Kim Henson reports on his day there, giving his personal view of his visit…
(All words by, and copyright, Kim Henson.
All photographs by, and copyright, Kim Henson and Jeff Carter, as individually credited. Kim adds, “Grateful thanks to photographer Jeff for his assistance at the event”.)
After weeks of ‘variable’ weather, the sun shone in earnest for this year’s Beaulieu Spring Autojumble, and the fields of stands were busy with visitors as I made my way around the site.
While not as huge as the annual Beaulieu International Autojumble held each September, nonetheless at each Spring event there are stalls a-plenty selling everything from brakes to bumpers, wheel nuts to windscreens, and everything in between.
This year my personal list of ‘automotive wants’ was fairly limited in scope. However, in advance I had arranged to collect, from Beaulieu regulars ‘Ken and Lyn Restoration Factors’, a large quantity of paint for one of my Austin project vehicles, and for another of my classics had reserved a Morris Marina propeller shaft assembly to buy from another stallholder always at Beaulieu, David Kingerley of Longbridge Motor Spares.
Around the stands
As I toured the stands en route to the stands mentioned above, I spotted some rare body panels, including a pair of front wings for a Ford Escort Mark I and priced at £975 per pair, while at the other end of the price scale were unused if storage-marked front wings for a Mazda 626, at £40 each. In between were doors for a Vauxhall Viva HA van, a rear bumper centre section for a Wolseley 15/60 (priced at £150) and a multitude of other panels and bumpers, in varying conditions (some unused) and on offer at equally diverse asking prices.
The photographs in the ‘slideshow’ below give a flavour of the variety of items on offer and the atmosphere of the event…
For an hour or so I helped to look after the stand of a friend who was selling car books, photographs and models, gaining a different perspective on the event, from a stallholder’s point of view. He is not a dealer, but is just reducing his personal collection of automobilia.
It was interesting to me that photographs of, and books about, more recent classics were, in the main, eagerly sought after by young people, while the car models on sale on the stall, including a wide selection of ‘family’ classics and sports models/supercars, were being bought by people of all ages.
During my time on the stall, some of the higher-priced (yet still reasonable) rarer items were quickly snapped up by those who knew what they were looking for, including some dealers!
Among the autojumble stalls I noticed several restoration project vehicles, including a four door Morris Eight, priced at £1,325, which of course needed work but would make a nice car.
I was very taken too with a wonderful unrestored, original-looking BMC J4 pick-up, dating from 1971 and bearing a price ticket of £10,995. This looked to be in very sound condition.
Automart
As always, the Automart section of the Spring Autojumble provided would-be buyers with a wide range of vehicles, from everyday classics to rare/valuable machines, and with prices from ‘bargain’ levels to ‘gosh, how much?’ territory.
Among favourites of mine were a mid-1930s Morris Eight two door saloon, looking tidy and with a price tag of £8,250 o.v.n.o, a truly sparkling Rover SD1 V8, for which the asking figure was £13,500 o.n.o, and a Triumph Mayflower, believed to be a low mileage car and which was a very ‘useable’ classic, priced at £5,500 (‘offers invited’).
Among other gems I spotted (some of them illustrated in the photographs below), was a beautiful looking Alfasud, bearing a price ticket of £6,250. This is a rare early survivor of a model that was always noted for its ‘fun to drive’ factor and excellent handling, but also with a known propensity to rusting… This one looked just right in white and would be a great classic to use and enjoy I feel.
I should also mention the Austin A40 Sports (with aluminium bodywork by Jensen), with a reported mileage of 42,400 and priced at £14,995 o.n.o.
Here are a few more of the cars for sale in the Automart, that caught the attention of Jeff and I:
Trunk Traders and Land Rover Rummage
Although I could only attend on the Saturday of this year’s show, provided on the Sunday (only) of the event was the ‘Trunk Traders’ area, for sellers to offer their wares from the boots of their vehicles, and the ‘Land Rover Rummage’, which, as its name implies, enabled sellers to part with Land Rover related items.
Moggyfest
The Dorset Group of the Morris Minor Owners’ Club is renowned for putting on a brilliant display each year at the Spring Autojumble, and this year was no exception. Since 2023 represents 75 years since the first Morris Minor (MM sidevalve) was introduced, it was fitting that the ‘Moggyfest’ section of the show was devoted to the 1948 Earls Court Motor Show and the models in the Morris line-up at that time.
In addition to wonderful examples of the earliest ‘lowlight’ sidevalve Minors were a rare Oxford MO and even rarer ‘MS Six’, which incidentally was driven to the show from the midlands. These two models share similarities in terms of styling with the Minor, but on a larger scale and with their own distinctive grilles and other features. In the photo below the MS Six is on the left, Oxford MO on the right…
Not only were there cars on display from the 1948 era, but the ‘showroom’ was staffed by characters dressed in period attire. I was approached by a ‘salesman’ who very nearly sold me a new Minor…
While in the Moggyfest area, I was impressed too by the ‘Lyons Tea Room’ section and by the vast array of cars on display (about 200 in total), not just Minors but including classics of all types.
Car Clubs
This year the Spring Autojumble was enhanced by the presence of a large number of classic car club/organisation stands, in addition to the Morris Minor Owners’ Club. These included the Armstrong Siddeley Owners’ Club, Austin A30/A35 Owners’ Club, Heinkel Trojan Archive Trust, Maestro and Montego Owners’ Club, Morgan Sports Car Club, Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts’ Club, Singer Motor Club, Standard Motor Club, Standard Register, Club Triumph, Trojan Museum Trust, Vintage Austin Register Wessex Ducks Citroën Car Club, Wessex Vehicle Preservation Club and SEC Wolseley Hornet Special Club.
1953 Coronation Year cars display
In celebration of the Coronation of King Majesty Charles III (and of course 70 years after the Coronation of Her Majesty Elizabeth II) was an impressive line-up of 1953 cars, all in pristine condition; it was a joy to see them all. The photographs below shows Aston Martin, Sunbeam Alpine and Standard Vanguard Phase 2 (the Standard is owned by Mark Denton and is for sale).
Practical Classics
Once again Practical Classics magazine, which has been helping enthusiasts since 1980, was ‘media partner’ supporter for the Spring Autojumble, with editor Danny Hopkins and other team members from the publication bringing along a selection of their own classic ‘camper wagons’. The staff members are all enthusiasts themselves, and were on hand to chat with visitors throughout the weekend.
…’And the winner is…’
Delighted to be presented with the Terry Lee Award for the best stand at the 2023 show (this is given annually in memory of regular Beaulieu autojumbler Terry Lee) were Ken and Lyn Burdekin, of Ken and Lyn Restoration Factors.
Ken is pictured above with the trophy. He told me that he was ‘Chuffed to bits’ to win this. He and Lyn have been bringing their stall, selling classic paints and associated products, since 1994.
The citation on the trophy reads, ‘Dedicated to Automobilia’; very appropriate. The couple are well known among classic enthusiasts for their depth of knowledge about the paints that they sell, and their helpfulness in providing useful information to buyers about how to acquire the most suitable products for the task in hand, plus how to get the best out of them.
VERDICT
I have always loved visiting the Spring Autojumble, and I felt that this year’s event was one of the best. It seemed to me that visitor and enthusiasm levels have returned to more like pre-pandemic levels, and those people I spoke to were very happy to be out and about in the fresh air and enjoying ‘Beaulieu’ again. Of course the dry, mainly sunny weather helped the ‘feelgood’ factor too.
Personally this time, in addition to my paint and propshaft purchases already mentioned, I was fortunate to find some engine spares for my 1938 Standard Fourteen, a spare parts list for the same car, and some pedal rubbers for my Austin A35 project vehicle.
It was also fascinating for me to actually help out on a stand and to experience the enthusiasm of buyers in their search for automobilia.
I had fun walking around the Automart with an imaginary wallet full of imaginary pounds, spending them in my mind on a few very real classics, notably an Alfasud, Morris Eight and Daimler V8 saloon, not to mention a Triumph Mayflower!
Equally importantly, I enjoyed chatting with fellow classic enthusiasts; there’s a great social aspect to these Beaulieu events, as well as the business of buying/selling cars and parts!
Beaulieu tells us that attendance numbers for the show for visitors and exhibitors totalled 13,000 over the weekend.
What next? The ‘big one’, the Beaulieu International Autojumble will this year be held on the weekend of 2nd and 3rd September. For more information, please go to: https://www.beaulieu.co.uk/events/international-autojumble/
Will I be there, I wonder? I certainly hope so; I have attended each one that’s been held since 1978!