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Mighty Sunbeam 1000 HP to Make Post-Restoration Debut at 75th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance

November 12, 2025

A team of restorers at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, England, the restored beast so it could make its US debut at the 2026 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance before attempting a centennial run at Daytona the following spring.

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PEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA (November 12, 2025)­­­­ — The mighty Sunbeam 1000 HP, the first car to achieve a land speed record of 200 mph, has been asleep for over 90 years. But a team of restorers at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, England, is now in the process of gently waking this giant—and if all goes as planned, the restored beast will make its US debut at the 2026 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance before attempting a centennial run at Daytona the following spring. 

“The process of restoring a one-off car like this takes real dedication,” noted Concours Chairman Sandra Button. “There is no pattern to be followed. It takes time and research, effort and expertise. We are thrilled to know that the National Motor Museum intends to send the restored car to Pebble Beach, to share with enthusiasts here.”

The Sunbeam 1000 HP was built to compete in the race for speed. The 100 mph barrier was first broken in 1904, and then it took more than two decades to reach 150 mph—a record Malcolm Campbell achieved in July of 1925 at the wheel of a Sunbeam 350 HP. The Sunbeam 1000 HP, crafted around two of the marque’s powerful 22.4-liter Matabele aero engines placed to the fore and aft of the vehicle, came into being less than two years later and proved to be revolutionary. Driving it on the smooth sands of Daytona Beach on March 29, 1927, Harry Segrave recorded a speed of 203.79 mph.

“This car has been at Beaulieu since before I was born and feels like a member of the family, but one I never expected to run again,” said Ralph, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu. “Watching the restoration take place has been fascinating as it has revealed so much I never knew about the car. It will be quite a thrill to have the car at Pebble Beach and is a great opportunity for us to wave the flag for the National Motor Museum!”

The car’s restoration is now well underway. The rear engine has already been disassembled, re-machined, restored, and refitted into the frame—and it was first fired up before an adoring crowd at the Beaulieu International Autojumble in early September. The museum team is now focused on restoring the front engine. When that, too, is back together and in place, the bodywork, which has already been restored, will be reinstalled.

“Over the last three and a half years, the Museum’s team have worked tirelessly to make the mighty Sunbeam 1000 HP roar again, with help from a wide range of supporters, stakeholders and heritage engineering specialists,” said Jon Murden, Chief Executive of the National Motor Museum. “Having experienced the first of the car’s remarkable engines running once more, we are all now thrilled at the prospect of the Sunbeam returning to the United States for the first time in a century.”

John, the second Baron Montagu of Beaulieu, was a motoring pioneer, who campaigned for the rights of early motorists. In the 1950s, his son Edward founded what is now the National Motor Museum to honor him, and that museum shares a long history with the Pebble Beach Concours. Edward first showed a car—his 1913 Alfonso Hispano-Suiza—at Pebble Beach in 1981, and the following year, he donated the Montagu of Beaulieu Trophy, which the Concours presents annually to the best British car shown on its competition field. Ralph, the current Lord Montagu, was in attendance at the Concours this year.

To learn more about the National Motor Museum and its efforts to restore the Sunbeam 1000 HP, go to www.nationalmotormuseum.org.uk/USA.

The 75th Pebble Beach Concours will take place on August 16, 2026, and will feature a wide selection of cars, ranging from early American Speedsters and Classic Streamliners to Ferraris and Japanese race cars. The latest concepts will also be on display. Tickets go on sale later this month. For more information, go to pebblebeachconcours.net.

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Contact: Kandace Hawkinson
media@pebblebeachconcours.net; 831-622-1700 concours