There is little doubt that people in the UK just love cars. They are not only interested in modern cars either. The fact that thousands of people search for ‘car museums’ every month on Google is proof of that.
The good news is that another rather unique museum is being added to the list in the very near future. Based in Ambergate, not that far from Derby and very close to the Peak District National Park, ‘The Great British Car Journey’ will open from mid 2021.
Far More Than a Museum
The Great British Car Journey is far more than a museum though, its offers not only a fantastic ‘history lesson’ covering the years that British Cars ruled the roads, but is also a lot of fun. The use of interactive tablets heightens the experience, guiding the visitor around the site, providing audio commentary, pictures and more in-depth information.
A Museum Where You Get To Drive The Exhibits
Not all the cars on display can be driven, some being very old (as well as precious), but if you want to drive a car that your dad (or maybe grandad) drove in his youth, then this is the place to come. See – https://www.greatbritishcarjourney.com/
Drive a Classic Car
The list includes the immortal Mini right through to a Rolls Royce Silver Spirit, with landmark cars like the Ford Capri, Morris Minor, MG Midget and the TR7 all being there too. There’s bound to be one that you will fancy a spin in.
But there are other museums you might like to visit too, here’s a list of the top ones in the UK.
Haynes Motor Museum
As you would expect, this enclosed location smells of oil, petrol, and leather, and for those that love Sir Stirling Moss, there is the Red Room which has cars on show that Sir Stirling Moss drove. There are over 400 vehicles to view there.
The museum can be found just off the A303 in Somerset.
Beaulieu National Motor Museum
Based in Hampshire, this museum also features hundreds of cars, motorbikes as well as scooters. It is not one of the biggest about, but there is enough on display to fill a couple of hours.
The Heritage Motor Museum
This museum is said to be very visually pleasing, there is one main building and it has plenty of grounds. There are over 300 cars on display, but the stars of the show are some super rare Aston Martins.
You can find this museum in Gaydon in Warwickshire.
Brooklands Museum
Interested in supercars or sports cars?, then this is the museum for you. Brooklands is where British motorsports started, so there is a lot of history on offer here.
The museum can be found in Weybridge in Surrey.
The Coventry Transport Museum
One of the great things about this museum is that it is free! You can find one of the most unique cars here, the Thrust SCC, the land speed record holder. You will also find one of the most extensive collections of British road transport vehicles.
The Lakeland Motor Museum
This is one of the smaller museums in this list. There are not that many exhibits, but what is there are, are really worth seeing. The stars of the show are the DeLorean DMC-12 which featured in the Back to the Future films. If you like Aston Martins or classic Jaguar’s, then this is the museum for you. The other good thing about this museum is that once you have had your fill of all the cars, there is the Lake District’s lovely countryside to visit.
You can find this museum in Windermere, Cumbria.
David Coulthard Museum
If you are interested in F1 cars and drivers, then this museum is for you. It’s home to the Red Bull RB2 F1 car, as well as some of the very early ‘race carts’, many of which are very well preserved.
This museum is in Twynholm, Scotland.
The British Commercial Vehicle Museum
Based in Leyland (one of the homes of the British Car Industry), this museum holds the biggest collection of commercial vehicles in the UK. There are huge numbers of busses, trucks and tractors, in fact, just about any vehicles that have provided transport over the generations.
The British Bubblecar Museum
Everyone loves the Bubblecar, but there are other microcars (any car with an engine under 700cc), and this museum is dedicated to them all. Most of them were not a commercial success, though, so its quite possible that you will not have heard of most of them.
You can find this museum in Boston Lincolnshire.
As you can see, there are quite a few museums out there for you to visit, but none of them offers the experience you will find at The Great British Car Journey, ‘the only museum where you get to drive the exhibits’.
