Bluebird K7 will be temporarily retired from display at a Lake District museum from next month, so she can have an engine fitted.
The hydroplane, in which Donald Campbell set seven world water speed records, has been on display at the Ruskin Museum in Coniston after a lengthy legal battle with the man who recovered her.
The museum said Bluebird K7 will be retired from display between February 24 and March 22.
It said: “During this time, Bluebird K7 will be having her No1 engine fitted, the engine will then be tested within the hull of K7, this is in preparation for her return to Coniston Water in 2026.
“Bluebird K7 will then be back on display at the museum (with engine fitted) from Sunday March 23 at 10am.
“We apologise for any inconvenience caused, but it is a necessary step that has to be taken, and we are trying to progress as much in low season as possible.”
Bill Smith, who recovered the record-breaking vessel and Mr Campbell’s body in 2001 from Coniston Water, where they had lain since the fatal crash on January 4 1967.
Mr Smith has kept the boat since then, but in 2006, Mr Campbell’s family gifted the Bluebird to the Coniston Institute and the Ruskin Museum.
The museum, Mr Smith and the Campbell family have been in talks over possession of the boat, but they broke down in 2019.
Mr Smith had plans to run the boat on Loch Fad on the Isle of Bute, but the museum said he did not have its permission to use its property in this way.
