BEAULIEU INTERNATIONAL AUTOJUMBLE

The SoCal Scene

Like many of you, I am a fan and devotee of the Pomona Swap Meet & Classic Car Show. I know where to park, what I’m likely to find, the locations of regular sellers, and typical price ranges.

It’s our region’s top dog of such gatherings. Certainly, it’s the biggest in the West. There are others elsewhere that are larger, like the Pennsylvania’s Hershey Swap Meet. I’ve been to Hershey, which is more focused on ‘vintage’ cars, meaning before I was born, but most US auto swap meets I have been to are very similar.

However, what if I were blindfolded and taken to a more exotic, overseas auto swap meet? How would my mastery of Pomona serve me in a foreign land?

Landing in the New Forest

Last month I found out. While not technically blindfolded, I was stuck in the center section of the plane, and the window shades were down the entire flight, adding to the intrigue. After landing at London Heathrow, I am driven for hours down twisty, indistinguishable, one and a half lane roads by my local friend Chris, finally coming to the New Forest area. This is a wooded nature reserve south of Southampton, the historic port city from which the Titanic sailed its first, and final voyage in 1912. 

In the “New Forest”, under the protection of the King, William the Conqueror in 1079, animals like deer and boar roam freely. And to my surprise, so do wild horses. Several we encounter are gathered at a road junction, as if waiting around to hitch a ride or bum cigarettes.

A Beautiful Place

Continuing along in the shadows of a tree-lined road, with no cell phone reception or GPS, we finally reach a place named Beaulieu. Not just a ‘place’, but the Victorian Palace House Mansion and estate of the Montagu family since 1538, passed down through the generations. To clear up the name issue, first of all Beaulieu is pronounced “BYOO-lee”. Secondly, it is a French term meaning “beautiful place” which was first applied to the site of Beaulieu Abbey, founded in 1204 by King John and populated by 30 Cistercian monks sent from the French abbey of Citeaux… a fact you will now know for a future pub quiz.

To pay the bills, Beaulieu has long been developed into a family recreation area with mansion and garden tours, a monorail, and Lord Montagu’s car collection which evolved into the grand National Motor Museum in 1972.

The site also contains an open field which is the site of the International Autojumble, a smaller Spring Autojumble, and various make car gatherings during the year. The Beaulieu Autojumble was started in 1966, inspired by the Hershey event in the US. (Note that the Pomona Swap was founded in 1975.)

The Big One

We are here for the big one, the Beaulieu International Autojumble & Classic Car Show. True to its title, it attracts many sellers and buyers from France, Germany, Spain, Holland, plus many Americans as well. Since Brexit, it has been tougher to attract European sellers, as crossing the border and having to declare goods coming in and going out makes the venture more complicated. But many are still here.

Parking for the Autojumble is more remote than at Pomona, and may involve stomping thru mudpuddles, but it’s a good warmup for the day.

One enters the site by walking past the National Motor Museum, which we’ll visit afterwards, and thru the Classic Car Park parking area. Here we find 1950’s MG’s, early Land Rover Defenders, and several Morris Minors from the 1960’s. For contrast here sits an original Mini Cooper parked next to an American 1970’s Ford Torino.

Right across from that area are the Haggerty, and independent car sellers’ "Automart" lots. As a photo backdrop for those cars, in contrast to what you would have in Pomona: the backside of grandstands for the drag strip, the background here is the weather-aged texture of ancient stone walls. Very photo worthy. 

But we are here for the swap meet. I mean Autojumble, and it’s decision time. Start in the Red Field to the left, or the Green Field to the right? As I spot book and diecast model car sellers to the right, I know immediately and head directly to our first stop, the Pooks Motor Books tent.

I should mention that the rows of tented vendors are neatly laid out in the grassy field, and although not clearly numbered have enough landmarks to find your way back. One reference point is another ancient stone wall, conveniently dividing the Red and Green fields.

What did we find? 

First of all, body panels. There were wings (fender panels) and doors marked for a Citroen 11B (1934-1957). Don’t have a need for one of those. But wait, what ‘s also in that lot? A rear clamshell for a Ford GT40, and the front nose for a D Type / XK-SS Jaguar. Whoa. Both are in fiberglass and obviously not originals, but for 250 quid (250 UK Pounds = about $330 USD), one could buy the Jag part, paint it up and hang it in the garage.

There are not many complete cars awaiting restoration here, but a blue, 1952 Jaguar XK120 coupe looked tempting. Even in its rough condition it is still much prettier than the new Jaguar Type 01. Then there’s a reproduction wooden body frame upon which to build your own aluminum-skinned, 1936-1939 era Jaguar SS100. Craftsman handy with the English Wheel still abound in England, ready to roll you some elegant panels when you are ready. They don’t call it an English Wheel for nothing!

We are also seeing many under-the-bonnet (underhood) parts, like carburetors and ignition coils for Triumphs, Vauxhalls, and Skodas. Hey, nice Webers! Throwout bearings for the original Minis? Here’s a boxful of that frequently replaced item.

There’s an abundance of metal advertising and car dealership signs. And headlight bulbs and housings. Lots of those are needed, as they were very breakable, and not very standardized. Unlike in the US where we’ve had sealed-beam bulb requirements for 7” single round (since 1940), or 5 ¾” dual round (added in 1957), and later specific rectangular sizes, the UK was slow to standardize, and did so on headlight performance, but not sizing.

Several exhibitor tents here are for collectors and aficionados of certain extinct British car brands. Hoping to attract kindred souls for long conversations are the faithful of Singer (1875-1970), no, not the California Singer Porsche conversion folks, Wolseley (1901-1975), and Lagonda (1906-acquisition by Aston Martin in 1947) car companies.

When it comes to automobile license plates In the UK, the same plate can stay with a car forever. But in the US we (used to) have annual state plates that created a stockpile of discards, handy for making craft items like mailboxes and birdhouses, popular in our Southern States. Many US plates also made their way over to England as novelty items. I am seeing more old US plates for sale at Beaulieu than at Pomona.

Also, as one would find at Pomona, there are several complete engines, sold as is.  At one extreme is a V8 of unclear origin under the rust. On the other is a real classic, a Coventry Climax FWB (1,100-1,220 cc) four cylinder engine. Originally designed as a water-pumper for fire fighters, it was widely used in smaller vintage sports-racing and formula cars like the Lotus Eleven, Elva II thru VI, and various Lolas.

Continuing along in the Green Field we come upon a series of four promotor-provided, premium tents. The twenty-three ‘Marquee’ exhibitors housed here include the DeDion-Bouton (1883-1953) car club, an auto art dealer, six more book sellers. and four diecast model purveyors.

As a reminder that we are in England, a grey sky threatens imminent showers, but it’s not to be. If it were so, the tents would have been jammed shelter areas. But they are not needed for such today, so it’s back to the outdoor rows for us.

There really isn’t much in the way of grouping sellers of like offerings together into specific ‘neighborhoods’ at Beaulieu. The closest we come to that are the traders of motorcycles and parts, cast out to the far side of the lot.

The quality of goods remains high as we work our way to the end of the Green Field, which also means it’s time for a break. We grab a food-truck pizza*, share a bench with visiting Germans, and congratulate the joyful finder an original-spec wire-spoked steering wheel to fit his rare MG.

Land of Last-to-be-Sold Spaces

Now we start working the adjacent Red Field, back to front, using the previously-mentioned stone wall for navigation. Suddenly we are in the land of last-to-be-sold spaces. And they must have been a bargain priced at that. This area resembles more of a car boot sale, with items pulled out of the truck of the family car, with the exhibitors sleeping in their car or in a nearby damp pup tent.

But the Red Field’s vendor quality quickly improves as we zig-zag our way back toward the front of the field. Here we find many hand tool and hardware sellers. Some are established retailers, with a catchy name, website, and an active store elsewhere. Others just do swap meets, and feature bin after bin full of polishing and grinding disks, drill bits, fasteners, surgical tools, tiny screwdriver sets, clamps, and miscellaneous new and used odds and ends. Sound familiar?

And then we come upon a smaller seller with a box of very used tools and guess-what-this-does gizmos. His hand-scrawled sign says “10 pence per tool” (13 cents US) for a rusty hammer, screwdriver, or pliers. Did he find this crusty lot under a bridge somewhere and just wants to make a buck? That’s not a criticism of the event, it’s just a reality for some sellers in these times.

I found a lot of curiosities on the ground’s bulletin board, with postings like ‘1911 Flanders 20 for Sale’ and ‘Wanted: Enots semi-automatic oil pump”. Hmmm… I’ll check in my garage at home.

Things to Come

After covering the entire field, I think something is trending here which we may see come our way in the US.

1.     Books and old magazine prices were lower than expected, as were those of some fine dicast cars. Stacks of Autocourse F1 Annuals were 5 pounds ($6.60) each, and I saw several shelves of 2 pound books, many brand new.

It looks like the older generation collectors of these items are finally downsizing, and those items are hitting the market. Several times I was told “I can’t bring this back; I need to unload it, make me an offer”. They are de-collecting, at least in the UK. Many US folks I know have great personal auto book collections, in pristine condition, but will have to face de-collecting at some point as well.

That could mean good news for those in LA who long to revive the old SAH ‘Literature Faire’ where sellers of automotive books, magazines, and dealer brochures gathered to sell at Pasadena City College, Irwindale Speedway, the NHRA Museum, and later, the Automobile Driving Museum. Finding eager sellers for a ‘Faire’ might be easier these days, and those de-collectors may find it easier to unload their collection at a reborn ‘Faire’ than to list each item and sell on the internet. And they can enjoy the fun of talking to an interested buyer face to face, and working out a fair price, which is… well… priceless.

Of course, the other side of the equation is finding today’s auto book collectors… Who are they?

2.     De-collectors were competing with those who are selling for a living. The determined de-collectors, now giving up their hoarder habit, are pricing items strictly to-move. Will the same hold true for owners of old Muscle Cars, hot rods, and never-finished car build projects?

National Motor Museum

But to conclude this adventure on a happy note, before leaving Beaulieu Chris and I finish up our second day with a tour of the National Motor Museum. (Not to be confused with the British Motor Museum in the Midlands). It houses a collection of British cars, naturally, most are production cars, while others are iconic racers. Most impressive for me is seeing the thirty foot long Donald Campbell Bluebird-Proteus CN7 land speed record car up close. Gas turbine powered and wheel-driven, it ran 403.1 MPH in Australia in 1963. (Mickey Thompson’s Challenger had gone 406.60 at Bonneville in 1960 but it was not an official record, lacking a return run).  Don’t miss the National Auto Museum if you come for the Autojumble.

And just how big is the Beaulieu International Autojumble?

Beaulieu show management says they host more than 1,000 exhibitors on its 25-acre field, with 25,000-40,000 visitors over its annual two-day event. By comparison, Pomona claims around 2,000 vendors, and 20,000+ visitors at its one day, seven times a year venue. But do the numbers really matter? It’s the fun that counts.

Was it fun?

I found the whole experience to be quite enjoyable. While some parts of the swap meet are universal, it was fun to see the English take on the activity, with many more book and diecast sellers. While not as convenient to travel to as the Pomona Swap Meet, I highly recommend it, especially if you can tie it to other UK auto sites in the area like Goodwood and Brooklands, plus the many other automobile and aircraft museums in England.

There is so much history** here, I’ll have to add the Titanic museum as well…. and on and on….

*A pizza?  In Merry old England old boy?  What about a nice plate of bubble and squeak or some bangers and mash?  - Ed.

**We get it, Don, it’s England dammit, Kings, Knights, Castles, Spitfires, The Stig, warm (well, sure not ice cold anyway) beer, Lucas Electricals, Lords and Ladies a leaping, a King with a “consort”, Silverstone, Carnaby Street, Stonehenge, Douglas Adams, Vegemite. Boxing Day, and so on... -Ed.