Originally due to open in 2020, plans for the attraction had to be shelved following serious health issues with two of its founders.
Now back to full health, Great British Car Journey is out of the garage and back on the road....
https://www.greatbri...carjourney.com/
Picture the scene: You are in the back of your family car on a very long hot journey to the beach. Without a seatbelt, it is only the sticky vinyl seat stopping you from sliding around. The car is slow and noisy and could breakdown any minute. It is painted a peculiar shade of brown, orange or maybe green. Splashed across the radiator grill are the words Morris, Austin, Hillman, Vauxhall, Wolseley, or perhaps Humber.
These are priceless memories from a bygone era of British motoring. Not exactly the motoring icons of their day, many of these hum-drum motors, are fast fading into history. Overshadowed by exotic European supercars, the little cars that took the nation to the shops, did the daily commute and took us on our holidays, are now just nostalgic reminders of the past. Unloved, unwanted and unfashionable their numbers slowly fell. Nowadays they are rarely seen and seldom driven. Until now.
A unique collection of 130 British cars, in almost as many paint shades, was unveiled in Derbyshire today. After years spent finding and storing the cars, Richard Usher, finally saw his dream come to reality as the first of his cars were unwrapped and moved to their new location in Ambergate.
In addition to the static display, they’ll be another 32 cars which can be driven on a private circuit around the old wire factory buildings on the banks of the river Derwent.
The Great British Car Journey attraction, opening on May 22, tells the story of British car design and production from 1922 when Herbert Austin produced the Austin Seven, the first commercially accessible car to a mass market, through to the present day.
“The heroes of our journey are the cars, not a random selection of old vehicles but a carefully chosen selection of cars made in Britain which changed the world for good. Many of the cars have their own story - a 55-year-old Mini with 7700 miles on the clock, the last MG Metro ever produced showing less than 400 miles, and one of 360 Morris Minor "Millions" produced in 1961 to celebrate a production record.
“Your journey is a timeline which starts in 1921 when Austin nearly went bust and ends in the present when we all take the car completely for granted. It features success and failure both mechanical and human, and charts the rise and demise of an industry which was once vital to our economy”, explained Richard.
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Edited by mab01uk, 22 April 2021 - 10:49 AM.
