Viva Lewes Issue 117 June 2016

MY SPACE
Bentley Motor Museum
A century of automobile history
What sorts of cars do you keep at Bentley? We try to
get a really good cross section here, and not only cars –
we also have a collection of motorcycles, a horse-drawn
hearse and a 1937 Dennis fire engine.
Where do they come from? They are all privately
owned. We charge a very modest rent to keep them here
and in return we cover the insurance and security.
Who owns the fire engine? That one belongs to
Crowborough Council – it was found in a field and
restored. Its bell was found being used in a pub on one
of the Scottish islands, where somebody recognised it as
the fire engine’s bell. The publican gave it to him and he
brought it back.
How long has the motor museum been here? We
opened in April 1982 with 25 cars. The very first one
was the 1928 Minerva, which is 17 feet long and weighs
two and a half tonnes, so the rest of the museum was
built up around that! I’ve been in that one once a long
time ago – the wheels are so big that you go over a bump
and don’t even notice.
What’s a typical day at the museum? We open at
10am, and a big part of the job is walking around and
chatting to the visitors, but then there’s always a lot of
running around that you don’t expect! Sometimes an
owner will come in and want to start their car up, or
you’ll see something that needs a bit of a polish. Some
days we have school visits.
What criteria does a car have to meet to be kept
here? It depends on what it is… it has to be in pretty
excellent condition, it has to have an interesting history
and it has to be in some way educational.
Do you own any of them? The pre-war Austin 7
replica belongs to my husband. He came to Bentley to
talk about keeping it here – he didn’t expect to find a fellow
car enthusiast with no wedding ring – so that car is
responsible! We had all sorts of fun and games in that.
Which car in the museum is the most expensive?
We couldn’t say, but there are two cars here which are
insured for over a million. See if you can guess which
ones they are… Rebecca Cunningham spoke to Angela Gould
bentley.org.uk
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