Beaulieu Museum

While we were in England, we had to stop by some museums. One was the Beaulieu Museum in Hampshire. Parking lots are always one of the most exciting part about any car museum or show, but this lonely Type R was as exotic as this parking lot got.

This RS Cosworth was one of the cars that greeted you in the way in. With 5,000 made to qualify for Group A, it's a very sought after car in the Ford line up.

Farther in, this Silk Cut Jaguar was on a Goodwood like display right below the the bridge. The Group C were easily one of the best looking race cars ever. The Silk Cut livery is synonymous this Group C and Jaguar. 

Just below was this Ari Vatanen Ford Escort Rothmans rally car from the Lombard Rally. Group B was easily the most exciting time in rally, but these little Escorts stood the test of time and still get regularly rallied all over England.

Yet another famous race car, possibly the most famous was this Lotus. The Lotus 49 is easily one of the best looking race cars to ever take to the track. Simple, but yet still aggressive and successful. It may of been F1's most dangerous years, but man it was also one of the best looking.

Speaking of Lotus, this Esprit from James Bond was on display with the other James Bond cars.

The biggest cars there were the Land Speed Cars. The BlueBird CN7 was made for speeds up to 500MPH, but only hit 440MPH at the end of the measured mile. Quite a site to take with the huge 30ft blue beast sitting front of you. 

Next to was the 1928 Golden Arrow. With a 23.9 liter W12, it set a (at the time) record of 231MPH in the flying mile on Daytona beach. These cars are some of the wildest cars to see in person, which makes me really want to get to Bonneville someday.

The most exciting cars to be on display at Beaulieu though had to be these. I'm sure some people just see this as a beat up Toyota, but to the majority of people, we all know this as the Hilux that wouldn't die. A whole display for Top Gear was set up at Beaulieu with tons of cars from various challenges.

Like this Nissan made to cross the English Channel.

There was a show getting set up for the next day, with some of the cars showing up early. Like this row of Hillman Imps. They've always been an awkward looking little car, but something about the rally set up just looks right on it.

The employee lot had one last little surprise, this Mexico Edition Escort. The tiny wheels on the large body looks almost comical, and yet I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

After the museum we arrived at our place for he night in Windsor. Just down the street I noticed a shape that could only be a classic car. After checking it out, it turned out to be a Lancia Fulvia! A pretty good way to end the day in my book.

Delaney