On 29 March 1927 Major Henry Segrave drove the Sunbeam 1000 HP to a new land speed record of 203.79 mph and now the National Motor Museum of Beaulieu plans to restore the vehicle.

It has reached £50,000 in its campaign and is now appealing for more support to get the restoration to the goal of raising £300k to restore the World Land Speed record car and to take it to Daytona in the USA for the centenary of its record-breaking attempt in 2027.

Visitors to Beaulieu can currently see the exposed chassis on show in the National Motor Museum, and on 27 January a talk at Beaulieu will see the Museum’s manager and chief engineer Doug Hill and senior engineer Ian Stanfield talk about the efforts to restore the impressive car.  The evening will have a special guest appearance from land speed record holder Richard Noble. Proceeds from the Transport Torque evening will go to the Sunbeam 1000hp restoration campaign.

To help raise the profile of the vehicle’s centenary celebrations and fundraising campaign – through individual donations and corporate sponsorship – there are plans to take it to Europe and on tour to motoring museums across America. Opportunities will also be offered for schools, colleges, and universities to get involved with STEM workshops and activities.

The Sunbeam’s two 22.5 litre engines, which each produced 435bhp, have not run since before World War II more than 80 years ago – after corrosion attacked internal workings. With painstaking rebuilding, using specialist knowledge and bespoke parts, National Motor Museum engineers will recapture the sounds, sights and smells of this ground-breaking machine and help to preserve it for future generations.

The Museum’s Michelle Kirwan said:“Funds are now needed to gear up a level to complete the second engine build and  ultimately the full restoration. Donations for the Sunbeam 1000hp Restoration Campaign can be made online. Sponsors and corporate donors who would like to be associated with the campaign are urged to get in touch with the Museum’s Development team.”

Further information and a link to donate to the campaign is at https://nationalmotormuseum.org.uk/sunbeam-1000hp-restoration-campaign/ and tickets for the Restoring the Sunbeam 1000hp Transport Torque on evening of 27 January are available at https://www.beaulieu.co.uk/events/restoring-land-speed-transport-torques/