England 2016

It’s a foggy start to the morning as we head northeast from Charingworth. I’m breaking today’s adventures up into two journals, as (1) they’re completely different and (2) there are tons of events/photos for each one I want to describe. Lucky you.

Continuing yesterday’s “car theme”, we’re heading to the British Motor Museum. In 2006, Andrew, Mark, and I tried to make it here, but made it almost as they were closing (maybe 20-30 minutes tops!), so we really didn’t get a good chance to look around.

In addition, they’ve recently completely redone the museum, with new vehicles and displays, and an extra “garage” outbuilding where they have loads of other British motor heritage examples.

So, once inside, it’s a good sign when you’re greeted by both a classic ’66 Jaguar E-Class and a stunning silver Rolls Royce, right?

As we round the corner into the main hall, there are Jaguars, MGs, Rovers, Aston Martins, Land Rovers, and other classic British cars as far as the eye can see.

There’s an excellent “old garage” set up, complete with running voice-over, to make you feel like you were bringing your first car in for regular service. It even had a great oil-and-grease smell that kinda made me feel a little nostalgic.

Don’t get me wrong – I don’t like having to work on cars just to keep them running, but I do miss the days when you could lose a couple of hours tinkering about under the hood. Modern cars are definitely not like that any more. So, “double-edged sword”, I guess.

It’s tough, really, to know where to start, so … picking a direction and letting the displays flow is as good as it gets!

One of the first exhibits has several “prototype” cars that were designed over the years.

While this one, the MG EX-E was never put into production, it was the precursor of one of the fantastic production cars that John’s company (MG-Rover) actually did market, the MG-F. Marianne had one of these back in the early 2000s, and we saw the factory at Longbridge where these smart little cars were built.

It’s a shame they never made it to the US – they would’ve sold like hotcakes.

Moving on around the exhibits, it’s a great history of the development of automobiles throughout the years.

Cars from the early 1900s through both World Wars show how the assembly lines transitioned into and out of war-support and production back into commercially available vehicles.

So many different types of cars, from personal to three-wheeled mail vehicles (!!) – all presented in a nearly hands-on environment.

It was so tempting to hop in a few of these old gems and look for the keys!

Classy and classic limousines (as the MG limo to the left!) were scattered throughout multiple time periods. There is a 1966 Rover limousine that is remarkably similar to the one that I rode in (on a tour provided by the then-director of the British Motor Heritage Museum) back in 1997.

Another MG-Rover concept that unfortunately never had a fair chance of dominating the market like it probably should have was the 2004 MG X-Power SV-3, based on an Italian design, is on prominent display, too. 12 years on, and I would still buy one of these if available … it’s that sharp.

There were various two-seater and convertible sports cars (like this awesome 1953 Triumph!) and a GREAT display highlighting the Land Rover contributions to various military and humanitarian efforts around the world.

Land Rover made sure to have their cinematic contributions noted too, with a Land Rover Discovery – from the James Bond movie, “Skyfall“ – and a completely made-up Land Rover “City Cab” from the cheesy sci-fi flick “Judge Dredd“.

Some of the coolest “up-close-and-personal” exhibits were the racing cars, including Sir Jackie Stewart’s 1970 Formula 1 racer (right).

It was VERY interesting to see the engine details and compare to the current incarnation of these F1 vehicles (they had a 2004 Jaguar Formula 1 racer later on in the museum)… which seem every bit of their 45+ years removed from this classic example. Earlier, there were a pair of F1 tires (Goodyear-vintage) that were cool to see as well.

Open seat rally racers from a 1925 Morris Oxford and a 1953 Lotus to the more modern LeMans incarnations of a 1965 Rover and a 1988 Jaguar show the progression and really represent the speed increases over the years as well!

The last part of the museum tour involves a guided walk over to a large outbuilding that is, essentially, a warehouse of treasures on four wheels. There are more amazing cars here just parked in a garage fashion to walk about and drool (almost literally) over.

Another vehicular veteran of James Bond movies, a Jaguar XKR from “Die Another Day” (seen left) is show with its machine gun deployed and the front firing missiles clearly displayed!

That would make the morning commute a little easier, if not more fun. 🙂

I asked if the 2014 Jaguar XKR “End of Line” model was available through the gift shop… but alas, it was not.

So, instead, we posed with the “Austin Powers: Goldmember” Jaguar XK8, looking every bit like the replacement hosts for the next season of “Top Gear”! 😀

But now – it’s time to bid these lovely steel beasts a fond farewell, as we head down the road towards our next destination (and the next journal in the queue).