A century after Henry Segrave took the Sunbeam 1000hp past 200 mph on Daytona Beach, the restored British record breaker is due back on the same Florida sand for a commemorative run. The National Motor Museum at Beaulieu is planning a low-speed demonstration on March 29, 2027, exactly 100 years after the record. This will be a celebration of the car, not another speed-record attempt, and the run remains planned rather than guaranteed.
The six-month countdown brings into focus how little time Sunbeam’s original team had. Work on Louis Coatalen’s concept began under chief engineer Captain J.S. “Jack” Irving on November 11, 1926. Four months later, on March 2, 1927, the car and 18 crates of spares were loaded aboard the Berengaria at Southampton, bound for New York. Its two 22.5-liter Matabele V12 aero engines had been tested, but the car had covered only a few hundred yards in Britain before reaching Daytona.
Early tests showed the rear lifting in the wind tunnel and the drive chains running almost red hot. The first beach test took place on March 21 before an estimated 10,000 spectators. Segrave and the team had only days to make changes before March 29. American newspapers dubbed the unfamiliar machine the “Mystery”; the works crew called it “The Slug.”
Segrave’s two-way average of 203.792 mph made the Sunbeam the first car to break the 200 mph land-speed barrier. That British engineering feat happened in Florida, which makes the proposed centenary homecoming more than a museum tour stop.
Beaulieu’s engineers, led by Ian Stanfield, have restored the car and both engines to working order. The Sunbeam made its post-restoration appearance at Pebble Beach in California this August and is now on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. The museum’s itinerary calls for a move to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America at Daytona International Speedway early in 2027, followed by the planned beach run on the anniversary.
The restoration has also put the car on the shortlist for the International Historic Motoring Awards’ Car of the Year. The museum says further support is needed to finish the project and make the Daytona run possible.
Just British has followed the Sunbeam restoration campaign since its early fundraising stages. The museum’s Sunbeam 1000hp page has the current US itinerary and centenary plans.
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