The National Motor Museum is searching for a new home after 60 years in the grounds of the Beaulieu Estate in Hampshire – but the site itself will continue to operate as a motoring museum.
The NMM Trust has announced that it won’t renew its lease at Beaulieu when it comes to the end of its 60-year term in the coming years and has begun the hunt for a new site for its collection.
The Trust, founded in 1970 to take over the management of what was previously a small collection run by estate owner Lord Montagu, said the move is part of a “long-term strategy to secure the future” of the museum.
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“This strategy is focused on reimagining and reinvigorating the museum, engaging with new generations of motoring enthusiasts and diverse communities, while developing and preserving the Designated collection for generations to come,” it added.
The Trust and the Montagu family, who still own the Beaulieu Estate, have discussed investment and redevelopment plans in line with that strategy but have concluded that the best option is to relocate the collection.
The NMM plans to find a “suitable new home” that will allow it to “share the stories of motoring heritage more widely than ever before”. It also plans to develop a training centre for heritage engineering apprenticeships.
The collection currently comprises around 285 vehicles. However, the Beaulieu Estate said it owns “a significant amount”, which “will continue to stay” at the Hampshire site.
The Estate said motoring will remain “very much a part of our identity” as it develops its offering as a tourist destination – with “a comparable range of experiences to what people enjoy today”.
It emphasised that there will be no changes to its events calendar, which includes the popular Beaulieu Autojumble in September.
Beaulieu “intends to continue to operate a motor museum in the future, as it has for over 70 years”, despite the NMM’s move, it said.
However, the NMM itself will vacate the distinctive purpose-built building it has occupied since 1972, which is famous for the monorail that passes through, allowing visitors to see the collection from above.
The collection currently includes a wide range of TV and film cars, land speed record breakers, Formula 1 racing legends and some of the oldest ‘motorised carriages’ in existence.
