Everyone who knows me knows that I enjoy visiting car museums. Back when visiting UK in 2023 I had plans to visit the Great British Car Journey, a car museum in Ambergate, Derbyshire which had opened in 2021. Alas events intervened and I never got there.
But this year, as part of my UK visit, I got there and wasn’t disappointed. The museum has around 150 cars on display and unlike some car museums the emphasis is on the ordinary: Austin, Morris, Ford, Vauxhall etc, many of the cars that were commonplace during my childhood. My ‘I Spy Cars’ and ‘Observers Book of Automobiles’ were two of my childhood treasures: I wish I still had them.
The story is split into nine ‘chapters’:
- 1921-39: A little car that changed the world: the Austin Seven
- 1945-57: A Minor miracle: the Morris Minor
- 1957-67: Wizardry on wheels: the Mini
- 1967-70: BL is formed but begins a long decline
- 1913-70: A family affair: Rootes – Hillman, Humber, Singer and Sunbeam
- 1905-2021: The Americans: Ford and Vauxhall
- 1970-77: Difficult times: BL is nationalised
- 1977-90: The lady’s not for turning: Mrs T. reluctantly refinances BL; enter the Metro
- 1990-today: British-owned volume car producers are no more.
Visitors are lent an tablet – the commentary is excellent, with even more information delivered if you click on the display board QR codes.
There’s a good café too.
If this was it, the Great British Car Journey would just be another medium size motor museum – The British Motor Museum, Gaydon has 400 cars. But what makes this museum different (unique?) is that you can Drive Dad’s Car!
… Or in my case, since my dad never drove (eyesight issues), Drive Mum’s Car.
On the day we visited a good number of their sixty-car drive fleet was out ready for visitors to drive, everything from a 1920s Austin Seven, a 1938 Wolseley that’s appeared in Foyle’s War, a London Black Cab, a Rolls Royce Silver Spirit, a police Jaguar with blue flashing lights, and at the other end of the scale numerous humbler vehicles. The current cost (June 2025) of a drive depends on the car chosen: they’re grouped into Classic (£54), Premium (£75) and Luxury (£85) with discounts if you drive more than one. Buying one or more drives gets you free museum admission.
For myself, I chose to drive their Hillman Imp, since it was the first car my mother ever owned, bought new in 1963 for £532. She sold it in 1966, well before I learned to drive. Had I not chosen this car, I’d probably have chosen one that I’d owned in the past.
The museum buildings are at one end of a four-acre site, home to a wire rope factory from 1876 until it closed in 1996. Each drive lasts about twenty minutes, three circuits of the site, accompanied by a supervisor. You can take passengers for a small extra charge (£10) and a souvenir photo is a very modest £9.95. Not having driven a manual car for 25+ years, I felt somewhat like a learner; thankfully I only stalled once! But a great experience.
Thanks to my friend John for providing transport; if you want to visit the museum using public transport, it’s about a 20 minute walk from Ambergate station.
