museum Country Classics Motor Museum (Britains Newest Car Museum) - Taunton

[SiC]

I booked this week off in the anticipation of getting huge swaves of work done on the Midget. However as usual with these things, a chest infection has made the grinding dust and welding fumes a bit too nasty to be breathing in (I'm terrible for putting a respirator on). 

Instead I decided to pop down yesterday to "Britains Newest Car Museum" that was opened by Richard Hammond would you know! They do like to tell you both of those facts regularly. Its only been open a month so far, so very new.

The Museum is situated in an old shop in the centre of Taunton. Setup by a local car dealer that has built a collection of vehicles up over the years. I did see the chap floating around (I think investigating building water leaks from the heavy rain we've had recently) but I didn't go up to him for a chat.

Website is here: https://www.countyclassicsmotormuseum.co.uk/

I parked around the back in a council public car park. £2.90 for 2 hours was a bit steep for somewhere like Taunton but it literally is right next to the museum. Maybe one of the multi-stories could have been cheaper?

There was an easily missed alleyway that took you right to the main street. Proper 60's dingyness.

 

As you're on the main street in the centre, this is a good time to say bye to your better halves to go shopping while you potter around the museum.

 

Entrance isn't particularly grand nor big. However once you're in, its much bigger than that entrance suggests.

Entry was £12 for an adult, which isn't too extreme in this day and age really. 

You don't need an entrance ticket if you want to go in for Coffee/Cake/Sandwiches. I'd already bought something at Greggs (over the road), but decided to support them by having a Chocolate Brownie and an Orange Juice.
The area was clean and tidy, with the staff merry and attentive. The coffee shop looks onto the front of the museum exhibits. In yesterdays case, a classic Mini.

(I took this photo when I was leaving, hence the empty cabinets)

 

[SiC]

Now for the big photo dump. I tried to get most of the cars and I think I got them all. My only complaint is that they're packed in pretty tight and with rope barriers making them not all easy to look up close. Hopefully in time they may improve the layout so you can get a bit closer?

There are also a lot of double doors you need to go to. I nearly ended up missing half the museum as I didn't go through the downstairs back doors. 

One thing I'll say is that the owner obviously has a Ford obession as there are an awful lot of Fords.

 

[SiC]

Now for upstairs.

There are more bikes about but I didn't take pictures of many of them. I'm not a bike person, soz.

 

[mk2_craig]

Thanks for sharing SiC, great stuff, they look fairly well wedged in there so maybe there’s unlikely to be much turnover of the displays?

And. Can I just say, ALFA M*****F****N’ ARNA 😳

[SiC]

Now back downstairs after I realised I missed half of it.

This was next to the exhibit.

But going by these stick on text, I don't think its a genuine example 🤣

 

I believe this is to do with Richard Hammond and his racing team.

[SiC]

Then finally I went upstairs to the front where the bikes are situated. Bikes aren't my bag, so you're not getting much on these.

 

Finally this temporary traffic light.

 

With a good old fashioned AGD 200-series on top - I used to work for AGD well over a decade ago, so know these radars well. This must be an early one as it doesn't have the trademark Yellow Stripe on the front.

[SiC]

6 minutes ago, mk2_craig said:

Thanks for sharing SiC, great stuff, they look fairly well wedged in there so maybe there’s unlikely to be much turnover of the displays?

And. Can I just say, ALFA M*****F****N’ ARNA 😳

I don't quite know even how they got them in there to be honest! They do say they'll have guest cars featured in, but it'd me a right 'mare to get some of them out. Especially the ones at the front window!

[MorrisItalSLX]

12 hours ago, SiC said:

I believe this is to do with Richard Hammond and his racing team.

I recognised the reg, it was used in the ‘final’ Top Gear episode with the original trio.

[quicksilver]

7 minutes ago, Nyphur said:

Thanks for sharing, I hadn't heard about the place but I'll have to call in when I'm next over that way.

Definitely looks like they'd benefit from removing 1/5 cars and giving you/them more room - then rotate the cars every 6 months or something.

It looks like an interesting place but suffers from the common problem private museums have of too many cars crammed in and not displayed at their best. There's some good stuff that looks barely visible behind the ropes, pillars, other cars and info stands sticking up everywhere. Reminds me of Stondon in its earlier better days, especially the leaking roof but at least the owner is trying to fix it and not just leaving it to soak the exhibits like they did at Stondon.

[SiC]

The owner definitely seemed to be the hands on time. E.g. I saw him going up into a loft hatch while I was there while talking to someone else about leaks.

There were a lot of staff milling around, so not sure how they intend to keep everyone working. That said, it's a charity and some of them could well be volunteers (probably going by the age of some!). 

It's early days and I suspect they're still finding their feet. Probably the case that he's put his entire car collection in there because he has them all. 

I'd say it's still worth a visit if you're in the area. 

We do have quite a lot of car museums down the South West now. Haynes museum in Sparkford, Atwell Wilson in Calne, Moretonhampsted and even Beaulieu are all pretty within a 2hr radius from here at least. 

[inconsistant]

County Stores RIP.

[SiC]

43 minutes ago, inconsistant said:

County Stores RIP.

At least it's given a fresh new use for the shop and hopefully bring in people that wouldn't normally consider going into Taunton. 

[andyberg]

Thank you for this share. Taunton is only an hour from me so I'll pop down to visit. I got a bit bored with Beaulieu as it doesn't seem to have changed since the 80s. Haynes is ok but expensive. 

[SiC]

2 hours ago, andyberg said:

Thank you for this share. Taunton is only an hour from me so I'll pop down to visit. I got a bit bored with Beaulieu as it doesn't seem to have changed since the 80s. Haynes is ok but expensive. 

If you haven't been, Atwell Wilson in Calne is an excellent museum. You can get up close to the exhibits. I don't know if it's still the case but it used to be that if it was unlocked, you could open the door and have a look inside.

£9 entry is quite reasonable in this day and age. 

https://atwellwilson.org.uk/

 

[SiC]

2 hours ago, andyberg said:

Thank you for this share. Taunton is only an hour from me so I'll pop down to visit. I got a bit bored with Beaulieu as it doesn't seem to have changed since the 80s. Haynes is ok but expensive. 

 

4 minutes ago, SiC said:

If you haven't been, Atwell Wilson in Calne is an excellent museum. You can get up close to the exhibits. I don't know if it's still the case but it used to be that if it was unlocked, you could open the door and have a look inside.

£9 entry is quite reasonable in this day and age. 

https://atwellwilson.org.uk/

 

My thread when I went pre COVID is here:

The images have gone microscopic but if you click on the images, you'll get them back to full-size. 

 

[andyberg]

7 minutes ago, SiC said:

 

My thread when I went pre COVID is here:

The images have gone microscopic but if you click on the images, you'll get them back to full-size. 

 

I'll have a peruse later, thank you.

[dave j]

I fancy popping up there one day as it's only about an hour away. Looks good though!

[sierraman]

My old man lives in Minehead, I’ll take a look next time I see him. 

[Quintus]

Definitely going to visit this place next time I'm down that way.

That Subaru XT is a rare thing.

[2flags]

Just an aside to this. The 'Park and Ride' scheme in Taunton cost £1 per person. [Unless they've put the prices up.] Park as long as you like, no worries about your ticket running out, and just over the road from the motor museum is the main county museum in the castle. That too is well worth a visit. The county museum is free, and they have a nice little cafe. 

[Dobloseven]

On Bangers and Cash last night,the owner,Pat Hawkins,bought a Mk 1 Cavalier for the museum.It was then announced he had sadly died not long after,aged about 68.