Category: British Motor Museum

1. Subsidized Motorcycle Rider Skills Workshops at the British Motor Museum

   Posted on 10:00am Sunday 17th Jul 2016

   Thanks to a grant from the Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner, the British Motor Museum is able to offer subsidized places on its forth coming Motorcycles Rider Skills Workshops. The grant has enabled the Museum to subsidize each place by £40, so from £90 to £50 per rider, with the next workshops running on 30 July, 13 August and 27 August.

   The workshops are designed to make motorcycle riding safer and more enjoyable. They are run by ex-police instructors and advanced police riders as well as senior observers from both RoSPA and IAM, all of whom were previously involved in the Warwickshire Polices BikeSafe initiative. The workshops explore the main riding hazards that bikers face, helping improve riders skills, knowledge and hazard awareness.

   The workshops include both classroom and open road sessions, covering observations, hazard perception, anticipation and planning, cornering and overtaking. Riders will also have their riding assessed out on the open road. In addition to this, lunch and free entry to the British Motor Museum is also included within the £50 workshop fee.

   Neil Colledge, Workshop Instructor from the British Motor Museum and former head of the Warwickshire BikeSafe initiative said “This grant shows how seriously the risk to bikers is taken. Each year hundreds of motorcyclists are killed or seriously injured on our roads. Our workshops are run by bikers, for bikers! They are about learning to assess your riding strengths and weakness, allowing you to improve your riding skills and enable you to get the most out of your machines in a safe and responsible way”.

   For more information about the motorcycle rider skills workshops please visit www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk or call 01926 645056.

2. National BMW Festival to celebrate 100 years of BMW's!‏

   Posted on 9:00am Sunday 10th Jul 2016

   Hundreds of BMWs will descend on the British Motor Museum when it hosts the annual BMW Car Club National Festival on Sunday 14th August. The event, which is Europe’s largest gathering of BMW’s, will celebrate 100 years of BMW and promises to be even bigger and better than before. Last year there were over 800 vehicles on display and this year they hope to double it, with models including M Power, Alpina, ZED, as well as modern, classic and modified models plus MINI’s will take part in the popular show.

   The focal point of the event will be the driving arena, where there will be a master of ceremonies, Steve Deeks. There will be speeches by the regional chairs, presentations of the concours and competition winners as well as live music entertainment. Other activities will include a drifiting track, laser shooting, mini tanks, radio controlled cars, a wheel changing competition, show and shine competition, tombola, lots of trade stands and a special display of 100 cars forming the figure ‘100’ to be photographed from the air.

   Representatives from insurance companies will be on hand as well as staff from the BMW Car Club to answer questions and enrol new members. There will also be the club’s register and regional displays, all taking place in and around the British Motor Museum.

   Tom Caren, Show Manager for the British Motor Museum stated “The BMW Festival is a fantastic family day out. To mark this special anniversary year we will be organising plenty of additional activities to entertain visitors. Seeing so many BMW’s on display from different decades is a brilliant spectacle to see!”.

   Tickets cost £17 for adults, £9 for children (under 5’s are free) and £45 for a family. Entry to the Museum is also included in the ticket price. Discounted tickets are available in advance from the BMW Car Club Office on 01970 267 989 or www.bmwcarclubgb.co.uk

   To find out more about the British Motor Museum please visit the website at www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk

3. 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

4. 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.

   

5. 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.