Top 10: Cars from the British Motor Museum
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, Gaydon, the new museum promises to be visually more exciting than its predecessor – with more interactive displays and more than 500 cars on show.
There'll also be more space to show off the cars with a new collections centre, which allows 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.
For prices and opening times visit the museum website at www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk or call 01926 641188.
Tracked Expedition Defender
This is one of seven vehicles that were specially prepared for the 1997-1998 Global Expedition that was to be led by the explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes. They were based on Defender XD models, the special heavy-duty military derivative that had been developed for a British MoD contract. The expedition was planned to cover 23,000 miles, leaving London and travelling through Russia and Alaska to finish in New York, but was cancelled at the last minute.
For the crossing of the normally frozen Bering Straits, the vehicles were prepared with special track conversions at each wheel station. These followed the principle of a 1960s conversion but were more modern in design and were supplied by the US company, Mattracks. The vehicles also carried custom-made paddle-wheel catamarans made of Kevlar and driven from hydraulic pumps on their PTOs.
dimdip on 13 February 2016
Thanks for this interesting and informative article. It's nice to see a piece focussing on the ingenuity and innovation within the British motor industry. Hope to make it along to Gaydon again to see the new developments and new vehicles on display.
Lotus Rebel on 16 February 2016
What engine powered the Alvis GTS?
Though the likely answer is the 3.5 Rover V8, it would have been interesting to see the Alvis GTS make use of the 220 hp 3.5-litre OHC 6-cylinder from the Alvis TA30 project, especially since Rover developed the related P7 prototype that was already capable of accommodating a straight-6 engine.
bobber on 2 October 2017
Regarding the Triumph Acclaim - this car was assembled at Cowley (North Works), where Austin Maxis, and Princessses were built. The Acclaim was indeed a Honda Ballade, with Honda supplying all the components - even fixings. The fact that this car was so reliable when Austins were not is down to the fact that Honda's designers made sure that the car could be built on a moving assembly line. Austins were, in Cowley vernacular, "NDH" (not designed here). So the poor quality of BL products could not be blamed on the workforce.Add a comment