Heritage Motor Centre to become British Motor Museum

The world’s largest collection of historic British cars is changing its name. From next year, the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon will be called the British Motor Museum.

It means the museum will close its doors on 30 November and receive a major refurbishment before unveiling its new £4m Collections Centre on 13 February.

A spokeswoman said an investment of £1.1m by the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust will transform the Museum at Gaydon.

‘The changes will result in a much more visually exciting and immersive display, designed to appeal to both current fans as well as new audiences yet to experience all that it has to offer,’ she added.

New features will include a welcome gallery within the new visitor entrance, and new themed zones – including one for movie cars, one for prototypes, and one for sports car.

There will be a new feature called the Time Road, and more of the cars on display will be supported by interactive content – with sound, film and touch screens.

The final element of the multi-million pound revamp is the new Collections Centre. This will store around 250 vehicles from the reserve collections of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust and the Jaguar Heritage Trust.

Many of these vehicles are one of a kind and most have never been seen by the public. A new team of volunteers will take visitors on a ‘behind-the-scenes’ tour to view both the cars and the conservation work in progress in the historic vehicle workshops.

Entry to the Collections Centre will be included within the museum ticket price and tours can be booked on arrival.