News from the World of Motor Museums

 

Weird cars gather at Beaulieu






New exhibition for the 2005 season.

The National Motor Museum’s latest special exhibition was inspired by Stephen Vokins’ very successful book for Haynes under the title “Weird Cars”. It is a collection of innovative and eccentric three and four wheeled vehicles; some went into production others got no further than car number 1.

The exhibition was opened by Andy Saunders well known for his one off creations. He has two cars in the exhibition. In his opening speech he compared the weird cars from America as being large and over the top whilst the weird cars from Europe were small and often understated. Certainly this is true of this exhibition. Andy’s Aurora is he claims “arguably the ugliest car ever built”. Built by a Roman Catholic priest as a safety car it failed to turn up on time for its own press launch! After many years in restoration the car in now completed and on show. Andy’s other car the X-2000 was never actually built. It commenced life in 1958 as a styling exercise model by Alex Trimulous of Ford. Andy Saunders saw a picture of the model many years later and decided to build it in full scale.

The strangest car of all from this side of the Pond must be the BMC Sphynx, a car built for hill climbing with its wheels in a diamond (well trapezoidal actually) formation. The two driving wheels getting their power from a Downton tuned BMC 1800 Landcrab engine . It was not successful and ended up abandoned in a ditch. Better known are the bubble and microcars such as BMW Isetta, the Messerscmitt and the P50 Peel and the Scootacar.

The oldest is the 1896 Pennington Autocar built by American Edward Joel Pennington who came over to Britain to take the motor industry by storm. Of the few Pennington’s that were built this is the only survivor. There were plans for production to take place at Savage’s of Kings Lynn. The 1922 Scott Sociable looks like a four wheeler which has had one wheel taken off at the last moment. The 1985 Sinclair C5 was designed to be a museum piece – every motor museum in the country has an example, one on the Isle of Wight has two!

Possibly the most endearing car is the 1922 French built Leyat which has tandem seating and a body which looks like a light aeroplane. It is powered by a 1200cc ABC Scorpion engine connected to an aircraft propeller at the front.

The exhibition has a number of odd small motoring exhibits in showcases and in contrast to these are some extremely strange household wierdies such as the clockwork burglar alarm, clockwork fire blower and a shoe and foot warmer plus many more.

Too big for the exhibition hall, but shortly to be moved to a position just out side it, the 23ft long FAB1 car from the film “Thunderbirds – the movie”, this shocking pink six wheeler is almost more weird than the rest! It’s a weird exhibition alright and great fun.

Its open at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu in Hampshire until March of next year.

Weird cars gather at Beaulieu




Two Motor Museums to Close




Ramsgate and Edinburgh loose major attractions.

The long established Ramsgate Motor ... Read More

New Motor Museum opening for Easter






Isle of Wight has an added tourist attraction

The wax works museum in Brading Isle ... Read More

Bentley Motor Museum to Re-open In March






New owners have a ten year lease on the site.

Throughout last year ther ... Read More

Scotland’s New Transport Museum Gets The Go-ahead




£16m made available from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

For some time now there has been talk of moving the excellent but cramped transpor ... Read More

Milestones to loose AA Collection


The Automobile Association is this year celebrating its Centenary. In 1905 a group of some twenty motorists held a meeting in the Trocadero Restaurantt in Leicester Square to see if they could devise a way to combat police persecuti ... Read More

Haynes International Motor Museum opens new facilities.
The Merlin Suites make the Museum a major conference venue.

The Haynes Motor Museum at Sparkford in Somerset is now set to become a major conference and banqueting centre in the area. Adjacent to the Museum and leading off the famous “red room”, the Merlin Suites can cater for all types ... Read More

Museum of Power asks for your help.
Wanted Bentall material for exhibition.

The Bentall Company of Heybridge, Maldon in Essex will be 200 years old this year. Famed for their agricultural machinery, they also made cars from 1906 to 1913. The Museum of Power in Maldon is planning a special exhibition in September, the cen ... Read More

Motor Museum reaches short list for prestigious award
Coventry Transport Museum reaches the top ten.

The prestigious Gulbenkian Prize is for the Museum of the Year, an annual £100,000 prize funded by the Valouste Gulbenkian Foundation. They have announced a short list of ten museums.

Coventry Transport Museum has been chosen ... Read More

Worlds oldest motor mower may not move again
Insurance company decrees it’s a road vehicle.

The unlikely named Hall and Duck Trust which owns a significant and very historic collection of lawn mowers has run into trouble with its insurers. Many of the exhibits are regularly taken to car rallies, steam rallies and other out door e ... Read More

Le Mans Triumph Spitfire comes home

The Museum department of Canley Classics, the Triumph spares specialists, now has a very rare beast on show.

Four works Triumph Spitfire’s took part in the 1964 and 1965 Le Mans 24 hour race. Only two surviv ... Read More

Trojan engined loco wanted or details or photographs.

The Trojan Museum Trust, who hope one day to have a museum devoted to Trojan vehicles have put out an unusual appeal. It would appear that during the 1930’s Trojan supplied engines to the Standard Steel Company, who were just ... Read More

New Director for the National Motor Museum
A new Director has been appointed at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, to take the place of Andy Lane who left in August. The new appointee is Marion Barnes who is at present managing the Museum of South Somerset in Yeovil. Prior to this she has spent fourteen years with the RAF Museum at ... Read More

The National Motorcycle Museum re-opens.
Many fire damaged machines have been restored.

Who would have thought, seeing the horrendous pictures after the fire at the National Motorcycle Museum last September that it would re-open the following year.

The doors will open again on December lst 2004 with some 400 machines ... Read More

Historic airship hangars to be filled with cars?
New motor museum planned for Cardington.

According to “Classic Car Weekly” two Bedfordshire businessmen are planning to take over two of the massive listed airship hangars at Cardington and house with in them a car museum. This new attraction is provisionally called The British Car Museu ... Read More

National Motor Museum Library to close for five weeks.
Due to a major re-organisation it will be necessary for the Library of the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu to close from 24th December through until the 1st February 2005. During this time the full time staff ( of only 2) and the many volunteers will hope to be able clear up some of the back log ... Read More

New Museum display devoted to Morris Motors.
How the motor industry shaped the city of Oxford.

The Oxford Bus Museum at Long Hanborough, near Blenheim in Oxfordshire will open a new permanent exhibition on Saturday 4th December. This long awaited display is dedicated to William Morris (Lord Nuffield), the Morris Motors Car Compan ... Read More

Science Museum Library to Close?
Can a split up of the collection be avoided?

The Science Museum has issued a statement declaring that it can no longer afford to run the Science Museum Library. It is opening negotiations with Imperial College London and The British Library to house the material and make it available ... Read More

Little and large at Brooklands.
Two quite different forms of transport.



Allan Winn Director of Brooklands makes an appeal for more funds for the restitution of Concorde which arrived in July. At present the specialist team who will re-a ... Read More

Coventry Transport Museum wins best attraction award
170,000 visitors in first six months.



Since it re-launched in March, Coventry Transport Museum, with its free entry policy, has attracted over 170,000 visitors making it one of the most visited attractions ... Read More

Motor Museum owner gets UK Car Enthusiast of the Year award
New Meguiar’s award goes to Tom Wheatcroft.





Back Home at last!


Star turns it back on Yorkshire

The barn found 1910 Star 15hp Tourer totally unrestored and still covered in inches of dust realised £25,000 at Tennants of Leyburn International Summer Catalogue Sale on 23 July. ... Read More

Bargain buy by Lakeland.
Bluebird K4 replica boat now on show.

One of the features of the Goodwood Festival of Speed this year were the three Rolls-Royce powered record breakers, the Schneider Trophy aeroplane, and the Bluebird car which finally took the record in 1935 were both genuine. The K4 Bluebird boat, ( ... Read More

New Exhibition at Coventry




The Coventry Transport Museum has a reserve collection of vehicles that do not always get the chance of a place in the main exhibition area. M ... Read More

Cobra Day
Famous cars, famous people.

The Haynes international Motor Museum is to stage a Cobra Day on Wednesday 1st September. During the day there will be the chance to view famous racing Cobras, with demonstration runs on the Museum’s circuit.

In the evening there will be a reun ... Read More

Fire damaged museum to re-open
National Motorcycle Museum rebuilding on schedule.

After last years devastating fire we are pleased to report that rebuilding work on the hall, conference facilities and museum is on schedule. An opening date of December 1st has been announced. The Museum will re-open with some 650 ma ... Read More

Brooklands gains a pagoda
Daimler Chrysler donate land and building.



Petrol for cars racing at Brooklands was provided from permanent sites leased by Pratts, (later Esso) Shell and BP. Each had their own little buildings on the site with the p ... Read More

Director Of The National Quits.
Andy Lane resigns from Beaulieu.

Andy Lane Director of the National Motor Museum Trust at Beaulieu has resigned his post.

51 year old Andy Lane had returned to Beaulieu as the Director of the Motor Museum Trust on the retirement of Michael Ware in April 2001. He had formerly ... Read More

Motoring Memories Revived


The Motoring Memories motor museum that was open in Sidmouth in Devon during 1995,1996 and 1997 has now re-opened. This collection of mainly petroleum, garage and showroom memorabilia is now in a new building alongside the ... Read More

Brooklands Gets Its Bird
Concorde G-BBDG arrives (in pieces) (Photographs by Brooklands Museum and Clive Friend)



Brooklands is the home of British motor sport and, we must not forget, aviation as well. BAC when based on the Brookla ... Read More