On Thursday 5th March, motor racing legend, Sir Stirling Moss, opened A Chequered History, a new display section in the National Motor Museum celebrating the adrenaline-fuelled world of motor sport.
Sir Stirling was joined in a ribbon cutting by veteran F1 commentator and Beaulieu One Hundred member, Murray Walker, after they had taken a nostalgic look back at Sir Stirling’s glittering racing career, in front of an invited audience of guests.
In opening the display, Sir Stirling said:
“I am delighted to be opening Beaulieu’s new motor sport displays featuring fabulous cars from both F1 and rallying, including several that I had the privilege to drive during my own racing career. It brings back many happy memories for me.”
Among the iconic racing cars on display in the Grand Prix Greats section are the 1912 Sunbeam Coupe de L’Auto, the 1924 Bugatti Type 35, the 1950 BRM V16, the Lotus 49, famously driven by Graham Hill in the 1967 F1 season and the Lotus E20, driven during the 2012 season by Kimi Räikkönen.
Road, Race & Rally section you will find the 1981 Ford Escort rally car driven by Ari Vatanen and the 1983 Audi Quattro driven to victory by Stig Blomqvist in the 1984 Rally of Argentina.
Accompanying the vehicles are displays of some of the museum’s vast collection of historic photographs and objects associated with motor sports, supported by items from McLaren and the Williams Heritage Collection. Dickie Stanford, previously Williams Team Manager and now Manager of their Heritage Collection, was there to talk about the items they had provided, including David Coulthard’s race suit and Damon Hill’s helmet.
There is also rolling film footage from the 1930s onwards, a Grand Prix Leader Board for the start of the 2015 F1 season and interactive photographic panels which include contributions from Murray Walker, and motoring authors and journalists, Graham Robson and Doug Nye, who many of you will have met at previous Beaulieu One Hundred Annual Dinners.
Last but not least, is the photo opportunity that no-one wants to miss. Certainly not the Beaulieu One Hundred members seen below.
In the words of Beaulieu One Hundred member, Nick Holmes
“It was a real pleasure today to be able to meet and listen to two greats of the motoring world, Sir Stirling Moss and Murray Walker, discuss the cars and people that Stirling raced against. It was fascinating, funny and warming to see these two amazing men. Thank you.”
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