Donington Grand Prix Collection facts for kids

The Donington Grand Prix Collection was a famous museum in England. It was located at the Donington Park motor racing track in Leicestershire. This museum was home to many amazing motor racing cars. It was also known as the Donington Grand Prix Exhibition. The collection started in the 1960s. Sadly, the museum closed its doors for good on November 5, 2018. Its many valuable cars were then sold off.

Discovering the Donington Grand Prix Collection

The Donington Grand Prix Collection was once the biggest display of Grand Prix cars in the world. It had five large halls and over 130 amazing vehicles. The museum mainly focused on Formula One cars. These are special single-seater racing cars.

How the Collection Started

The museum was created by Tom Wheatcroft in March 1973. It was built around his own personal collection of cars. Some of these cars were raced by his own team. Famous drivers like Roger Williamson and Derek Bell drove them. Many other cars were borrowed from different owners. Over the years, people also donated racing items and old racing papers to the museum.

Amazing Cars to See

The collection had some very special cars. It was the only place to see every Vanwall car ever made. There was also a huge collection of McLaren Formula One cars. These covered the team's history from the start until the early 2000s. You could also find many Williams and BRM cars. This included the unique BRM cars with V16 and H16 engines.

The museum even showed four different four-wheel drive Formula One cars. One of these was a Cosworth car that never even raced! A very famous car on display was the Lotus 18. Stirling Moss drove this car to win the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix. You could also see Jim Clark's Lotus 25, which helped him win a World Championship.

While there weren't many Ferrari cars, the ones they had were special. These included a Ferrari 312 and a Ferrari F2000. The F2000 was the exact car Michael Schumacher drove to win the 2000 Canadian Grand Prix. This was one of his nine wins that year. The museum also had the Jordan 191. This was the car Michael Schumacher first raced in Formula 1 in 1991. Another cool car was the Jordan 198. Damon Hill drove this car to victory in the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix.

An interesting exhibit was an Auto Union car. It was built using old plans after the original factory was destroyed in World War II. Tom Wheatcroft also added other special cars. One was a copy of Ettore Bugatti's own Bugatti Royale.

More Than Just Cars

Besides cars, the museum had the world's largest collection of motor racing helmets. You could see helmets from legends like Fangio, Graham Hill, Mansell, Hunt, and Alonso. There was also a small collection of racing motorcycles. These included bikes from Daijiro Kato and Barry Sheene. The museum also displayed many trophies and awards won by British drivers. The Donington Grand Prix Collection also had a gift shop and a place for meetings.

Changes Over Time

In 2007, the owner tried to bring Formula 1 races back to Donington Park. However, the plan did not work out. The museum closed for a short time in late 2009. This happened after Tom Wheatcroft passed away. His son, Kevin Wheatcroft, then took over. The museum reopened in January 2010. To help with money problems, the museum started selling some items. The Jim Clark Lotus 25 was sold around 2008. Other Formula 1 cars also left the museum. These included Jackie Stewart's 1973 championship-winning Tyrrell, a Lotus 72, and the Ferrari F2000. These sales likely helped pay for circuit improvements.

The McLaren Hall: A Special Display

The Donington Collection had the biggest display of McLaren cars. It showed almost every McLaren car from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

Highlights of the McLaren Collection

One of the most exciting cars was the McLaren M23. James Hunt drove this car in 1977 as the Formula 1 World Champion. You could also see the McLaren MP4/14 chassis number 4. This car was untouched after Mika Häkkinen drove it to win the 1999 Formula 1 World Championship.

Another famous car was the 1993 MP4/8. Ayrton Senna drove this car to victory at the 1993 European Grand Prix. The museum also had a MP4/4. This car was designed by Gordon Murray. It was the only MP4/4 model that did not win a Grand Prix. It showed how dominant McLaren was in the 1988 Formula One season.

Next to it was the MP4/3. This car was designed by Steve Nichols. It had a TAG Porsche twin-turbo engine. This showed the history of McLaren's designs. Rare cars were also on display. These included Häkkinen's MP4/13 in its test colors. This was before its new sponsorship was shown for the 1998 season. An M14A driven by Denny Hulme was also there. The MP4/2 was another highlight. Alain Prost won his first World Drivers' Championship in this car in 1985.

Along with the cars, you could see helmets from great drivers. These drivers raced for McLaren over the years. They included Senna, Prost, Lauda, Häkkinen, Berger, and Coulthard.

Images for kids

• 

  Stirling Moss's 1961 Monaco Grand Prix-winning Lotus 18, one of the Donington Grand Prix Collection's most famous exhibits.

• 

  A Jan Magnussen Stewart SF1, showing the range of cars in the collection.

• 

  Ayrton Senna's MP4/8 from Donington GP '93.

• 

  Part of McLaren Hall at Donington Grand Prix Collection.

• 

  David Coulthard's MP4/11 in the McLaren Hall at Donington Grand Prix Collection.

• 

  Another view of the McLaren Hall at Donington Grand Prix Collection.

• 

  Mika Häkkinen's MP4/13 in test livery in the McLaren Hall at Donington Grand Prix Collection.