Gaydon | Chalmers News PR

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.

British Motor Museum, Gaydon — The British Motor Museum and Collections Centre

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 11^th-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 30^th-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.

AS a driver of 35 years – and a mother of two – I appreciate the value of the much-lauded Young Driver scheme, first established in 2009 to help reduce the high accident rate for newly qualified drivers.

It’s a great opportunity for 10-17-year-olds to get behind the wheel in preparation for driving lessons, learning to brake, steer, reverse, park and negotiate the gears – all for the first time.

Young Drivers, classic car experience, Quentin Willson, British Motor Museum, Gaydon — The Chalmers ‘boys’ flank motoring journalist Quentin Willson at the launch of the Young Driver Classic Car Experience at The British Motor Museum.

Now the team behind the UK’s largest pre-17 driving school – whose cars are finally back on the road post-pandemic – are expanding their offering by giving lucky young motor enthusiasts access to classic cars too!

In the Classic Car Experience, youngsters can take a spin in three of Britain’s most iconic cars – a Vauxhall VX490, Morris Minor or Austin 7 – with a fully qualified driving instructor. And the envious parents don’t have to miss out either.

Having spent the last few months fine-tuning the engines, the classic cars are now available to drive (for anyone from 10 upwards) at the British Motor Museum on selected dates. The experiences last 15 minutes and those booking a lesson also get discounted entry into the museum. (See BMM review from the same day here)

To mark the occasion on Saturday was motoring journalist and former Top Gear presenter Quentin Willson, who has also been patron to Young Drivers.

The car’s touch points are sanitised between drivers who are joined for the trip by an instructor. But be warned – the Austin 7 is not designed for teenagers over 6ft tall and unfortunately only one of my sons was able to successfully peel himself in and out of the vehicle. Something to consider before you go.

He was able to enjoy his session in the Morris Minor however and it was a delight to witness the beaming smiles (amid the looks of concentration) from a wide range of ages as they got to grips with, what was for many, their first ever experience behind the wheel.

As Quentin himself put it to me – “Classic cars can be a refreshingly authentic way to start your driving ‘journey,’ with the absence of electronic intervention allowing the driver to feel more connected to their vehicle.”

This is a big part of what also makes it such a unique experience for the more mature modern-day driver – although you’ll also be made to appreciate the comforts and driveability of today’s cars!

Young Driver was established in 2009 with the aim of revolutionising the learning to drive journey, helping to reduce the high accident rate for newly qualified drivers by extending the learning period. For more information and to book a lesson please visit www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/whats-on

Future Classic Young Driver events at The British Motor Museum are on 19th June, 25th September and 20th November. Visit https://www.youngdriver.eu/ to book.

The cars. . .

Austin 7: This was introduced to the British public in 1922 – just four years after the start of World War One – and by the start of World War Two, in 1939, some 290,000 of them were in use around the world.

Morris Minor: This car made its debut in 1948, designed by motoring legend Alec Issigonis, who went on to design the Mini, and was the first to sell over a million units.

Vauxhall VX490: This was produced between 1963-67 during which time 31,000 saloons were made of the HB spec, of which only 10 are on the UK roads today.

For more about The British Motor Museum visit my latest article here.

Tag: Gaydon

Gearing up for exhibitions and shows at Gaydon’s British Motor Museum

Young Drivers given green light to enjoy the ‘classics!’