Britain’s Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon, Warwickshire, celebrates its 21st birthday in May with a special exhibition, “21 Years 21 Icons.” We asked if we could get the list of the 7 vehicles, inventions and people who will be featured.
Not yet, we were told. It’s still a secret.
However, we did get a sneak peek in the form of three photographs — one of Stirling Moss, one of a disc brake and one of curator Stephen Laing sitting in a cutaway of the original Mini.
“Since the Museum opened on 1 May 1993, its collection has been renowned as one of the finest selections of British motor cars,” the centre said in announcing its anniversary exhibition. “The museum tells the story of the people that have shaped Britain’s love affair with the motor car and also houses some of the world’s best-known examples of automotive design and technology. “
The exhibition opens May 2 and runs through December.
“For each of the 21, the exhibition will explore their history and why they are so important to Britain’s automotive evolution,” the news release said.
“The Heritage Motor Centre has been celebrating the best of Britain’s car industry for 21 years,” Laing said. “It has been a difficult task to choose just 21 products, people and pioneering inventions that represent motoring, the motor car and its industry in Britain.”
In addition to its 21st anniversary celebration, the centre announced that it will receive more than $6.2 million from its Heritage Lottery and will use those funds to construct a new two-story building to house its reserve car collection, workshop and learning education zone. The new facility is scheduled to open in 2015.
“It will allow us to make our collections far more accessible,” said Tim Bryan, head of collections and interpretation.
The Heritage Motor Centre is home to the world’s largest historic collection of British cars and draws together the collections of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust with more than 300 vehicles.
