14/08/2026
A great little trip out today to the fantastic Beaulieu National Motor Museum, and particularly special to see a piece I sold to the museum now sitting proudly in its glass display case on the reception desk. 👀🚗
I absolutely love seeing antiques that have passed through Exbury Antiques go on to new homes, but there’s something especially rewarding about seeing one become part of the surroundings at somewhere as iconic as Beaulieu.
This fantastic vintage Meccano racing car features the unmistakable blue and gold Meccano colour scheme, introduced in Britain in 1934. The blue plates featured their distinctive gold cross-hatched pattern, with gold strips and girders creating some seriously impressive models. The blue and gold era continued through the 1930s and into the 1940s, making surviving models like this a wonderful piece of British toy and engineering history.
And there probably couldn’t be a more appropriate home for it. The National Motor Museum’s story began in 1952, when Edward, Lord Montagu displayed five veteran cars inside Palace House as a tribute to his father, motoring pioneer John Montagu. It eventually became the National Motor Museum in 1972 and today houses an incredible collection spanning the history of motoring.
Always a fantastic place to visit, but I’ll admit I was particularly pleased to see this one still taking pride of place! 😂
And the good news is, I’ve got more available for sale! So if you fancy owning your own little piece of British motoring and toy history, you might want to get in touch before the museum buys the rest! 😂