Some Assembly Required – Museums

As many of you who follow this column know, my wife Kelli and I enjoyed an extended tour of the UK back in September. My bucket list event for this trip was attending the Goodwood Revival. See my previous article regarding that wonderful event. As we were planning this trip, it seemed that there were a number of “targets of automotive opportunity” in the UK. So many that I almost risked upsetting the careful balance of one automotive event for every six garden/castle events! Fortunately, Kelli likes cars too so some allowances were made in order to fully understand our British automotive heritage! Here are the museums that we visited, all of which I would recommend. I would note that we rented a car, which allowed us to get around to a variety of locations that would have been tough using public transport. There is nothing that makes one appreciate the US highway system like getting around in the UK in a rental car. Anyway, the museums, in a rough order of how I would rate them-

British Motor Museum and the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust Museum, Gaydon, UK- These are two separate museums but are located a few hundred yards apart, near the town of Gaydon. Roughly 100 miles NW of London. The British Motor Museum is very well done. More than just an assembly of cars, there are multiple exhibits that delve into the background of the British automotive industry. To quote their website “There are over 400 British classic cars for our visitors to explore from the collections of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust and the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust. Learn about the people behind the cars, the places they were built and hear the stories from our guides. Plus our free tours and interactive family activities will inspire and bring the stories to life – there is plenty to keep everyone entertained.” I must say that the British Motor Museum lives up to the education part to great effect. They even have these cool “rooms” where you look in through a window and one of those spooky 3-D holograms of a famous automotive person is standing in the room, talking to you. Very well done, as is the rest of the museum. And of course there is a café. The Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust Museum is frankly just a room full of cars, although there are enthusiastic docents present that will regale you with stories if you give them any encouragement at all. All the build records of Jaguar and Daimler are contained in this building, although that part is not open to the public.

Haynes Motor Museum, Yeovil, UK – Many of you will be familiar with the prolific series of Haynes Owners Workshop Manuals, which when I was young were one of the few ways to get information about British cars. Apparently Mr. Haynes spent a lot of money on cars. To quote their website “Discover rare vehicles such as the Duesenberg Model J and cultural icons that have shaped generations, like the beloved Mini and the legendary Ford Mustang. With more than 300 cars and motorcycles, 2,000 fascinating small objects, from racing helmets to road signs, and 10,000 archival documents, there’s a story waiting around every corner.” The museum is quite the feast. Kelli and I spent over 5 hours there, which of course included a visit to the obligatory on-site café.

National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, UK- This site is actually quite a large collection of attractions, grouped around the Beaulieu Palace. The Motor Museum is just a part of the attraction. To quote their website “The National Motor Museum Trust is a charitable organization founded in 1972, which runs the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu. Continuing the work of the flagship Montagu Motor Museum, it has a world famous collection of cars, motorcycles and motoring memorabilia. The 270 vehicles in the museum are only the start. There are around 1.9 million items in our Collections Centre and our mission is to use our collection to tell the story of motoring on the roads of Great Britain.” Yes, you read that correctly. 1.9 million items! This museum is much more that a static collection of cars. I suspect you could spend days there and not see everything. Unfortunately, we were on a “transit” day and only had a few hours to spend there, including a stop at their excellent café.

Caister Castle Automotive Museum, Caister-on-Sea, UK- If you look on the map, you will see that this one is a little bit off the beaten path, although it came onto our path as we were touring up the east coast of England. But as I will quote from their website, it is purported to be the largest private collection of cars in the UK. A tribute to one man’s inability to say No and his deep pockets! “The Castle is currently home to the largest private collection of motor vehicles in Britain which is housed in a purpose built museum and includes many fine and rare veteran, vintage, classic, sports and touring automobiles and motorcycles. The collection is complemented by a display of bicycles, horse-drawn vehicles, pedal cars and other related items.” It was definitely an eclectic collection, supported by a staff of enthusiastic docents ready to help explain what you were seeing.

This brings me to the end of my UK museum recommendations. Just in case you are not planning a visit to the UK anytime soon, here is a quick list of museums in the US that I would recommend, in no particular order. Well, actually, going clockwise starting in LA. Petersen, Nethercutt, LeMay, Henry Ford, National Corvette, Audrain, Simeone Foundation, Coventry Foundation, and the Revs Institute. That should keep you busy!

Safe travels- Harvey