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Join us for 75th celebrations at our Morris Minor Day

Morris Minor Million

The Morris Minor made its debut at the British Motor Show at Earls Court in October 1948. Alec Issigonis’ first great volume design is therefore 75 years old this year.

The Minor is central to the story of Great British Car Journey, being the best selling and most loved, next generation of true family transport after the war and taking over the mantle from the Austin 7.

Hopefully, Sunday 21st May will be a lovely early Summer day and we would like to assemble as many Morris Minors as possible to celebrate this marvellous little car.

We have a great selection of Morris Minors in the collection including a wonderful early convertible from 1950 and the last Minor ever made, kindly on loan from the Morris Minor Owners Club, as well as two Minor Millions!

Although Morris himself was no great fan of the Minor, it is a landmark vehicle in the history of Great British cars with more than 1.7 million being built between 1948 and 1971.

Joining us on Sunday will be members of the Northamptonshire Branch of the Morris Minor Club, along with ‘Miranda’ the Morris Minor Marie Curie fundraiser.

A special event entry price is available for all Morris Minors attending so if you are coming in a Minor please email your interest and car registration number to ian@greatbritishcarjourney.com so we can discount your admission.

If you are a Morris Minor fan but don’t own, pop along to see the fantastic display.

Rover Day – 14 May 2023

Rover Day 2023 at Great British Car Journey

Hopefully watching from above, John Kemp Starley, would have observed the car park at Great British Car Journey largely populated by Rovers on Sunday 14th May 2023 as we celebrated the great British institution that was Rover cars. Of course, Starley made his considerable reputation with his Rover ‘safety’ bicycle and it was not until 1904 that the first Rover car took to the road, preceded by some motorbikes and an ingenious electric tricycle.

Over the next 100 years, Rover concentrated on cars and although Starley died in 1901, his legacy was more than present in our car park for our Rover themed day.

I would like to thank all the owners of the cars who made our first Rover Day so memorable. In particular, the enthusiastic Rover 200 and 400 Owners Club and their events co-ordinator Iain Turner for putting on a great display of some of the last high volume Rovers ever made. Iain has a pristine Rover 200vi which was one of the last really hot hatches to carry the Rover name.

The famous Viking Ship logo was visible on virtually all the significant post-war models on display with a number of P6 and SD1s present representing an era when Rover lost its rather staid image with some truly inspirational models. Sadly, the Rover car story ended in 2005, when the closure of Longbridge ended production of the 75.

Rover Day however, was a celebration of the greatness of Rover and I look forward to celebrating again next year with even more cars!

Our themed events programme continues this weekend with a 75th birthday celebration of Alec Issigonis’ first great success, the Morris Minor. If you own one or just love them, join us next Sunday!

Richard Usher
Found and CEO, Great British Car Journey

Come & Meet the Fleet on the 27th May

With over 35 cars available to drive as part of the Drive Dads Car Experience it is not often you get to see them all on display at the same time and to add to the excitement we will be adding 5 new cars to the fleet on the day. This will take our cars available to drive to over 40 different models – the largest selection of its kind in the UK by some way.

This means you will get to see all 40 Drive Dads cars alongside the 130+ cars in the museum making this a very special day for all classic car fans.

Tickets for the day are for museum entry and to view the full fleet – drives must be booked separately and are not available on the 27th. You can pay for entry on the day but if you book online in advance you will save 10% on your tickets.

We will also be offering some very special deals that will only be available to visitors attending the Meet the Fleet day that will make great Father’s Day presents or just enable you to try out more and more cars with extra discounts…

Classic Collection car drives will be reduced from £49 to to £30!

Premium Collection car drives reduced from £65 to £39!

Luxury Collection car drives from £75 down to £49!

NB: Cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.

To book tickets for the day click the red button below.

This blog is on the Great British Car Journey website so please click here if you want to go back to the Drive Dads Car Website.

Help us raise funds for Childline on Drive it Day 2023

Members of the Great British Car Club or a Motor Sport UK affiliated club are invited to join Great British Car Journey’s special driving tour through the Peak District on Sunday 23 April.

A range of classic cars and their owners will be departing from the visitor attraction in Ambergate from 9:45am, for the White Peak tour – a 40-mile route through some of the Peak District and Derbyshire’s most beautiful countryside.

The stunning route, which starts and finishes at Great British Car Journey, has been approved by Motorsport UK as a non-competitive touring assembly.

Richard Usher, Founder and CEO of Great British Car Journey explained: “Our expert navigational wizard, Steve White, has put together a pretty wonderful route which we believe will take you on roads you have never been on before. I drove the route recently myself and it was unbelievably scenic and very restful.”

The annual Drive It Day event is organised by the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) and is designed to raise money for NSPCC’s Childline service.

In addition to the driving tour, Great British Car Journey is fundraising on the day at the attraction and is inviting everyone to get involved, and help raise money for Childline.

On the day Great British Car Journey has pledged to donate the following to Childline:

  • Half the White Peak Tour entry fee (£25)
  • 10% of Great British Car Journey admission
  • 10% of revenue from The Filling Station Cafe
  • £5 from every Great British Car Club membership sign up. New members will also receive a free Great British Car Journey mug.

The £25 White Peak Tour entry fee also includes a Drive it Day 2023 car plaque and two free hot drinks in The Filling Station Café at Great British Car Journey.

In addition to the driving event and fundraising, a very special classic car handover will also be taking place at Great British Car Journey on the day.

Tom Keene, a 32 year old classic car enthusiast from Sandiway in Cheshire, will be handed the keys to a Pre-War Austin 7 Club’s RP Box Saloon at 11.00am.

The handover is part of the Classic Car Loan Project, which aims to encourage the next generation of classic car owners by giving younger drivers free use of a classic car for up to a year as an extended driving experience.

Young enthusiasts, normally aged 25 years or older and with some level of interest and aptitude, can apply to borrow a a range of cars. There are no hire or loan charges involved, they just have to look after the car as if it was their own.

The car was previously driven by Liam Murphy from Mansfield who has been the custodian of the car since 2021. He has documented his adventures in the 1933 Austin 7 Club’s RP Box Saloon on YouTube at @Austin7Adventures  and Instagram at @austin7adventures.

The car will now continue its adventures with Tom who has been saving up for his own classic car since he was a boy after his dad took him to Oulton Park.

To join Great British Car Journey’s White Peak Tour on Drive it Day please email adrian@greatbritishcarjourney.com or call 01773 317243 to book your place.

You can sign up for the White Peak Tour between 9am and 9:45am on the day at Great British Car Journey, however you will need proof of club membership.

Join us to celebrate “Best of British Day” on Sunday 2nd April

We are celebrating everything BRITISH on April 2nd and our anchor club for this event is the Morgan Sports Car Club…surely there is nothing more quintessentially British than a sports car manufactured in the shadow of the Malvern Hills for well over 100 years.

Well, of course this will open a can of worms: What about MG, Morris, Austin or even Austin Healey … and Bentley, Rolls Royce???

Let’s see how many British built cars we can get together…look on it as a dress rehearsal for Drive It Day on April 23rd!

  • Along with the Morgans and other exciting British cars that will be on show in the car park you will find over 130 British Classics in the Museum to enjoy  
  • The Filling Station Cafe will be open as usual serving great coffee, drinks and snacks
  • Unique British Car car merchandise will be available in our gift shop 

As always Great British Car Club Members are free to attend but will need to pre-book 

We would love to see you and your British pride and joy on April 2nd.

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Great British Car Meet Easter Monday 10th April

Great British Car Journey Car Meet

The 2nd Great British Car Meet of the year is on Easter Monday so has the added bonus of the opportunity to upgrade your visit with reduced price admission to our Interactive Museum

As you may know the Great British Car Meet is the new name for our very popular Gatherings from last year and welcomes owners of all makes and models from classic cars to vintage cars to modern cars

Entrance to the Great British Car Meet is £5 per car and is redeemable against entry on the day or a future visit to Great British Car Journey or Membership of Great British Car Club. 

As always Great British Car Club Members are free to attend but will need to pre-book directly.

Great British Car Club is affiliated to MotorSport UK and the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs.

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