The highlight of a visit to Coventry Transport Museum is a ride in the Thrust SSC – Super Sonic Car – simulator. Fasten your seat belt and watch a 3D film of Thrust SSC’s driver Andy Green introducing the car.
He explains that the vehicle has no tyres, as these would be burned off at high speed. And when it’s time to stop the car a parachute is unfurled.
Then it’s your turn in the virtual cockpit with Green as the car hurtles to 763mph in a re-enactment of when it set the land speed record in 1997. Be warned: it’s a bumpy ride.
Afterwards, gaze in awe at the actual car itself, which is displayed alongside the simulator. Painted black, it resembles a sinister rocket. Its sheer size comes as a surprise – at 16.5m Thrust SSC is almost as long as two buses.
Richard Noble, the driving force behind the Thrust project, wants his latest vehicle, Bloodhound, to go faster still. The aim is to reach 1,000mph in Bloodhound, a full-size model of which is at the museum.
The museum is big – you could spend a whole day there. And it’s looking smart after a £9.5 million redevelopment. That’s only fitting, given the enormous role that the motor industry has played in the local economy. Coventry was the cradle of the British bicycle and motor vehicle industries.
The story began when an early bike called a Velocipede, imported from Paris, was ridden through Coventry. It’s said to have caused as big a stir as Lady Godiva’s appearance. Then in 1868 a sewing machine company was the first to build cycles in Coventry. By 1895 there were more than 30 bike makers, and the city was the cycle capital of the world. Many cycle makers later branched out into building the first cars.
A long line of bikes at the museum charts their evolution. The first, the Hobby Horse of 1818, is a bone shaker with no brakes or pedals. There follows a weird and wonderful array of bikes, the oddest being the penny-farthings.
By the end of the 19th century, though, bicycles resembled today’s machines. A milestone came in 1888 with the Rover Safety Bicycle, which proved the basis for all future safety bikes. The museum’s example has won an IMechE Engineering Heritage Award.
The heart of the museum is the chronological display of a couple of hundred cars and motorbikes. Many are set against colourful murals depicting factories and streetscapes from the period. Many of these vehicles were made in Coventry, and the display gives a good history of the industry in its wider social setting. But the labels tend to be short on technical details.
One popular exhibit is Queen Mary’s Daimler. This stately vehicle was given to George V and Queen Mary on their silver jubilee in 1935. A later Daimler used by George VI had a perspex roof panel so that the royals could be easily seen.
At the other end of the social scale, mass production brought motoring to millions with the launch of small ‘people’s cars’. One such was the 1931 Hillman Minx, which at £159 when new made driving affordable. By 1960 when a later Minx model was being made it was the Ford Focus or VW Golf of its day.
Also on show is Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery’s staff car, a Humber Super Snipe, in which he travelled across Europe after the D-Day landings. On arrival in Normandy the car fell into the sea from the Mulberry harbour but was made roadworthy again within 24 hours.
A poignant sight at the museum is a Peugeot 206SW, one of the last cars to come off the line at Ryton before its closure in 2006. Ryton was the last factory to mass-produce cars in Coventry. But the industry’s story continues, and the Future Technology gallery looks at automotive research being done in local universities.
For more details, see: www.transport-museum.com
Look and learn - five things to see
1. Toy story: Viewing thousands of Dinky and Corgi model cars is a trip down memory lane for engineers of a certain age.
2. Company focus: The history of Jaguar cars, from the firm’s beginnings in 1922 in Blackpool to the present day.
3. People carrier: See one of the earliest British cars, the Coventry-built Daimler Wagonette (pictured above) from 1897.
4. Thrust SSC: A ride in the supersonic car simulator is a must for every visitor to the museum, whatever their age.
5. From factory to field: Special exhibition running until 19 September focuses on the history of tractors.