The
Coventry Transport Museum (formerly known as the
Museum of British Road Transport) is a major motor
museumA museum is a building or institution which houses a collection of artifacts.Museums collect and care for objects of scientific, artistic, or historical importance and make them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary...
, located in
CoventryCoventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham with a population of 300,848...
City Centre,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It houses the most extensive collection of British-made
road transportRoad transport or road transportation is transport on roads of passengers or goods.A hybrid of road transport and ship transport is the historic horse-drawn boat.-History:...
in the world. It is located in Coventry because the city was previously the centre of the British car industry.
Admission to the Museum is free. The Museum has a full time archive department, which deals with a hugh array of historical items, and offers a public enquiry service answering questions and finding items and information.
The
Coventry Transport Museum (formerly known as the
Museum of British Road Transport) is a major motor
museumA museum is a building or institution which houses a collection of artifacts.Museums collect and care for objects of scientific, artistic, or historical importance and make them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary...
, located in
CoventryCoventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham with a population of 300,848...
City Centre,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It houses the most extensive collection of British-made
road transportRoad transport or road transportation is transport on roads of passengers or goods.A hybrid of road transport and ship transport is the historic horse-drawn boat.-History:...
in the world. It is located in Coventry because the city was previously the centre of the British car industry.
Admission to the Museum is free. The Museum has a full time archive department, which deals with a hugh array of historical items, and offers a public enquiry service answering questions and finding items and information. Enquiries can be made via the main website.
There are more than 240
carsAn automobile, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
and commercial vehicles, 100
motorcycleA motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are the most affordable form of...
s, 200
bicycleA bicycle, also known as a bike, push bike or cycle, is a pedal-driven, human-powered vehicle with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist or a bicyclist....
s.
The most notable exhibits in the museum are
Thrust2Thrust2 is a British designed and built jet propelled car, which held the world land speed record from 4 October 1983 to 15 October 1997.The car was designed by John Ackroyd and driven by Richard Noble. On October 4 1983 the car reached a top speed of and broke the record at . This was achieved...
and
ThrustSSCThrust SSC is a British-designed and built jet-propelled car developed by Richard Noble, Glynne Bowsher, Ron Ayers and Jeremy Bliss....
, the British jet cars which broke the
land speed recordThe land speed record is the fastest speed achieved by any wheeled vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; what is used in practice is the Category C flying start regulations, officiated by regional or national organizations under the auspices of the Fédération...
in 1983 and 1997 respectively. Royal cars - Queen Mary's and King George's State limo.
Many "conventional" cars are in the collection, including an
Austin AllegroThe Austin Allegro is a small family car that was manufactured by British Leyland under the Austin name from 1973 until 1983. The same vehicle was built in Italy by Innocenti in 1974 and 1975 and sold as the Innocenti Regent...
, an Austin Metro (Minimetro) previously owned by Lady Diana Spencer, a Ford Escort MK2,
Hillman ImpThe Hillman Imp is a compact, rear-engined saloon car that was manufactured under the Hillman marque by the Rootes Group from 1963 to 1976...
,
Triumph AcclaimThe Triumph Acclaim was a front wheel drive medium-sized family car made by British Leyland from 1981 to 1984. It was based on the Honda Ballade and used a Honda-designed engine, but met United Kingdom component-content requirements...
, Talbot Sunbeam, Talbot Horizon,
Peugeot 206The Peugeot 206 is a supermini , manufactured by the French automaker Peugeot since 1998, in addition to licensed manufacturing by Iran Khodro since 2005.-The project:...
,
Peugeot 405The Peugeot 405 is a large family car released by the French automaker Peugeot in July 1987 and which continues to be manufactured under license outside France. The 405 was voted European Car of the Year for 1988.-Design and styling:...
and the De Lorean (DMC) car made famous by the
Back to The Future films. A Humber staff car used by
General MontgomeryField Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, KG, GCB, DSO, PC , often referred to as "Monty", was an Anglo-Irish British Army officer...
during the Second World War is also on display.
The museum displays many Jaguars and other Coventry built cars such as the
TriumphThe Triumph Motor Company is a defunct British motor manufacturer. The Triumph marque is currently owned by BMW. The marque had its origins in 1885 when Siegfried Bettmann and Moritz Schulte from Germany founded Bettmann & Co and started selling Triumph bicycles from premises in London and from...
,
HumberHumber is a British automobile marque which could date its beginnings to Thomas Humber's bicycle company founded in 1868. In 1931 it was taken over by the Rootes brothers to become part of the Rootes Group. The range focused on luxury models, such as the Humber Super Snipe.Thomas Humber went to...
and
StandardThe Standard Motor Company was founded in Coventry, England in 1903 by Reginald Walter Maudslay . The Standard name was last used in Britain in 1963, and in India in 1987.-1903-1914:...
marques, an
AlvisAlvis may refer to:*Alvíss, a dwarf in Norse mythology*Alvis Cars a British manufacturer of luxury cars and military vehicles, which later became Alvis plc*Alvis plc ; Alvis Cars after its demerger from British Leyland...
tank, Massey-Ferguson tractors, and Coventry built buses, including the very bus the Coventry City football team paraded in after their victory in the
FAThe Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...
final in 1967. A vast array of Coventry motorcycle marques are also represented in the museum's collection including: Triumph,
Francis-BarnettFrancis-Barnett was a British motorcycle manufacturer founded in 1919, by Gordon Francis and Arthur Barnett, and based in Lower Ford Street, Coventry,Most of their light motorcycles used Villiers and later AMC two-stroke engines....
, Rudge-Whitworth, and
Coventry-EagleCoventry-Eagle was a British motorcycle manufacturer. Established as a Victorian bicycle maker, the company began under the name of Hotchkiss, Mayo & Meek. The company name was changed to Coventry Eagle in 1897 when John Meek left the company .. By 1898 they had begun to experiment with motorised...
.
External links