British Motor Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 1993 |
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| Location | Banbury Road, Gaydon, Warwickshire, England |
| Type | Transport Museum |
| Nearest car park | On-Site Parking which is free |
The British Motor Museum in Gaydon, Warwickshire, England, is home to the world's largest collection of old British cars. It has over 300 amazing cars on display! These cars come from two important groups: the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust and the Jaguar Heritage Trust. It's a fantastic place to learn about the history of British cars.
Contents
History of the British Motor Museum
How the Collection Started
In 1968, many British car companies joined together to form the British Leyland Motor Corporation (BL). Famous names like Austin, Jaguar, Morris, and Rover became part of this big group. Many of these companies had their own collections of historic cars.
To keep track of all these vehicles, a special department called Leyland Historic Vehicles was created in 1975. The collection of cars and company records grew very quickly.
Protecting Car History
In 1983, BL set up special charities to make sure these important collections would be saved forever. The British Motor Industry Heritage Trust (BMIHT) was formed. Under this, the Austin Rover Group Heritage Trust and the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust were also created.
Later, in 1990, the Jaguar collection moved to the Jaguar Browns Lane plant in Coventry. The Rover Group Trust then gave its entire collection to the BMIHT.
Building a New Home for Cars
The growing collection was kept in different places, like Syon Park in London and Studley Castle in Warwickshire. The BMIHT decided they needed one big building to hold everything.
With help from the Rover Group and others, a large new museum was built. It was located on 65 acres (260,000 m2) of land at the Rover Group's site in Warwickshire. This site used to be an airfield called RAF Gaydon.
The new museum opened in 1993 as the Heritage Motor Centre. The trust moved its entire collection, including over 250 vehicles, to this new centre.
Becoming a National Treasure
In December 2014, the museum's collection was officially recognized as a "Designated Collection." This means it's considered one of the "exceptional cultural collections" in England by the Arts Council England.
In 2015, the museum closed for a short time for a big update. It got a new look and a new name. A new two-story building, called the Collection Centre, was also built. This new centre cost £4 million and holds even more cars.
The museum reopened on 13 February 2016 as the British Motor Museum. The new Collection Centre now houses about 250 extra cars. These include vehicles from both the BMIHT and the Jaguar Heritage Trust.
Amazing Vehicles in the Collection
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The British Motor Museum has a huge number of cars! Not all cars can be shown at once because of space. Here are just a few of the cool vehicles you might see:
- The very first Land Rover ever made (from 1948).
- The first and last Land Rover Freelander models ever produced.
- Special Land Rover, Range Rover, and Rover P5 vehicles used by the British Royal Family and important politicians.
- An SAS Land Rover, used by special forces.
- A prototype Land Rover 101 Recovery Truck.
- A Shaun the Sheep Land Rover Defender, a fun themed car.
- A Land Rover Series 2 off-road vehicle with tracks instead of wheels.
- A rare Land Rover Llama lorry.
- The one millionth Land Rover Discovery 4 ever made.
- The first and last Rover 75 models ever produced.
- Rover cars that ran on gas turbines.
- The Metro 1.3 HLS that was shown at the 1980 Motor Show.
- A Metro 6R4 Rally Car, built for racing.
- Various MG cars that set speed records.
- The first Mini ever produced: 621 AOK.
- The last Rover Mini Cooper ever produced (from 2000).
- The Minis that won the famous Monte Carlo Rally in the 1960s.
- Different Mini-based prototype cars, like the Minissima.
- FAB1 from the Thunderbirds film.
- An Ascari KZ1 show car from the year 2000.
- A Rolls-Royce Phantom.
- The last Aston Martin DB7 ever made.
- An Aston Martin V12 Vanquish.
- A Sinclair C5, a small electric vehicle.
- A Ford RS200 rally car.
- The last production Austin Montego.
- A Ford Escort Mark I, like the one used in the 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally.
- A Jaguar R1 Formula One racecar from 2000.
- The Nuffield Gutty prototype.
Researching Car History
The British Motor Museum also helps people learn about the history of their own British cars. They have a special research service. The museum's Archive holds real historical records from many major car makers.
These records include original factory ledgers. These ledgers show details about individual cars as they were built. For a small fee, car owners can send in their Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), also known as the chassis number, or engine numbers.
The museum will then research the original production records for that car. They will send back information like the car's original paint colour, what special options it had, and any missing identification numbers. This is called a 'Certified Copy of a Factory Record' or a Heritage Certificate. It can be very helpful for car owners!
