The British Motor Museum in Warwickshire is somewhere I thought might be interesting to review, but was also worried if the kids would be interested or not. We’re not particularly into cars, BUT we do like a good museum and learning about new stuff so why not? Also, we have driven past the sign on the M40 a million times but never actually been. Well this half term we took advantage of a great deal and went down to check them out.
As the name would imply, the British Motor Museum is all about the history of the British Motor industry. It’s packed full of cars from the distinctly dodgy, “I wouldn’t get in that” kind, to the fastest cars in the world, to those you’ve probably driven yourself (or your parents did).
The museum
The museum has areas dedicated to design & concepts, making British cars, sports cars, Jaguar, motorsport, sports cars (surely the same thing??) and cars from film and TV. When we visited British Motor Museum to do this review the exhibition on the mezzanine floor was dedicated to all things Vauxhall. Hubby and I both got very excited as they had our parent’s cars up here. See, this place isn’t just about luxury sports cars. It’s about the normal ones as well. As long as they’re British. They’re also in a LOT better condition than ours ever were – probably related to the fact they don’t have us kids trashing them.
Obviously there are certain showstopper cars that even people who don’t know jack about cars can get excited about. Like the Mclaren or the Aston Martin Vanquish or the quite frankly ginormous 1950’s Daimler! I swear that car is bigger than your average caravan. Apparently it would be impractical for us to swap our 3008 for this. I beg to differ!!
The time road is quite interesting. It starts off with cars from 1896 right up to 1996. Sorry, but I still dislike it when anything from my lifetime, let alone my teenage years, is in a museum! There’s an ancient bus and the oldest surviving Austin car. Both of which you can sit in. Shouldn’t this one be in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang though?
As seen on TV
The British Motor Museum has got THE DeLorean and, if my review photos ever included the kids’ faces, you’d see the biggest smile in the world on Middle Child’s face when he spotted it. It was perfect timing as he was just about to start moaning about something.
They’ve also got FAB1 (Smallest Child wants her own one because it’s a massive pink car!), Del Boy’s reliant robin, James Bond’s car and others.
The British Motor Museum for Families
Whenever I’m doing a review of somewhere like the British Motor Museum, I need to know if it’s good for families or not. It really is, particularly at weekends and during the school holidays. They have free activities such as model building or colouring in the learning space. There is also a free family trail to do.
If you have got under 5’s you HAVE to get one of the mini cars to push around the museum. Smallest Child adored her so much she was quite put out that they didn’t have them in the other collection!
Dotted around the British Motor Museum there is also a couple of story corners where you can sit with the kids and read a story (with props). This was a particularly nice touch. The stories are all car related (obviously) but the props meant the kids could also make up their own stories once we’d finished.
One of the most family friendly parts of the British Motor Museum is the Under the Skin area. Theoretically this is all about the mechanics of cars, but realistically it’s one massive hands-on exhibit for the kids. There is a ton of games in here to play, a car of them to sit in (and another story corner). It’s got things for big and little kids. We were in there for about half an hour and even popped back in later.
The collections centre
This is essentially their spare garage, except it has over 200 very expensive cars in it. Downstairs is the main Jaguar collection. Again, it’s got some very cool cars like Austin Powers’ Jag from the Spy Who S****ed me, The Queen Mum’s Jag, Princess Diana’s and one with a parachute launcher! We all have one of those don’t we?
Upstairs it kind of looks like a very posh garage. This is where they store all the cars that aren’t currently in the main museum. That doesn’t mean they’re rubbish, just that they’re not currently out. They’re not displayed as well as they’re all parked fairly close together but you still get some information about the cars. We didn’t stay in here for long. Mainly because it had already been a long day and Smallest Child was not happy she couldn’t drive her little car around in here as well.
Our British Motor Museum Review
I was pleasantly surprised by the British Motor Museum. Hubby described it as the car equivalent of the RAF Museum, and it kind of is. I think they’ve got a decent amount of interactive elements to keep the kids happy, but have also got enough information to keep car enthusiasts happy too. You can spend a good chunk of the day here too. I let the kids play in the playground for half an hour at lunch to bulk it out.
The British Motor Museum really have thought out their family activities as well. Depending on when you go, there’s shows, talks, crafts and activities. We had to build and race pull back lego cars – with varying levels of success! But the kids really enjoyed doing it.
Admission cost
Family ticket (2A+3C) £44 online, under 5’s go free. Tickets are valid for 12 months if you gift-aid your ticket. Check the latest prices on their website.
Blue Peter badge holders go free
When we visited the British Motor Museum do this review we used National Lottery days out so exchanged our Lotto tickets for a £25 voucher towards the cost of admission.
Parking / How to get there
Parking – Ample free parking on-site.
Address – Banbury Road, Gaydon, Warwickshire, CV35 0BJ
Toilets
On-site, including baby change
Food
Cafe on-site. Picnic area next to the small playground area.
All prices quoted are correct at the time this review of the British Motor Museum was published.
What else is there to do nearby?
Compton Verney, Upton House and Charlecote Park are all close by
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Hi, I’m Vicky. My husband and I live in Aylesbury with our three children; a 14 year old son, an 12 year old son and a 6 year old daughter. I (mostly) love spending time together as a family. We visit all kinds of places and we’re quite happy to drive a fair distance for a decent day out. A few years ago I decided to set up Free Time with the Kids as a way to share our experiences of these family days out.
You’ll find the essential information you need to know before your visit that can be surprisingly hard to find out. Where do I park? How much will it cost me to get in? Are there any discounts available? Are there loos? Can I take a picnic or get food? My aim is to be your go-to guide for all your free and cheap family days out across Bucks, Beds, Oxon, Herts & slightly beyond. I really hope you find the reviews helpful. If there’s anywhere that you’d recommend please get in touch contact@freetimewiththekids.com or get in touch via Facebook