The National Motor Museum has started the mammoth task of rebuilding the record-breaking Sunbeam 1000hp, with the first of the streamliner’s two 22.5 litre Matabele V12 aero engines fully stripped down.
The 1000HP, also known as ‘The Slug’ was the first cars to reach speed of over 200mph, during a record attempt on March 29, 1927, at Daytona Beach, Florida. Major Henry Segrave at the wheel, the car became the first to officially break the 200mph barrier, achieving an average speed of 203.79 mph.
The engines have not run for over 50 years, and the long process of restoring the car has begun with the full strip down of the rear engine. National Motor Museum Senior Engineer Ian Stanfield said: ‘We have found unique engineering and a wonderful quality of workmanship during the restoration so far – but nothing has been easy to get at.’
He explained: ‘After completing Sunbeam 350hp, we found problems with Sunbeam 1000hp which we weren’t willing to leave, as the custodians of its future. As oils and lubricants get older, they turn into a tar-like consistency and ‘glue’ engine parts together. That deterioration continues if it is not dealt with.’
The whole process has required bespoke engine parts to be produced, although the team is preserving and re-metalling the original parts where it can. While the piston rings had disintegrated and needed replacements, the original con rods, pistons and crank have been refurbished. Cracks in the engine’s crankcase were found during testing, but those have been repaired using state-of-the-art laser welding.
Each of the massive Sunbeam 1000hp engines once produced 435bhp, and due to the size and weight a forklift truck was needed to lift them from the chassis.
The front engine, currently still untouched, can be see in in the car’s exposed chassis at Beaulieu at the moment. Once the rear engine has been completed, and potentially started out of the car, it will be returned to the chassis before work commences on the front engine.
The team at Brookspeed Automotive are now seeking funds to complete the full restoration. The aim to raise £300k to get ‘The Slug’ back up and running, with the ambition of taking it back to Daytona Beach in Florida for the 100th anniversary of its record-breaking run in 2027. Find out more about the project, and donate here.
