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Here are a few statistics; the International Autojumble of the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu which took place over the weekend of the 1^st and 2^nd  September attracted over 34,000 enthusiasts who visited more than 2,000 stands.

Some were tempted by the many and various attractions of the Bonhams Auction, from the 1903 Panhard et Levassor 7hp Type A, a former star exhibit of the Montagu Motor Museum (the venue’s original incarnation), which sold for £212,750 (including the Bonhams premium) to one of the most incredible barn finds imaginable; a 1959 Jaguar XK150 which had been unused for four decades.

Then there was the display of the Morgan Sports Car Club which paid homage to the 50^th birthday of the Plus 8 and, at the Automart, there was a 1962 Chrysler Newport which really did look as though it had strayed from the set of It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World.

The 1967 RHD Fiat 600D was somewhat more compact but no less important, for this was the model of car that brought mobility to countless families across Italy, Spain and the former Yugoslavia.

Remaining with our Fiat theme, on the stand of Practical Classics, you would have found what initially appeared to be a 124 saloon – itself an extremely rare sight in the UK – but what was, in fact, a Tofas Serçe. The confusion is understandable as the latter was a 124 derivative that was made by Türk Otomobil Fabrikasi Anonim Sirketi of Istanbul from 1983 onwards, with every dent in the coachwork a testament to years of service.

The example seen in Beaulieu had been driven from Turkey and the intrepid Mr. Ed Hughes remarks that ‘Despite its crummy styling “update”, it's even better than a Fiat 124, having a 131 engine and steering rack’. The mighty car shared space on the PC stand with a 1916 American LaFrance, for one of the many charms of the Autojumble is that each vehicle is of equal importance. In another corner of the grounds lurked a third generation Morris Marina, resplendent in its green coachwork with vinyl roof, while a red MGC Roadster was another reminder of a) its svelte lines and b) how well disc wheels complement the coachwork.

Naturally, the show featured table after table containing parts that you needed for your latest restoration project. Alternatively, there were those parts you acquired for a project that you had not yet commenced and parts that were bought ‘just in case’.  With regard to the last-named, no fashionable garage is complete without at least one bumper from a 1963 Austin A60 Cambridge.

For hundreds of show-goers the main attractions came in the form of die-cast models bearing the “Dinky” or “Spot On” logos, and for others, it was the chance to acquire yet more magazines of the past. AA’s quarterly title Drive contained recipes from the BBC Home Service presenter Jack de Manio and 1980s copies of Car had the unmissable words of Russell Bulgin, George Bishop and Phil Llewellin.

Meanwhile, the Motor Show editions of Autocar had page after page of advertisements for dealers, all enticing the reader to dial PRImrose 4507 or SHEpherds Bush 3015. The winners of this year’s “Best Stand” award were Andrew Honeybill and Martin Gee who have been part of the show for many years.

By Sunday evening, the roads of the New Forest were packed with both classic cars and more modern vehicles packed with 1976 Motor Road Test Annuals, 1/25 scale Polistil models of the Volvo 164 and the gearbox of a 1987 Ford Sierra made their way along the M27. And the thoughts of the drivers were all along one theme – ‘here’s to next year’s International Autojumble’ https://www.beaulieu.co.uk/events/