Category: British Motor Museum

1. New appointments at the British Motor Museum's historic vehicle workshop‏

   Posted on 2:15pm Thursday 31st Mar 2016

   Two time TT Race winner Gary Johnson will again ride for the WK Bikes CFMOTO Factory Team in the Bennetts Lightweight TT race at the 2016 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy. This will be the third consecutive year that the Following the opening of the new Collections Centre and the new historic vehicle workshop at the British Motor Museum, the Museum is delighted to announce the promotion of Martin Brown to Head Mechanic and the opportunity for a new skilled mechanic to join the workshop team.

   Martin Brown, who joined the team in 2005 as an apprentice has worked his way up over the last 10 years to the position of Head Mechanic. He started at the Museum on a four year City & Guilds apprenticeship, attending college one day a week whilst learning the finer details of historic restoration and maintenance in the workshop at the British Motor Museum. In 2009 he became full time member of staff working alongside Steve Kite, Brian Norwood and workshop Team Leader Paul Gilder.

   The Museum, always keen to support young people starting a career in vehicle maintenance, took on another apprentice, Austin Dickson, in 2015. He is completing a four year IMI (Institute of the Motor Industry) apprenticeship at Warwickshire College.

   Now, following the retirement of Steve Kite after over 25 years of service at the British Motor Museum, there is the opportunity for a skilled mechanic to join the team.

   Paul Gilder, workshop Team Leader said “This is a rare opportunity for a skilled mechanic with a sound background in historic car restoration and vehicle maintenance to join our workshop team. We look after over 300 historic British cars dating back to the 1900’s, so it is a varied role with plenty of marques and models to work on.”

   The British Motor Museum re-opened to the public in February following a £1.1 refurbishment resulting in a much more visually exciting and immersive display of cars, designed to appeal to both current fans as well as new audiences. The Collections Centre and new workshop also opened on the same date. Supported by Heritage Lottery Fund, Jaguar Land Rover and the Garfield Weston Foundation, as well as the two charitable Trusts involved, the £4m building stores around 250 vehicles from the reserve collections of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust and the Jaguar Heritage Trust.

   For more information about the new mechanic role visit the current vacancies page on the Museum’s website www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk

2. New look British Motor Museum is now open!‏

   Posted on 12:00pm Saturday 13th Feb 2016

   The new look British Motor Museum opened its doors to the public on Saturday 13 February following a £1.1m refurbishment. Previously known as the Heritage Motor Centre, the Museum is now a modern and immersive display of British motoring history.

   The Rt. Hon. Gavin Williamson, MP, unveiled the new look Museum on Friday 12 February at a private preview event. It was then officially opened to the public at 10am on Saturday 13 February, by Managing Director, Julie Tew and Josh Harden, aged 8, the face of the Museum’s marketing collateral. Local radio station Touch FM was also broadcasting live on the day.

   Visitors to the Museum are now welcomed via a new entrance to an introductory gallery which sets the scene and flows into distinctive new themed zones, including ones for Design & Concepts, Jaguar, Land Rover, Royal Cars, Motor Sport, and Film & TV cars. The popular ethos of allowing visitors to get up close to the exhibits has not changed but there are now different ways to view the cars. Many are on raised plinths including a series of Land Rovers on an all-terrain ‘mountain’ and some life-size matchbox style cars. The visitor experience is more interactive and immersive, visitors can now stroll along the Time Road, whilst touch screens provide interactive interpretation telling the cars’ stories in more detail.

   Gavin Williamson MP, stated “I feel very privileged to unveil the new look British Motor Museum. I have loved classic cars since my father took me to the British Motor Show as a child. I am therefore delighted to be here today amongst 400 of the finest historic British cars to declare the Museum and its Collections Centre open for business. The British Motor Museum is instrumental in enabling visitors to learn more about the past, present and future of the British motor industry, its technology and its people. With the exciting improvements and enhancements now made, the Museum can now be counted as being amongst the best motor museums in the world”.

   The new Collections Centre also opened on the 13 February, allowing public access for the first time to an additional 250 cars from the reserve collections of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust and the Jaguar Heritage Trust.

   Tours of both the Museum and the Collections Centre will be available daily and can be booked at no extra charge on arrival, (subject to availability) and all half term family activities are also included in admission: Adults £14, Children £9 (5-16 years) under 5’s free, Concessions £12 & Family £39 (2 adults & up to 3 children). Buy one day and get 12 months free if you Gift Aid your entrance.

   From 13 – 21 February, the British Motor Museum is celebrating half term with “Build a British Car Week”. Every day children of all ages can test their knowledge with the ‘Family Story’ trail and join one of the workshops in the LEGO® Education Innovation Studio where they can get creative building British cars with LEGO® bricks.

   To find out more information please visit the website at www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk or call 01926 641188.

   

3. New look British Motor Museum opens this Half Term!‏

   Posted on 4:55pm Tuesday 19th Jan 2016

   The British Motor Museum re-opens to the public on Saturday 13 February following a £1.1m refurbishment. Formerly known as the Heritage Motor Centre, the new Museum will be visually more exciting with an immersive display of British motoring history, designed to appeal to both current fans as well as new audiences. Also opening on the 13 February is the new Collections Centre, allowing public access for the first time to an extra 250 cars from the reserve collections of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust and the Jaguar Heritage Trust.

   The Museum will be officially opened by Managing Director, Julie Tew at 10am on the 13 February along with a live broadcast from Touch FM and visitors are encouraged to come along early to join in the celebrations.

   Julie Tew, Managing Director said “We are delighted to re-open the Museum to visitors for half term. We have a packed programme of family events and tours and visitors will be impressed with the changes we have made to the Museum.”

   Half term will kick off with “Build a British Car Week” from 13 – 21 February.  Everyday children of all ages can test their knowledge with the ‘Family Story’ trail and join one of the workshops in the LEGO® Education Innovation Studio where they can get creative building British cars with LEGO® bricks.

   There are a range of different workshops to choose from. How cool is your British car takes place on Saturday 13 & Sunday 14 February where children can build a car in the Studio and see where its placed on the cool wall.  Technic Workshops run from Monday 15 – Thursday 18 February where children can design, build and test their own vehicle using LEGO® technics and become an engineering apprentice for the day. Build a balloon powered car takes place on Friday 19 February where children can see how far their LEGO® brick sports car can travel. Build a rubber band powered car takes place on Saturday 20 February where children can use a rubber band to power their LEGO® brick car and attempt to beat the current British Motor Museum’s record. Finally The 25 Brick Challenge takes place on Sunday 21 February where children can attempt to build a motor car with 25 LEGO® bricks and four wheels. All workshops run from 10am – 3pm.

   Tours of both the Museum and the Collections Centre will be available daily and can be booked at no extra charge on arrival, and all half term family activities are also free of charge. Normal Museum entry fees apply: Adults £14, Children £9 (5-16 years) under 5’s free, Concessions £12 & Family £39 (2 adults & up to 3 children). Buy one day and get 12 months free if you Gift Aid your entrance. To find out more information please visit the website at www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk  or call 01926 641188.

4. British Motor Museum makes three new senior staff appointments

   Posted on 5:16pm Wednesday 23rd Dec 2015

   The British Motor Museum (formerly known as the Heritage Motor Centre), has made three new senior staff appointments. John Bishop takes on the role of Group Visits Executive, Simon Carr joins as Clubs & Rallies Co-ordinator and Neil Colledge joins as the Drivezone Development Officer.

   John Bishop, who was previously ‘Clubs, Groups & Rallies Senior Co-Ordinator’ took on the new role of ‘Group Visits Executive’ from 30 November. John is responsible for promoting the British Motor Museum and Collections Centre to Group Travel Organisers and Tour Operators as well as developing joint visits with other venues and increasing footfall. John joined the organisation 20 years ago and is well experienced in what the British Motor Museum can offer, as well as motoring history, social history and RAF Gaydon history. John plans to introduce a series of new guided tours in 2016, including ‘Mind Your Motoring Manners’ with Paula Cornwell acting as the Hon. Mrs Victor Bruce.

   Simon Carr is responsible for looking after clubs and rallies who wish to hold club meetings/AGM’s and run road rallies. His main responsibilities are to look after classic car clubs and promote the excellent facilities on offer at the British Motor Museum. Simon’s experience has previously been in customer services so he is well equipped for his new role. His future plans include running the usual events such as Club Expo and the Heritage Rally as well as new events such as the 2016 Shakespeare Rally which will celebrate 400 years of Shakespeare’s legacy over the August bank holiday weekend.

   Neil Colledge, a retired Police Officer, started at the British Motor Museum on 2 November. He is heading up the Museums ‘Drivezone’ which provides driver education and experiences for people of all ages, starting from 11 years! One of his aims is to try and reduce road casualties by providing driver education to 11 - 17 year olds before they start driving lessons. During Neil’s time as a traffic officer, he attended and dealt with many road traffic collisions where drivers suffered life changing or fatal injuries, and the hardest thing he did was to deliver "that message" that due to a collision, someone will not be coming home. The last 5 years of his police service was spent in the forces driving school, teaching both police officers and support staff to drive cars and ride motorcycles, from basic assessments to advanced level, including emergency response and pursuit techniques. Neil was also the trainer and assessor for the VIP police motorcycle escort team. Neil is passionate about road safety, and is a member of The Association of Independent Road Safety Officers, The Institute of Advanced Motorists and is an approved examiner for RoSPA. Neil’s future plans include developing a road safety academy at the British Motor Museum .

   The British Motor Museum re-opens to the public on Saturday 13 February following a refurbishment at a cost of £1.1m by the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust. The changes will result in a much more visually exciting and immersive display of cars, designed to appeal to both current fans as well as new audiences yet to experience all that the Museum has to offer. The Collections Centre also re-opens on the same date. Supported by Heritage Lottery Fund, Jaguar Land Rover and the Garfield Weston Foundation, as well as the two charitable Trusts involved, the £4m project stores around 250 vehicles from the reserve collections of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust and the Jaguar Heritage Trust. To find out more information please visit the website at www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk

5. Celebrate Father's Day at the Heritage Motor Centre!‏

   Posted on 10:00am Friday 19th Jun 2015

   The Heritage Motor Centre has everything all wrapped up for Father’s Day whether it’s a special day out or a unique gift for fathers and grandfathers that love British motoring. Not only does the Museum boast over 180 historic British cars to admire from Aston Martins to Minis and everything in between, but the nostalgic Banbury Run also takes place on Sunday 21 June. An added bonus is that entry into the Museum on that day is just £8 instead of the normal £12 entry fee.

   Visitors on the day will be able to see over 500 Veteran and Vintage motorcycles ride out, starting and finishing at the Museum. The event, now in its 67th year, is the largest gathering of pre-1931 motorcycles & 3-wheelers in the world and a spectacle not to be missed.

   If you are looking for a motoring gift then the Heritage Motor Centre has a range of exciting and unique products for every British marque of car available from their shop or online. The choice ranges from pewter models, books, DVDs, mugs and tin plaques to more personalised and bespoke gifts such as tax disk cuff links that can feature the registration number and production date of your father’s car or a Heritage Certificate for his classic car. Many more products are available to purchase from the Museum’s shop as the website has only a limited selection.

   If pictures are a more suitable gift, then choose from thousands of British Motor Industry Heritage Trust archive photos using our online picture library - Motorgraphs. Available as a framed print, canvas or collage, you will find a wide variety of attractive historical images featuring famous makes such as Austin Healey, Triumph, MG, Rover, Land Rover, Austin, Morris, Riley and Wolseley. There are also attractive advertising posters and colourful scenic pictures from the 1950s to the 1980s, just the thing for that difficult-to-buy-for father or grandfather!

   For more information about the Heritage Motor Centre please visit www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk or call 01926 641188.
   
   For the online shop visit www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk/store.
   
   For more information on Motorgraphs please visit www.motorgraphs.com