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.
Austin Princess Ogle Triplex 10-20 Glass
As a very special one-off, this Princess attracted much attention when it appeared at the 1978 British motor show. Mechanically, the car is a standard Princess 2200 but the bodywork was extensively re-styled by Ogle Design to enable Triplex to demonstrate the possibilities of its most modern glass technology at the time.
The windscreen is made from Triplex Ten-Twenty laminated glass, giving the car its name. The screen has a Triplex Hyviz coating, incorporating built in demisting, de-icing and an aerial – all cutting edge technology for 1978. The wing mirrors have similar de-icing glass.
The one-piece rear glass hatch is remarkable for the sharp curvature achieved and the glass sunroof is made from very thin, flexible glass. At only 2.3mm thick, it enables the sunroof to be opened by simply bending the glass. The side windows and rear roof panel are 3mm thick, saving weight over the standard car. The glass is coated with Triplex Sundym, keeping the occupants cool in sunny weather.
The 10-20’s design was completed by Ogle’s unique front and rear end styling, including an integral bumper together with a clever and attractive rear light display.
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