday of the event, although cloud and rain made their presence felt on the Sunday.
Kim Henson was delighted to be there again, following the springtime show’s absence since May 2019, due to Covid-19 lockdowns etc. Here’s how he saw it…
(Words by Kim Henson; copyright photographs by Kim Henson and Chris Adamson, as individually credited).
Kim adds: “Grateful thanks to Chris Adamson for his photographic work for this feature”.
The Spring Autojumble at Beaulieu is always a welcome event for me personally as it signals the start of summer and it represents a new beginning each year (or recommencement!) for my various old car restoration projects. Without fail, I always find components and tools etc, required for my vehicles, and often I can tick off many items from my ‘wanted’ lists. In addition I usually find extra and often unexpected parts as I explore the various stalls.
I also relish the chance to meet up with friends who are fellow enthusiasts of classics, and to have an automotive chatting catch-up.
As I toured the stalls this year, as always I noted some rare and interesting components, as well as the more often encountered spares for popular sports models. Specifically, I noted some unused wings and other body panels for some scarce older Vauxhall and Hillman models, electrical and ignition parts for a multitude of vehicles dating from the 1930s (and I bought some of them!), plus chromework galore. All this in addition to engines, gearboxes and axles for many 1940s/50s/60s vehicles, plus many ‘chassis’ and running gear components.
‘Modern’ classics were not ignored, and I saw significant quantities of parts and automobilia relating to 1980s/90s cars as well as the older models.
There were various displays put on by a wide variety of ‘one make/model organisations’, starting here with the one arranged by the Austin A30/A35 Owners’ Club. The wide variety of examples on show included an A30 that had featured in an ‘Ant and Dec’ TV programme, and an unrestored A35 said to be used by Austin as the only ‘factory’/works A35 entry ever entered in the Monte Carlo Rally, in 1958.
The Dorset branch members of the Morris Minor Owners’ Club excelled themselves yet again this year with their ‘Moggyfest’ event that celebrated all Minors, and especially the Minor 1,000,000, with five of these exclusive lilac-coloured very special Minors on display. One of these was a left-hand drive example originally shown at the New York motor Show.
The ‘Minor Million’ was launched in 1961 in honour of one million Minors being produced, and of course the 60th birthday of this model occurred in 2021. Full marks to the team responsible for setting up this superb tribute to the cars, with a workshop scene and a backdrop of beautiful murals adding to the atmosphere. Quite simply, brilliant!
The Standard Motor Club had a stand too, as did the Armstrong Siddeley Club, Singer Owners’ Club and Standard Register (covering 1903 to 1930 cars), also the Wolseley Hornet Special Club.
The Saab Enthusiasts Club was in evidence too, with their line-up of cleverly-engineered models (including two stroke 95s and 96s, 99s and 900s plus later cars) honouring all Saabs imported into the U.K. from 1960 until 2012, and marking the 75th anniversary of Saab cars.
I always take delight in surveying the various ‘automobilia’ items on offer, from signage to petrol pumps to books and brochures, some of these are ‘works of art’!
For those enthusiasts in search of a new project vehicle, or indeed a classic in top condition, the Automart and Dealermart provided a variety of classics to suit all budgets. My colleague Chris Adamson selected the following vehicles as examples…
The Land Rover Rummage was held on the Sunday of the event, giving enthusiasts of these ‘favourite British 4x4s’ the chance to buy spares, accessories or complete project vehicles.
The ‘Trunk Traders’ section was in operation again this year, helping people to empty their garages of classic components and find new owners to make use of them, selling from the ‘boots’ of their cars.
The Spring Autojumble entry tickets also entitled attendees to visit the National Motor Museum, with its wealth of fascinating exhibits. These include a new ‘Bond in Motion – No Time to Die’ display, which features many of the original vehicles (Land Rover Defender 110 and Land Rover Series III) , gadgets and costumes from the latest 007 film.
Media sponsor of the Spring Autojumble, ‘Practical Classics’ magazine, was also in attendance at the show.
KIM’S VERDICT
Before Covid struck I always enjoyed visiting the Beaulieu Spring Autojumble each year and I was very pleased to be back there again this time.
Over the weekend’s event this year, some 13,000 visitors and stallholders were in attendance.
While (of course) it was evident that this year’s event was lacking in terms of the usual high numbers of visitors from overseas, I still found it an enjoyable and useful event.
The Best Stand Award was presented to Spring Autojumblers Will Coles and George Comfort, from Hertfordshire and Richmond, respectively. Their stall was filled with enamel signs, motoring-related advertising, oil cans and more.
The enthusiastic friends started selling such items at last year’s Autojumble in September, after starting to collect the automobilia during the lockdowns. Their award was presented by Lolly Lee (who gives a trophy each year in memory of her late father Terry, who was a keen autojumbler at Beaulieu) and Danny Hopkins, Editor of the event’s media sponsor, ‘Practical Classics’.
On a personal note, significant purchases during my visit included a multitude of bodywork repair panels for one of my long-dormant project vehicles, a ‘special tool’ for engine operations on another of my classics, and a classic estate car full of paint and associated items for several other vehicles!
(Note: At the time of writing stall and visitor numbers are not yet available, but these will be added to this feature once known).
International Autojumble and other Beaulieu events in 2022
Beaulieu’s famous and unique International Autojumble is scheduled to take place over the weekend of Saturday and Sunday 10th and 11th September 2022.
For further information please go to: Beaulieu International Autojumble/
Other events at Beaulieu this year will include:
Simply Ford, 22nd May
Simply Electric, 29th May
Simply Porsche, 5th June
Simply VW, 18th June
Hot Rod and Custom Show, 19th June (‘Father’s Day’)
For more information, please go to: www.beaulieu.co.uk