Sunbeam 1000hp World Land Speed Record Breaker makes Pebble Beach Post Restoration Debut

The legendary vehicle was restored by the workshop team of the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu (in Hampshire, UK). The Museum aims to return the British engineering icon to Daytona Beach, Florida, in 2027, marking 100 years since it broke the 200mph Land Speed Record in 1927. Restoration has involved bringing two colossal 22.4 litre Matabele V12 aero engines that power the vehicle back to working order.

The car will be joined at Pebble Beach by two from the Museum workshop team; Senior Engineer Ian Stanfield and Aaron Burton, the workshop apprentice who have both worked on the restoration. Aaron is attending the Heritage Skills Academy and has developed a knowledge of classic car restoration by working on the Sunbeam 1000hp.  

Martin Braybrook, Sunbeam 1000hp Project Patron, and Jon Murden, National Motor Museum Chief Executive and Lord Montagu of Beaulieu will also represent the Museum at the prestigious event in California.

The Museum's logistics partner in the USA, CARS (Classic Automotive Relocation Services) transported the car from Beaulieu to California - with an initial ship journey from Southampton to New York.

Following its appearance at the Pebble Beach Concours d’ Elegance the car is due to do a pit stop at Jay Leno’s ‘Big Dog Garage’ located in Burbank, California and then go on display on loan for the rest of the year at the Petersen Automotive Museum.

The restoration project has taken over three years – with many additional years of preparatory work, with the expertise of the Museum workshop team being tested with such a mammoth motoring heritage project, as there were no manuals or documentation to help.

The workshop team led by Senior Engineer Ian Stanfield found more problems than expected while dismantling the front engine – one of two of the Sunbeam’s colossal 22.5 litre Matabele V12 aero engines - and extensive work has been carried out, both on and off-site, to repair the original parts. Collaboration partners and supporters have worked extensively with the Museum to get the project over the line.

National Motor Museum Chief Executive, Jon Murden says, “I’m so proud of this achievement and the Museum workshop team who made it happen. I’m delighted that Ian Stanfield and his team’s expertise and perseverance have secured that the restoration has been completed on schedule. We are grateful to all the funders and supporters who helped our hopes for this legendary car become reality, and we are excited for the next chapter as the Sunbeam 1000hp goes back to US for the first time in a century.”

The vehicle - also known as ‘The Slug’, the slang term for bullet after World War 1 – will go back to Daytona Beach for a momentous low-speed centenary run on 29 March 2027, to celebrate Sir Henry Segrave breaking the 200mph World Land Speed Record there 100 years ago.

The focus of the Museum’s fundraising efforts will now shift to raising funds for the Sunbeam 1000hp to be further displayed in the USA and subsequently back in Great Britain in 2027. The aim is to raise funds to enable the Museum to undertake further restoration projects, and deliver high-quality learning, educational and community initiatives.

More information on the Sunbeam 1000hp’s itinerary in the USA, its history and its restoration is available at https://nationalmotormuseum.org.uk/sunbeam1000hp