The British Motor Museum tells us:
(All words and photographs from The british Motor Museum).
The British Motor Museum is proud to announce that it will be the new home of the physical Autocar Archive. Autocar is the world’s longest-running car magazine and its archive has been available to access digitally since 2023 through a partnership with Exact Editions.
Following the completion of that project, a new home has been sought for the physical copies and future bound volumes of its title, which turned 130 years old this week. The Archive at the British Motor Museum was the obvious choice.
Autocar’s own volumes will shortly join the Museum’s existing collections, one of the world’s largest and most outstanding archives of magazines, photographs, drawings, motoring literature and film covering the motor car and Britain’s motor industry.
Following the digitisation and combining of its respective physical archives, some gaps have been identified in the collection. Autocar and the Museum are inviting readers and collectors to contribute to the physical archive to make it whole. In the future, researchers visiting the Museum in person will also be able to search Autocar’s digital archive through a dedicated terminal.
As part of the launch, Autocar editor-in-chief Steve Cropley and editor-at-large Matt Prior walked the Museum for a special immersive episode of their My Week in Cars podcast, published on 5 November on all major podcast channels.
Stephen Laing, Head of Collections & Engagement at the British Motor Museum said: “Our internationally recognised collections of cars, objects and archive material tell the myriad of stories behind the development of the car; the people who designed, built and sold them; and the growth of the motor industry since its inception. As the world’s longest-running car magazine, Autocar has provided a continuous commentary on the motor car for a century and more. Together we can continue to capture the stories from today and those in the future.”
Autocar editor Mark Tisshaw said: “We’re delighted to be partnering with the British Motor Museum for this very special project. The Autocar Archive tells the history of the motor car in real time back to 1895 and the digitisation of the archive was a huge moment for the brand in making this accessible to all. There is no better place for our physical archive to reside, being so close to so many of the cars we have told the story of over the past 130 years. We would love to hear from any readers or collectors who can help make the archive a complete one and would urge anyone who would like to contribute to this project to reach out to the British Motor Museum.”
A complete set of What Car? magazines, Autocar’s sibling title at publisher Haymarket Automotive, has also been donated to the British Motor Museum’s Archive as part of this partnership. What Car? dates back to 1973 and all future bound volumes of What Car? will head straight to Gaydon in the future. If you can help contribute to the physical archive or for more information on what gaps need filling, please contact https://www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/explore/museum-blog/archive-news-the-autocar-archive
To find out more information about the Museum, please visit the website at https://www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/
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About The British Motor Museum:
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The British Motor Museum houses the collections of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust – over 400 cars spanning the classic, vintage and veteran eras and a fabulous archive of film, photographs, personal papers and business documents.
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The British Motor Industry Heritage Trust (the Trust) is an independent educational charity formed in 1983. The Registered Charity Number is 286575. Its mission is to collect, conserve, research and display for the benefit of the nation, motor vehicles, archives and ancillary material relating to the motor industry in Great Britain and to provide a world-class motor museum and major visitor attraction providing a broad based academic and educational facility coupled to an entertaining and attractive display.
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As a registered charity, the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust operates a number of fundraising schemes from ‘Adopt a Car’ to Payroll Giving and is registered with the Fundraising Regulator.
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In December 2014, the Trust gained the coveted designated status from Arts Council England which confirms that its collections are of national significance. The Designation Scheme is a mark of distinction, identifying and celebrating pre-eminent collections of national and international importance in non-national institutions. British Motor Museum is a National Portfolio Organisation supported by Arts Council England providing funding for a 3-year programme of exhibitions, engagement and learning activity from 2023 to 2026. Arts Council England is the national development body for arts and culture across England, working to enrich people’s lives. It supports a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries. Between 2023 and 2026, it will invest £446m per year to help create these experiences www.artscouncil.org.uk
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The British Motor Museum delivers a range of educational packages which support the National Curriculum – science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects at KS1 to KS4. A wide range of family and lifelong learning activities also take place in the Museum during school holidays.
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Each year the Museum hosts a number of highly successful and varied motoring Shows and Rallies as well as family events, lectures and workshops. For full details please visit the website www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk
- The address is British Motor Museum or British Motor Industry Heritage Trust, Banbury Road, Gaydon, Warwickshire CV35 0BJ.
About Autocar
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Autocar is the essential news, reviews, entertainment and reference title for committed car enthusiasts everywhere. It leads the automotive news agenda worldwide, while its famous road tests are used by the industry and consumers alike as the authoritative benchmark.
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Autocar is the world’s oldest motoring magazine and remains the most influential automotive media brand in the UK. It has a hugely engaged audience, and the knowledge its readers glean and pass onto their peers influences thousands of car purchases a year.
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Autocar is able to connect new and used car buyers directly with their next car purchase through a partnership with Auto Trader. Globally, there are seven further international editions.