Talk by Chris Copson of Haynes Motor Museum
Chris Copson is a military historian who has been at the museum for three years. The museum was created in a former sawmill by the firm responsible for the wildly successful car manuals, and now has about 400 cars from the last 150 years, starting with a replica of an 1886 Benz Motorwagen, through the Model T Ford and the E type Jag, to the latest Williams F1 cars. The museum gets around 100,000 visitors per year and is now evolving into a more hands-on experience emphasising the STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) aspect of the vehicles. Some especially interesting models are the 1896 Benz actually made in Bath by Horstmann, an East German Trabant, a Russian Gaz used by the KGB and a Stanley steam car. The motor car changed the world and the one leading the way was the Tin Lizzie, or Model T Ford, first produced in 1908. This was made affordable through the use of a revolutionary (at the time) assembly line system.
The museum has a café and had a revamp during lockdown, so if you went years ago, you may be pleasantly surprised now. Its website is www.haynesmuseum.org.
