A celebration of the centenary of Bluebird cars and boats, which was formed 100 years ago when Sir Malcolm Campbell saw Maurice Maeterlinck’s play ‘The Blue Bird’ at the Theatre Royal Haymarket and, inspired by the play’s theme of the search for happiness, rushed out of the theatre to purchase a local ironmonger's entire stock of blue paint. That night he christened his racing car ‘Blue Bird’ and with the paint still wet from the night before, he won his first race at Brooklands Race Track in Surrey.
Bluebird cars and boats including the Sunbeam 350bhp – which helped Campbell to win his first Land Speed Record in 1924 – will come together outside the theatre. There's also the unveiling of a new Bluebird circuit race car for the proposed FIA Formula E race series. A talk by Don Wales and Gina Campbell takes place in theatre at 2pm.