GENERAL INTEREST
New Name,
New Look Museum,
New Collections Centre
– it’s all change at the Heritage Motor Centre!
The Heritage Motor Centre, home to the British Motor
Industry Heritage Trust, has announced a number of
exciting new changes. The world’s largest collection of
historic British cars is re-branding the name of its venue at
Gaydon to the British Motor Museum, and undertaking
a major refurbishment of its Museum this winter as well as
unveiling a new £4m Collections Centre.
The change of name to the British Motor Museum will
more accurately reflect this Accredited Museum’s
recently achieved Arts Council England ‘Designated’
status which confirms the national and international
significance of its collections.
An investment of £1.1m by the British Motor Industry
Heritage Trust will transform the Museum at Gaydon,
which closed to the public on 30 November to allow
the refurbishment to take place. The changes will result
in a much more visually exciting and immersive display,
designed to appeal to both current fans as well as new
audiences yet to experience all that it has to offer.
An introductory gallery within the new visitor entrance
will set the scene and flow into distinctive new themed
zones, including ones for movie cars, prototypes and
sports cars. The popular ethos of allowing visitors to get
up close to the exhibits will not change, but there will
be different ways to view the cars, with many on raised
plinths and some at eye level. Families and enthusiasts
alike will be able to stroll along the Time Road, look under
more open bonnets, and enjoy new interactive content
including sound, film and touch screens. Whether the
visitor is 3 or 103 years of age, there will be something
about each car and its history to fascinate.
30
The final element of the multi-million revamp is the
new Collections Centre. Supported by Heritage
Lottery Fund, Jaguar Land Rover and the Garfield
Weston Foundation, as well as the two charitable
Trusts involved, the £4m project will store around
250 vehicles from the reserve collections of the
British Motor Industry Heritage Trust and the Jaguar
Heritage Trust. Many of these vehicles are one of
a kind and most have never been seen by the
public. A new team of volunteers will take visitors
on a ‘behind-the-scenes’ tour to view both the cars
and the conservation work in progress in the historic
vehicle workshops. Entry to the Collections Centre
will be included within the Museum ticket price and
tours can be booked on arrival.
The transition to the new name begins once the
Museum closes for its redevelopment and the
venue will be officially known as the British Motor
Museum when the Museum and Collections
Centre re-open to the public
in early 2016.