IT’S so good to see our local museums reopen their doors to visitors again.
To kickstart our tour, we called into the British Motor Museum in Gaydon ahead of our Young Driver Classic Car Experience, on Saturday.
A favourite with our family, there’s always plenty to explore at both the Museum and Collection Centre on site, with more than 300 British cars from the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust and Jaguar Heritage Trust collections.
And there’s a great café for refuelling too!
New for 2021, the E-type Evolution Exhibition from the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust (JDHT) commemorates the 60th Anniversary of the Jaguar E-type. The Exhibition tells the story of the car from the racing C and D-types of the 1950s, the E2A Prototype, its launch at Geneva on 15 March 1961 and finishes with two very successful Racing V12 E-types from the 1970s. The exhibition runs to the end of June and is included in the standard Museum admission.
For the May half-term week, from 29th May–6th June, the Museum is hosting a full programme of family-friendly activities to celebrate the Jaguar E-type’s 60th Birthday. Visitors will have the chance to meet Dotty or Dougie, the car designers from the swinging 60s and explore this amazing car and its design. Younger visitors will also have the chance to take home their very own cardboard cut-out Jaguar E-type! There are also online celebratory activities for those not able to visit the Museum.
The Museum is also gearing up to run a full schedule of motoring shows and events this summer, all in line with Government advice. Over 14 shows and rallies are being planned to include the return of several popular events such as the Land Rover Show, Retro Truck Show as well as some brand-new events including ‘Autolicious.’
First event of the 2021 show season is the ‘National Metro & Mini Show. The popular family show, which returns in line with government guidelines on Sunday 6th June, is the main event of the year for Metros, classic Minis and modern Minis to celebrate a great day out.
Hundreds of models will be on display including ‘621 AOK’, the first Mini produced in 1959 and ‘X411 JOP,’ the last ever classic Mini to be produced at Longbridge in 2000, along with ’33 EJB’, ‘AJB 44B’ and ‘LBL 6D’ the Monte Carlo Rally winning Mini’s of 1964, 1965 and 1967.
Tickets for the show also include entry to the Museum and Collections Centre, giving visitors the chance to see over 350 cars including some of the historically important milestone vehicles such as the last Rover 100 produced, signed by almost 1,200 people involved in Metro production.
The Gaydon Land Rover Show is back on 31 July–1st August bringing the finest vehicles, owners and historians together for a weekend dedicated to this iconic marque. The EV Electric Vehicle Festival takes place on the 7th August and the Classic and Vintage Commercial Show, which this year includes the Transit Van Club Rally and Classic Van and Pick Up Show, returns on 14-15th August.
Continuing through the summer, new to Gaydon is ‘Autolicious’ on 29th August. This event presented by Audi-licious is a rare opportunity to see an array of stunning cars on display including Audi, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Bentley, Porsche, Mercedes, Lamborghini and VW.
The Gaydon Jaguar Show, which began in 2020, returns on 4th September and is billed as a friendly, informal gathering for all Jaguar fans, owners and enthusiasts. The Retro Truck Show returns on 11th-12th September and to round the show season off the last two events are indoor; the Large Model Aircraft Show on 24th October and the Great British Model Railway Show on 30th-31st October.
The Museum is open seven days a week from 10am – 5pm with limited numbers per day and pre-booking is essential for all visitors including those returning with an annual pass. There are 10am, 11am, 12noon and 1pm arrival slots available and visitors can stay as long as they wish until closing.
2021 admission prices remain the same as in 2020 and are: Adults £14.50, Concessions £12.50, Children £9 (5-16 years), under 5’s free, and a Family ticket £40 (2 adults & up to 3 children). If you Gift Aid or donate your entrance fee you receive an annual pass at no extra cost. All visitors must pre-book tickets so the Museum can fulfil its NHS Test and Trace commitment.
For more information on keeping visitors safe visit www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/news/welcome-back
For more information about this and to book tickets visit https://www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/
BMM hosts new Young Driver Classic Car Experiences. Read about our visit here.
