Bright sunshine greeted the fourth Simply Japanese event, held in the grounds of the National Motor Museum, with 800 Japanese cars motoring into Beaulieu to put on a fantastic show. The display in the Beaulieu parkland spanned a wide range of marques including Toyota, Nissan, Subaru, Honda, Mitsubish, Lexus and Datsun, from classics to the latest models and some in concours condition.
Also supporting the show were Hendy Mazda Eastleigh and Balmer Lawn Honda, showcasing a selection of their current models, including the brand new MX5, ahead of its launch date.
Beaulieu’s Event’s Manager, Judith Maddox, said:”We were delighted with the turnout for this event with the number of vehicles and owners attending twice that of last year. There was a great range of vehicles and we were especially pleased to have increased representation by 30 Japanese car clubs including the Mx5driver, Z Club, JustJap Car Club, Dorset Japanese, Subaru Legacy, Skyline Owners, MR2 Roadsters, Ultimate Japanese, RX-8 Owners, Mazda Community UK and Hants & Dorset Nissan 200sx. The lovely weather also meant that participants could enjoy a relaxing day with an opportunity to visit the whole Beaulieu attraction as well as take part in the event.”
Visitors to Beaulieu on the day were invited to vote for their favourite vehicle in the People’s Choice Awards and the winner was Jan Van Reenen from Bracknell with his stunning Mitsubishi GTO. Jan purchased the car four years ago in a very poor state and has spent the time since completely rebuilding it to its current concours condition. Asked if it was his everyday vehicle, Jan replied: “Definitely not, it is very much for Sunday best.” Jan was presented with a Beaulieu trophy and an Autoglym Professional Valet Pack by Beaulieu’s Commercial Director, Stephen Munn. Second place went to Joel Pickering of Stanstead, with his Nissan 300 ZX and third was a Nissan Skyline R33, owned by Emma Baker from Rainham, Kent.
Simply Japanese is one of the most popular of Beaulieu’s calendar of Simply events. The provisional date for Simply Japanese 2016 is Sunday, 31st July.