All change at Gaydon

What was the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon has recently been through one of the biggest upheavals in its history, closing late last year and reopening in February with a new name and a new building, so the time had come to pay another visit and see what had changed. I have been there several times over the years and seen the place develop since it first opened in 1993 in the ownership of the Rover Group; it was included in BMW's sale of Land Rover to Ford and is now owned by Jaguar Land Rover. Following a refurbishment and the opening of the brand new Collections Centre it is now known as the British Motor Museum and is responsible for three principal collections, the original British Motor Industry Heritage Trust assets being joined by those from the Jaguar Heritage Trust and the former James Hull collection.

The Jaguar Heritage Trust collection is now at Gaydon. I like this XJ6 estate but it never made production.

Stondon a year on

It has now been over a year since the Stondon Motor Museum closed its doors for the last time and the fuss has started to die down, so this seems an appropriate time to look at what became of the former exhibits following the much-anticipated disposal auction. Many have not yet reappeared and are hopefully undergoing restoration, but others were rapidly listed on eBay in the hope of a quick profit, and those that were not included in that auction have recently started to come to light. It is surprising how many were purchased by dealers rather than private buyers, considering the high prices that left little room for profit, but the classic car market seems to be on a high at the moment and the Stondon collection no doubt benefitted from this euphoria.

A yellow Reliant without Trotters signwriting! It didn't take long for the inevitable to happen.

Stondon sale results

Following its closure at Easter, yesterday (Wednesday 10th June) marked the final end for the Stondon Motor Museum as the car and commercial vehicle collection was auctioned by Brightwells at Leominster, the motorcycles having already been sold in April. No-reserve auctions are usually interesting and unpredictable, with the possibility of a bargain but also potential for much competition between determined bidders, and that was certainly the case here. I didn't actually attend the auction for three reasons: it was on a weekday so I was at work, Leominster is a long way from here, and perhaps more importantly I would have probably ended up buying some piece of junk I have neither use nor space for! With the results now published on the auction house's website, I have crunched the numbers and present my analysis here.

So long Stondon

Think of car museums in Britain and what comes to mind will probably be the large national collections such as Beaulieu, Gaydon and Coventry, but the country is also home to a variety of fascinating and lesser-known privately-owned museums. Sadly, this number is about to be reduced as tomorrow (Easter Monday) is the final day of opening for the Stondon Motor Museum before it closes for good and the collection goes to auction. It was a remarkable place, one man's personal passion taken to the extreme, and claimed to be the largest private museum in the country with over 400 exhibits. Many car enthusiasts have probably never heard of it though, and therein no doubt lies one of the main reasons for its demise. Read on for my own tribute to this extraordinary museum.

This rusty old Lada seems to sum up the unique charm of Stondon.