EVENT REPORT
BEAULIEU INTERNATIONAL AUTOJUMBLE
Beaulieu, Hampshire September 4-5, 2021
This year’s Beaulieu International Autojumble has left me with mixed feelings. It was undoubtedly great to get out and about again with some sense of normality having returned, but I felt really uncomfortable about the large crowds, the majority of whom didn’t wear masks or keep any social distancing whatsoever. Those famous words uttered by football commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme in the 1966 World Cup Final kept ringing in my ears: “They think it’s all over...” The trouble is, it ain’t, not by a long way.
Normally, the public gates open at 10am. However, no doubt in an attempt to reduce queuing at the main entrance, folk were allowed in earlier. A good idea in theory except that they were only allowed into the Automart and auction area and not into the vast main fields where the merchandise stands were sited. By 9.15am the main arena was really busy as everyone was concentrated there, looking at the Bonhams Auction cars, which this year were exhibited outside rather than in their marquee. Only when the field gates opened at 10am did it start to thin out a little as people headed off to hunt down a bargain or try to find that elusive thingamabob or maybe just browse. The other main difference this year was that there were fewer sales pitches. The normally busy top field was shut. Part of this was due to the drop in overseas traders. There were also fewer foreign visitors, with hardly a foreign accent to be heard.
There was as always, plenty to interest
Classic American readers. Let’s start with cars for sale. Classic car prices have gone crazy in the last few years, but if you steer clear of the fashionable or investor-led models, and think outside the box, you can still pick up an interesting classic for reasonable money. Bonhams sold a tidy, red 1960 Corvair automatic with 58,000 miles on the clock for a paltry £6750.
A very presentable Canadian-built, righthand-drive 1930 Ford Model A Roadster with dickey seat which was described as “running and driving well” was hammered down at just £10,350 which seemed a decent buy. A lovely 1931 Chrysler Deluxe CD Eight coupe with rumble seat carried an estimate of £25-35,000 but failed to find a new home. A diminutive 1933/34 American Austin Car Company Seven ‘woodie’ re-creation made me smile. About as much use as a chocolate tea pot, it raised £16,312 which I thought was rather a lot but it was still well below Bonhams’ estimate of £18-24,000. ❯❯
Now, if fire engines are your thing, you had two to choose from. First was a glorious open-top ex-City of Jackson, Mississippi 1921 Seagrave 12-litre six, complete with ladders, hoses and brass bell. Bonhams sold this wonderful contraption for just £16,875.
The other, a dealer sale, was a very usable 1970 Dodge four-wheel-drive Power Wagon. The emblem on the door read Dome Valley Fire Dept., Arizona, but it was recently imported from Scandinavia. It was still fitted out for fire duties, complete with pump and red flashing roof light but it wouldn’t take much to convert this into a great, practical truck or camper. I thought £12,950 looked a reasonable buy and worthy of further inspection.
Another useful old bus was an ex-Aussie Telecom 1996 Ford Falcon panel van fitted with a four-litre straight-six engine, which had been converted into a camper van (of sorts). In my book, an ugly duckling, so you’d have to fall in love with it to cough up the £10,000 asking price. For sportier types, there was a really tidy, heavily optioned 3.8-litre V6 Chevy Camaro automatic which was bought new in the UK in 2000. With lots of service history and 72,000 miles covered, this seemed a good buy at £5250. If you like the wind in your hair, there was a canary yellow 2004 Corvette C5 convertible with chrome wheels for £19,950. And if you wear a wig, use plenty of glue as these things are fast.
If you prefer older cars, especially those with wooden, artillery-type wheels, you were in luck. Bonhams sold a big old 1927 Stutz AA straight eight tourer, in need of recommissioning after long-term storage for just £12,717 – which was well below its £18-22,000 estimate – and a 1924 Buick McLaughlin Limousine for a tad-above-estimate £21,937. A racy looking brass headlamp and aero screened 1910 Overland Model 46 Roadster with right-hand drive (as they all were before 1915) made £31,500, which was mid-estimate. And to dress the part when driving it, I found a retailer offering made-to-measure period leather dust coats and a range of leather flying helmets and goggles to go with it.
I was rather taken with a bespoke 1931 Nash Eight-90 Series limousine complete with whitewalls, running boards, suicide doors and even privacy blinds in the rear. Offered by a dealer at £22,000 it looked big bangs for the buck.
Out in the fields, one trader was using a now rare Jeep J10 4WD pick-up as his workhorse, while another had a 1931 Oldsmobile F32 Coupe strapped down to a trailer with a price tag of £22,000. If you felt brave there was a bare bones basic 1912 Hupmobile Model 20 Buckboard on offer at £17,500. It looked a lot of money for not a lot of car, but it may have been a bargain. You need to know your subject before splashing out the cash. There weren’t many motorbikes for sale this year, but the best of the bunch was a 1919 Harley-Davidson Model T for £30,000. Of course, there was all the usual stuff. Plenty of books, magazines, photos, movie posters, tools, vintage clothing, work wear, models, car cleaning products, hub caps, nuts and bolts, electrical components, oil cans and petrol pumps – and I’m sure I even spotted Uncle Tom Cobley.