Our latest exhibit gets seven-million people talking!

Our recent announcement that a 1994 Vauxhall Corsa has become our latest exhibit, has resulted in the little red car becoming one of our most talked-about vehicles in recent years.

Best-known for our collection of more than 150 classic cars and motorbikes including Donald Campbell’s Bentley, a DMC DeLorean made famous by the Back to the Future movies, and the classic Ford Model T, the talking point of 2020 is a much more ‘plain’ affair.

Awareness of the arrival of our Corsa spread across TV, radio, newspapers, magazines and social media like wildfire in November – reaching a combined audience of nearly seven million viewers, listeners, readers and internet surfers in the space of just five days after the museum announced its prediction that this particular model could become “extinct” in just five years from now.

Duty Manager Chris Williams says, “We knew it would get people talking, but we really didn’t expect it to be grabbing national headlines! It’s really divided opinion, with some people loving it, and others wondering what on earth it’s doing on display alongside so many classics. But, at a time when we need people to be supporting attractions, it’s certainly got people talking about the museum, so it’s very much ‘mission accomplished’ in that respect.

“This little car has been in national newspapers including The Guardian, on lifestyle websites in places as far-flung as Singapore, featured several times on BBC TV and radio news, as well as in classic car magazines. The local press has been brilliant too, and we expect the car to be the backdrop for many photographs when visitors return from December 2nd.”

As we prepare to re-open our doors on 2 December, the team has been hard at work to ensure several other new vehicles are brought-in for Christmas and New Year including a 1963 Austin A40 Farina and a 1991 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1.