Florida Dayton Beach 24 August 1932 U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

Sunbeam 1000hp: Research Visit to Daytona Beach

10 March 2025

Our Chief Executive, Jon Murden, Head of Development, Nellie Rogers and Martin Braybrook of Brookspeed Engineering represented the National Motor Museum on a visit to Daytona Beach, Florida, during the second week of February 2025. This was a research trip undertaken as part of the project to restore the Sunbeam 1000hp World Land Speed Record car. It was at Daytona Beach on 29 March 1927 that the Sunbeam 1000hp became the first car to travel at over 200mph, and it is the project’s ultimate ambition to return the car there in 2027 to mark the centenary of that historic run.

1927 World Land Speed Commemoration Plaque

The visit to Daytona was organised in conjunction with Brian Bentley of the Daytona Beach Area Convention and Visitor Bureau. Brian is a keen classic car and motorcycle enthusiast and approached the Museum to offer his support after first hearing about the Sunbeam 1000hp project via You Tube. He helped arrange an intensive programme of meetings with the key stakeholders and partners the National Motor Museum will need to work with to make our plans for 2027 both a reality and a success.

As a result, we now have established relationships with vital people like Jim Morris, Deputy City Manager for Daytona Beach; Nancy Keefer, CEO of Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce; Kyle McDaniel, Assistant Chief, Volusia County Sheriff; and Tammy Malphurs, Director of Beach Safety for Volusia County. It is with their help and support, alongside that of many others, that we are now confident that we will be able to get the necessary local, county, state and federal permissions we need to run the car on Daytona Beach once again.

Jon, Nellie and Martin also met critically important figures within the Daytona heritage and motorsport community. As a result of the trip, George Levy, President of the Motorsports Hall of Fame in Daytona, has offered the support of his museum’s facilities to exhibit, store and care for the car while it is in Florida, alongside an offer to help us host a fundraising event in Daytona in due course.

We are also now in dialogue with Sean Belgrade, Vice President of Southeastern NASCAR Tracks, about the possibilities for exhibiting the 1000hp Sunbeam and promoting the NMM at race events such at the Rolex 24hour and Daytona 500.

The trip also included research visits to a number of potential partner hotels and hospitality providers, as well as scouting out historic sites connected with the Sunbeam 1000hp and Sir Henry Segrave. These included Ormond Garage, which was located on the original ‘gasoline alley’, and The Casements – the now preserved home of John D Rockefeller, where we learned Segrave and his team were given an audience following their record breaking run. The curators of both sites are very much interested in working with us to create wider interest and engagement, and to promote our respective charities, while the car is back in Florida.

Jon Murden says, "Although a hectic week, it was not without fun. We were able to eat at ‘Top of Daytona’, the restaurant made famous by Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder and explore the historic beach circuit that was the birthplace of NASCAR. We saw the Goodyear Blimp and the USAF ‘Thunderbirds’ and were lucky enough to get some grandstand seats for the Daytona 500 race itself. Even President Donald Trump dropped in to visit, but unfortunately, we were too busy to meet with him!"

Sunbeam 1000hp Restoration Campaign

Support the campaign to restore the Sunbeam 1000hp and return the iconic car to Daytona Beach for the centenary of Sir Henry Seagrave's World Land Speed Record on 29 March 2027.

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