Vauxhall’s famous heritage collection to be displayed at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon, Warwickshire in August. It will tell the incredible story of Vauxhall Motors’ rise from a niche sporting car manufacturer to one of the UK’s best-known automotive brands.
The collection totals 50 cars and vans that demonstrate the heritage of Britain’s oldest vehicle manufacturer through each decade from the very first 5hp Light Car in 1903.
This is a perfect opportunity for the public to get up close and personal with cars and vans from our collection,. There are some extremely rare and valuable vehicles on display, but many that will conjure ‘my-mum-and-dad-had-one-of-those’ memories, too. Most importantly, it paints a wonderful social picture of Vauxhall’s importance to the UK culture, through all the highs and lows of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.”
The British Motor Museum is an ideal choice to display the collection. As the internationally renowned museum all about the rich heritage of Britain’s motor industry and home of the country’s automotive history, it’s a superb venue for the Vauxhall collection.
Paul Willcox – Vauxhall’s managing director
In this year, Vauxhall became a car manufacturer and was originally based in the South London suburb, from which it takes its name. After two years, larger premises were needed and Vauxhall Motors moved to a six-acre site in Luton, where, alongside Ellesmere Port in Cheshire, it still manufactures motor vehicles today.
We were delighted when Vauxhall approached us to look after its fantastic collection of vehicles, one of the most significant collections from a UK manufacturer. It fits perfectly with the Museum’s aim to broaden even further the range of marques that are represented here at Gaydon and adds a new dimension to the stories we tell about the cars and the people in Britain’s motor industry. With so much choice, it has already been tough making the first selection of 30 cars to display in the Museum!
Stephen Laing – Head of Collections at the British Motor Museum
Note on the British Motor Museum
- The British Motor Museum houses the collections of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust – over 300 cars spanning the classic, vintage and veteran eras and a fabulous archive of film, photographs, personal papers and business documents.
- The British Motor Industry Heritage Trust (the Trust) is an independent educational charity formed in 1983. The Registered Charity Number is 286575. Its mission is to collect, conserve, research and display for the benefit of the nation, motor vehicles, archives and ancillary material relating to the motor industry in Great Britain and to provide a world-class motor museum and major visitor attraction providing a broad based academic and educational facility coupled to an entertaining and attractive display.
- In December 2014 the Trust gained the coveted designated status from Arts Council England which confirms that its collections are of national significance. The Designation Scheme is a mark of distinction, identifying and celebrating pre-eminent collections of national and international importance in non-national institutions.
- British Motor Museum is a National Portfolio Organisation supported by Arts Council England providing funding for a 4-year programme of exhibitions, engagement and learning activity from 2018 to 2022. Arts Council England is the national development body for arts and culture across England, working to enrich people’s lives. It supports a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries. Between 2018 and 2022, it will invest £1.45 billion of public money from government and an estimated £860 million from the National Lottery to help create these experiences www.artscouncil.org.uk
- The British Motor Museum delivers a range of educational packages which support the National Curriculum – science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects at KS1 to KS4. A wide range of family and lifelong learning activities also take place in the Museum during school holidays.
- Each year the Museum hosts a number of highly successful and varied motoring Shows and Rallies as well as family events, lectures and workshops. For full details please visit the website www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk
- The address is British Motor Museum or British Motor Industry Heritage Trust, Banbury Road, Gaydon, Warwickshire CV35 0BJ.
You can follow The Motor Museum on social media at the following addresses:
- Twitter @BMMuseum
- Facebook www.facebook.com/BritishMotorMuseum
- Instagram www.instagram.com/britishmotormuseum
Note: Press release courtesy of Vauxhall.
