The world of cars is full of great designs, from the elegant Jaguar E-type to the steadfast Land Rover, it’s amazing how a good design can really capture the imagination. This thinking has inspired the latest feature exhibition, From Sketch To Street, a fascinating exploration of the world of car design, through four key areas, Interior, Exterior, Materials and Trim, and Engineering. These elements have also inspired this year's summer holiday activities.
The Museum is home to over 400 historic British cars, and each one has its own fascinating design features, from imposing grilles and bodywork, to the tiniest details in the wheels and bumpers. This summer, we’re diving deep into car design, with a range of fun activities that are sure to inspire your creativity!
Each day from 19 July to 30 August, one of the Museum’s resident car designers, Dottie and Dougie, will be running fun and informative Car Designer Family Tours exploring different features in car design. If you want to get stuck into some designs of your own, visit the Car Details Garage to design a fascinating new vehicle of your own!
Finally, put what you’ve learned to the test as you take on the “It’s All In The Detail” Family Trail, sketching different design features based on the cars you see around the Museum.
All these activities are included in the price of admission, for a great value day out! Click the button below to book.
From Sketch To Street - Every Day
Our latest feature exhibition, From Sketch To Street is opening on the first day of the summer holiday activities! Visit the Exhibition Hall during the summer to explore the transformative nature of car design, through a broad range of exhibits and interactives.
Learn more about the exhibition here.
Car Designer Family Tours – every day at 11.30am, 19 July to 30 August
Behind every great car design is a great designer! Come and meet the Museum’s very own Designers – Dotty and Dougie. Every day, one of these two talented designers will be leading a tour around the Museum, turning their keen eyes to all the fascinating design features that can be seen in the collection.
Who will be running your tour?
Meet up at the Family Activity station before 11.30am to find out!
Car Details Garage - every day until 3.30pm with last entry at 3.00pm
Super spoilers, glitzy grilles, eye-catching emblems and magical materials, every designer has so much to choose when designing a car. Here at the Car Details Garage, those choices are all yours!
Step into the Learning Hub and get to work designing the car of your dreams! What design details will you choose? Select different materials, colours, spoilers, wheels and much more to build a vehicle that is truly your own. Best of all, you can take your creation home to display with pride.
If you fancy a break from the hard work while you’re here, we’ll have drawing and colouring available too!
Suitable for 4+ years with adult supervision.
"It’s All In The Detail" Family Trail - every day
Our car collection shows off so many shapes, styles and colours from over 100 years of motoring, but there’s so much more to see when you realise it really is all in the details.
Collect a booklet from the Family Activity Station and follow the trail of ‘pods’ and have a go at sketching different elements of car design and answering questions at each one. You’ll discover grilles, wheels, wings and more! Along the way, collect letters which will tell you the location of your final design challenge…
When you’ve completed the trail, it’s full speed back to the Family Activity Station to check your answers and collect a reward sticker.
Summer Access Day - 16 August
On 16 August, discover a day-long showcase of our accessible activities and initiatives, bringing a welcoming visitor experience to the widest possible audience. We'll even be keeping the Museum open later, to give everyone the chance to get in on the action.
Learn more about what's on offer here.
Cars on the Move - TBC
Following the success of last year's anniversary events, we'll once again have cars from the collections 'on the move' in the Museum grounds during the 2024 school summer holidays! Our team still have some work to do to get these classic vehicles ready, so watch this space to see which cars will be running and when.
NOTE: All activities are included in Museum admission. There is no need to pre-book; just drop by the Family Activity station to find out what is going on and when! Activities are suitable for 4+ years unless otherwise specified.
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