Looking back at the future…
A headline exhibition at the National Motor Museum will look at future visions of the motor car from the past, ideas that have become reality and future visions still to be realised. Motopia? Past Future Visions will showcase a journey through 130 years of future thinking about automobility.
They tell us:
(Images:
© National Motor Museum
© Todd and Kristin Kimmell/Lost highways Archive & Research Library & the National Motor Museum).
Opening on the 20th May 2023 the exhibition will run until the 14 April 2024 at the museum located at Beaulieu in the New Forest, Hampshire.
Jon Murden, Chief executive of the National Motor Museum says, “Concept cars, visions of the future at the start of the 20th century and ideas on how we travel and power our vehicles will be on display, and we’ll be encouraging visitors to explore ideas for an ideal way of living and getting about. It’s the first of a series of exhibitions at the Museum that will focus on the future as well as the past of automobility.”
We’ll explore how radical motoring concepts from the past that remain relevant today and how these have influenced what we ride and drive, the nature of our towns and cities, the way we work, shop and socialise.”
Visitors to the Museum will see bold visions for vehicles and the built environment in which they would operate. The title of the exhibition is inspired by the work of British architect Geoffrey Alan Jellicoe. In the 1950s he described the place where vehicles and humans co-exist in harmony as Motopia. Much earlier, at the turn of the 20th Century, another visionary, John Scott Montagu, second Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, was predicting fast roads connecting cities. Successive generations have taken these ideas and built upon them. The exhibition looks at those and other visions of the future from the past.
The exhibition will have four key themes; vehicle visions will look at car design concepts, propulsion asking how our vehicles are powered – particularly timely when there is a resurgence of electric vehicles, architectural dreams which will include science fiction visions, and urban solutions showing how vehicles have constantly been re-imagined to suit our needs and surroundings.
Motopia? Past Future Visions will be included in the ticket price for the Beaulieu attraction. More information is available at www.nationalmotormuseum.org.uk/events and motopia-past-future-visions
More information about The National Motor Museum:
- The National Motor Museum Trust Limited is a charitable organisation founded in 1972, which runs the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu in the New Forest. Continuing the work of the flagship Montagu Motor Museum, the Trust has a world-famous collection of 250 vehicles and associated motoring items, which are on display in the National Motor Museum.
- The nearby Collections Centre houses and cares for a vast array of motoring artefacts, photographic images, specialist reference library and film and video library. For more information about its collection and services see www.nationalmotormuseum.org.uk
- Visitors to Beaulieu can enjoy a full day out with features including the ancestral Montagu home Palace House, 13th century Beaulieu Abbey and grounds and gardens. Tickets can be bought in advance. For tickets or more information: www.beaulieu.co.uk or call 01590 612345.
- A full calendar of events and exhibitions is held at Beaulieu by the National Motor Museum, including Collection Centre Open Days, Classic Grille Evenings, Meet the Curator events and Transport Torques. Details are available at www.nationalmotormuseum.org.uk/events