BEAULIEU: A BEAUTIFUL PLACE FOR CAR FANS
LORD MONTAGU COMBINED HIS LOVE OF CLASSIC CARS AND HIS HISTORIC HOME IN HIS REINVENTION OF CLASSIC CAR MUSEUMS
The late Edward Douglas-scottmontagu, third Baron Montagu of Beaulieu, did more than open a motor museum, pursuing a lifelong passion for automobiles and doing much to preserve older cars and encourage their following. His enthusiasm was obvious when I met him on his first visit to New Zealand in 1964.
In what has been a year of significant anniversaries, in 2019, the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, formerly the Montagu Motor Museum, celebrates 60 years since first opening its doors — although a handful of cars were displayed in Palace House from 1952.
The outstanding automotive collection housed at Beaulieu near the New Forest in Hampshire stands as a worthy tribute to Lord Montagu, one of the most controversial and iconic aristocrats of the 20th century.
Edward Montagu had a full life. His passions included British heritage, music, sport, and film. He was also a member of the House of Lords for more than half a century.
Lord Montagu was a great motoring man, and his extensive world travels included three visits to New Zealand in support of the cause of historic motoring. Photographer Jack Inwood and I joined several vintage and veteran car enthusiasts at Auckland’s Whenuapai airport to welcome him in March 1964. On this debut visit, he wanted to bring “the international side of the movement” to New Zealand, and said that, despite our isolation, there was no reason for clubs here to feel out on a limb. He was impressed by the claim that New Zealand and Australia had more vintage cars per capita than any other country.
Lord and Lady Montagu opened a section of the Museum of Transport and Technology (Motat) at Western Springs in Auckland, gave lectures in main centres, and attended vintage and veteran rallies in Palmerston North and Taumarunui.
Montagu returned the following year with a 1913 Prince Henry Vauxhall to win his class in the sixth International Vintage Car Rally, which included the newly built–but–still unsealed Haast Pass, connecting Hokitika and Wanaka. Len Southward was the overall winner in his 1912 Buick. The rally saw a remarkably robust 288 cars from a total entry of 294 complete the 2090km journey in Christchurch.
This was New Zealand’s first international rally sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale des Véhicules Anciens (FIVA), the first down-under FIVA rally, one of the earliest to be held outside Europe, and a coup for the organizers. Word spread, and, in 1972, for the second international rally held
here, the entry list had grown to 750 cars. Eight years later, New Zealand once more hosted the rally and the response was massive: 1060 vehicles, including 962 cars and 64 motorcycles, and 139 marques from 11 nations. The president of the Vintage Car Club of New Zealand (VCC) at the time, Lionel Priest, said that the two-week event was probably the largest gathering of entered vehicles in any motor event in the world.
Years later, Montagu recalled, “I particularly enjoyed my rallies in Australia and
New Zealand, and found that, for veteran car driving, the best was the South Island of New Zealand, where the roads were virtually empty and the only other obstruction was wandering flocks of sheep.”
Ironically, given his comments in 1964 about our isolation, when he arrived in Rotorua for the start of the 1980 international rally — the 21st on the world stage — Montagu worried about enormous shipping costs, casting a doubt over the staging of future international rallies in this country. He said that the cost of entering the event could put it beyond the reach of many enthusiasts.
“It cost me £3000 to ship my 1912 Hispano-suiza here, and that doesn’t include airfares and accommodation for my wife and myself. The way things are going,” he predicted, “this could be the last one held in New Zealand.”
Happily, his worries proved groundless, and, in February 1986, the Pan Pacific Rally, starting in Christchurch, drew 800 vehicles and 2000 participants. While not officially given international status, the Pan Pacific attracted good overseas support, and was followed by similar events in Palmerston North in 1992, Hamilton in 2000, Invercargill in 2006, and Whanganui in 2012.
Motoring pioneer
Montagu’s father, John Douglas-scottmontagu, was a great pioneer of British motoring: the first Englishman to race a British-made car on the Continent and the first to take a British monarch for a drive in a motor car. His 1899 Daimler was the first automobile to be driven into the British Parliament Palace Yard at Westminster. In 1902, he started an early weekly motoring magazine, Car Illustrated, remaining as its editor until the outbreak of World War I, and once wrote, “The motor car is a jealous animal and wants your whole attention.”
He commissioned art editor and cartoonist Charles Sykes to work on the magazine. Sykes created the Spirit of Ecstasy bonnet ornament, which would adorn every Rolls-royce and was modelled on John Montagu’s secretary and lover, Miss Thornton.
Driving an 1899 12hp (9kw) Daimler, the older Lord Montagu joined 64 other cars on the Thousand Mile Trial from London to Edinburgh and back in 1900, winning a bronze medal. The gold went to Charles Rolls in a 12hp Panhard. In June 2000, Edward Montagu drove the same Daimler in the 100th anniversary of the run. After John’s death in 1929, when son Edward was little more than two years old, his 1903 6hp (4kw) De Dion-bouton remained at Beaulieu.
It was this car that sparked the idea for a motor museum.
As previously mentioned, Lord Montagu began his collection of old cars in 1952, and, by the time I met him 12 years later, there were three centres — in Beaulieu, Brighton, and Measham — housing 200 cars, 150 motorcycles, trolley buses, trams, and a train. The first museum was established in the front hall of historic Palace House at Beaulieu, but this was only an interim location, since it made the whole house smell of oil.
Lord Montagu always believed that the cars in the museum should be used, and as many as possible raced, hill climbed, and ran in speed events.
“It doesn’t mean anything to just collect cars,” he told me.
Montagu always believed there were few motor museums in the world but “an awful lot of collections”. Museums, he pondered, were different, since they attempted to tell the story of the car and should be surrounded by artefacts and relics of the time. Collections did not tell any story of the cars; rather they told the story of the person who did the collecting. Beaulieu was to be a working museum, with the sound and smell of veteran and vintage engines turning over once a month.
New use for historic building
In 1951, at the age of 25, Montagu succeeded to the estate and title but found that there was insufficient money to fund the cost of running the property and its buildings. So, along with reluctantly selling a small portion of the estate’s land, the idea of a motor museum made sense to him to improve the finances.
The world’s first motor museum originated in 1912 when Edmund Dangerfield founded a collection in London’s Oxford Street. This early effort failed due to the onset of World War I. Lord Montagu’s plan was somewhat different. He sited his old-butmodest group of vehicles in one of the so-called treasure houses in England. In addition to his dad’s De Dion, the initial collection comprised an 1898 Daimler, an 1896 Léon Bollée tri-car, an 1898 Benz, and a 1904 Vauxhall.
The media loved the idea, the Daily Mail newspaper reporting: “Old crocks are now on show in King John’s abbey”.
Lord Montagu was working in public relations up in London and was well versed in dealing with the press. He soon saw the size of the public interest in old cars. A sharp increase in that interest came in 1955 with the release of the comedy film Genevieve, which starred two rival cars, a Spyker and a 1905 Darracq, taking part in the Brighton run.
Lord Montagu always believed that the cars in the museum should be used, and as many as possible raced, hill climbed, and ran in speed events
“This had a dramatic effect on veteran and vintage motoring the world over, and led to the foundation of many new historic car clubs,” said Montagu.
That Darracqu was resold in Queensland in 1989 for the equivalent of $610K — such is the worth of a car with ‘history’.
By 1968, Montagu had realized that the collection was too big to be administered by himself alone and a charitable trust was established to look after the cars, collections of ephemera, and memorabilia. One of the principles of the museum was that it would act as an academic educational centre for thousands of students and others who are interested in the history of motor transport.
Beaulieu is split into seven sections, with a hall of fame at the entrance commemorating the great pioneers and racing drivers. Sections devoted to veteran and vintage cars are complemented by the racing car division and commercial vehicle section, not forgetting the motorcycle gallery. Finally, there is a display of motor car bric-a-brac and other items relevant to the history of motoring in a social rather than a technical sense.
Record-breakers
The museum houses several record-breakers, including Sir Henry Segrave’s land-speedrecord holder, the ‘Golden Arrow’, which achieved 231mph (372kph) in 1929. This significant exhibit arrived at Beaulieu in 1958 on long-term loan from Castrol. The car was joined by Sir Malcolm Campbell’s 150mph (241kph) Sunbeam and later by Donald Campbell’s ‘Bluebird’.
One of the favourite vehicles is a stately white 1909 Rolls-royce Silver Ghost rescued from a breaker’s yard, where it had been converted into a breakdown truck. Lord Montagu acquired it for £100 and had it rebuilt in his workshop, where vehicles are restored. He also spent substantial time searching for his father’s old Daimler, eventually locating it in Gloucestershire, where it was being used to pull a lawnmower.
Owners were soon offering to loan their historic vehicles to the museum, and, with up to 20 cars a week being offered, Montagu had to be highly selective.
“I like to have an outstanding or revolutionary car placed in the museum every few years,” he said, indicating the reason for displaying a 1959 Volkswagen, and accurately predicting in 1964 that Beaulieu would soon have a BMC Mini within its walls.
In 1960, a classic old car auction was held at Beaulieu and Montagu believed it was a world first.
“This finally recognized that old cars were now genuine ‘collectables’,” he said.
Meanwhile, he had accumulated 12,000
car manuals and 30,000 photos, which, added to his father’s small personal collection, provided the nucleus of the new National Library of Motoring, with film, video, and sound adding to the large collection of motoring books.
In 1967, the museum’s curator, Michael Ware, suggested the setting up of Autojumble, with stalls selling spare parts and other material relating to motoring. Autojumble became a highly successful annual event.
State-of-the-art complex
A lack of space for the 250 exhibits soon became a problem, prompting the building of a state-of-the-art museum complex that opened in July 1972. Another new building was added in 1986 to house the National Motor Museum Trust Centre with three libraries, offices, a lecture theatre, and an extensive stores area. The new buildings and car parks were designed to be virtually invisible from outside the estate and complement the architecture of the original Beaulieu Abbey, built by Cistercian monks 800 years ago.
Lord Montagu was instrumental in the decision of the British Government to abolish road tax on any motor vehicle made prior to 1973 — although he would have preferred a continuation of the 25-year-old age-limit concession, which now no longer exists.
“One of my greatest pleasures has been actually driving the types of car that my father himself would have driven. The rallying of veteran and vintage cars has been an abiding joy,” he said.
Montagu drove old cars not only to promote the museum but also as a homage
to the past. In 1950, he took part in his first London to Brighton Veteran Car Run with a 1903 6hp De Dion-bouton two-seater, and he rarely missed competing in the annual event after that.
“My first historic car race was at Brands Hatch and I won in a 1915 Prince Henry Vauxhall,” he said.
Ultimate experience
Of long-distance rallying, Montagu ranked the 12,000-mile (19,312km) Peking to Paris event in 1997 as his greatest experience. He entered the same late-edwardian Vauxhall, but it came to a halt on the first day with a punctured radiator, forcing him to grab a lift in a Phantom V Rolls-royce belonging to Sydney surgeon John Matheson.
“There are few experiences more exhilarating than travelling through exotic landscapes, on testing roads, in classic cars, and in the company of like-minded enthusiasts. I have been lucky enough to do it all my life, and it has been a huge privilege,” Montagu declared in 2000.
Multifaceted life
“I had no idea that my car collection would one day become the National Motor Museum, one of the country’s top tourist attractions and a crucial record of Britain’s motoring heritage”
Lord Montagu was a prolific writer, penning the first-ever biography of Jaguar, a book that has been updated seven times. He wrote a history of Daimler, published in 1996 to mark the centenary year of the marque with which his family had long been associated. Other works included a biography of Charles Rolls, Rolls-royce: 80 Years of Motoring Excellence, and The Gordon Bennett Races. He also founded Veteran and Vintage magazine in 1956.
In addition to his fondness for Daimler, Montagu enjoyed a special affection for Jaguar. In early in 1959, he had just taken delivery of a new red 3.4 Jaguar saloon from Mike Hawthorn’s garage in Surrey when he was shocked to hear that the then– recently crowned world champion driver had been killed in a road accident. In 1999, Montagu bought a new Daimler Sovereign and recalled, “There can’t be many families who can boast they own and drive the same marque after a hundred years.”
On the opening day of the original small museum 67 years ago, Montagu told his house guests that if more than 100 visitors arrived by 6pm, they would have champagne with dinner. The doors opened at 11am, and by 12.30pm the hundredth visitor had paid the entry fee of 2s 6d. “We had champagne with lunch,” Montagu said.
Within a few years, more than half a million visitors a year were flocking to see the growing collection. Writing in his autobiography Wheels Within Wheels, published in 2000, Montagu said, “I had no idea that my car collection would one day become the National Motor Museum, one of the country’s top tourist attractions and a crucial record of Britain’s motoring heritage.”
The two interviews I had with Montagu in New Zealand were brief as he seemingly dashed from one thing to another in his hugely busy and industrious, if unconventional, life. I made several visits to the Beaulieu museum over three decades, and there was always something new and exciting to see. I also enjoyed a fascinating day at one of the Autojumble swaps in Hampshire.
When Lord Montagu died in August 2015, aged 88, after a short illness, he left a huge and permanent motoring legacy. He had two marriages and three children, one of whom is Ralph Douglas-scott-montagu, fourth Baron Montagu of Beaulieu.