Beaulieu Motor Museum opened up a new exhibition to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The exhibit, based around the story of the fictional car, opened on October 20th. The original screen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang motor and the Humber 8hp driven by Truly Scrumptious were the highlights of the display. Similar to the film, the cars were stored in Coggins’ Garage.
Joining the vehicles was the the Clockwork Lullabye, Little Dragon Carpet Sweeper, Hot Air Rocking Chair and Humbug Major Sweet Machine. A reconstruction of the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was placed outside of the museum, and visitors actually got the chance to ride it. There was a range of original concept art, storyboard imagery and technical drawings on display as well.
A full-size replica of Grandpa Potts’ hut was built next to the garage. The structure had been recreated using the original 50-year-old technical drawings from the EON Productions archive. A variety of costumes were also used, such as the Child Catcher and Sally Anne Howes’ music box doll dress.
In addition, visitors could view a timeline wall charting the history of the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang story. The timeline begins from Ian Fleming’s novel and ends with the creation of the musical film. Fleming’s inspiration came from car driver Louis Zborowski, who designed four aero-engined racing machines he named ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ because of the noise they made.
First editions of Fleming’s books and memorabilia like cast signatures, pedal and Corgi cars, pop-up books, branded lunch boxes and comics were all on display. Entry to the exhibition was included in the general admission price for Beaulieu. Which covered the permanent Top Gear and film car exhibitions, Montagu family home of Palace House, Beaulieu Abbey and the surrounding gardens.
For more information be sure to check out the official Beaulieu website.
