At this year’s International Historic Motoring Awards, presented by Octane Magazine in association with EFG International, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu was the recipient of the coveted Lifetime Achievement Award.
The award was presented by Lord Montagu’s long-time friend, Murray Walker, who paid a generous tribute, summing up by saying: “If ever there was an aristocratic petrolhead, it’s Edward Montagu.”
In the 60 years since Lord Montagu opened his home, Palace House, to visitors for the first time and put on display half-a-dozen cars as a tribute to his father, an early motoring pioneer, he has dedicated his life to preserving automotive history and making it accessible and interesting for everyone. Lord Montagu has become the driving force for the historic car movement in the UK, with what is now known as the National Motor Museum, welcoming over 400,000 visitors a year from Britain and overseas.
The award was doubly good news for Lord Montagu, as the museum he founded took top honours in the Museum or Collection of the Year category. In addition to being an enormously popular visitor attraction, the National Motor Museum is also a major international education and resource centre.
As well as its collection of over 300 vehicles there is an archive of 42,000 motoring items representing all aspects of motoring from early candle lamps and leather driving coats to toys, car badges and mascots. Over one million images make up the photographic collection, and the reference library – one of the largest resources of its type in the world – holds over 280,000 books, manuals, sales material and periodicals. The film and video library, in addition to its archive of film footage from major car manufacturers, has gained a reputation for rescuing and preserving moving images from cine film and redundant video format.
This year, as the National Motor Museum celebrates its 40th anniversary, it has hosted a major new exhibition, BOND IN MOTION, marking 50 years of James Bond films, which has drawn a whole new sector of visitors to the museum.
At the Hudson’s Heritage Awards 2012, Lord Montagu received the Special Judges Award for consistent achievement, commercial innovation and good practice.
