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Rolls-Royce 10 hp, two cylinder motor car

Road Transport

1905

Three-wheeled motor car

Road Transport

1888

First Generation Prius hybrid petrol-electric car

Road Transport

1997

Mini Clubman car, adapted for use by disabled driver, England, 1978-1979

Public Health & Hygiene

1978-1979

Sectioned Morris Mini-Minor car, by British Motor Corporation, Cowley, Oxfordshire, England, 1959.

Sectioned Morris Mini-Minor car

Road Transport

1959

Elswick Envoy road car

Orthopaedics

1986

Vauxhall car fitted with mobility aids, United Kingdom, 1990-2005

Orthopaedics

1990-2005

iUnit Concept Car

Road Transport

Ford Edsel car, 1958. Serial no. X8WX702430, registration no. DBY 475B. The Ford Edsel was launched with considerable publicity on 4 September 1957, branded ‘E-Day’, with a television special ‘The Edsel Show’ aired in October. However despite the publicity the Edsel was unsuccessful and eventually pulled in November 1959. Ford had promised a completely new kind of car, yet the Edsel was essentially conventional with bodywork similar to previous models.

Ford Edsel Corsair motor car

Road Transport

1958

Ford Comuta electric car, 1967

Ford Comuta Electric Car

Road Transport

1967

Citroen type DS19 automatically guided motor car, 1960. This 1960 Citroen DS19 has been modified by the Road Research Laboratory for experiments on the automatic steering of vehicles by means of a cable buried in the road. Sensors attached to the front of the vehicle detect the magnetic field generated by a current flowing through the cable. The magnitude of the signal depends on how far the car deviates from the cable and this error signal is used to operate the car's steering to bring the car back in line with the cable. The Citroen DS19 has a high-pressure hydraulic system which is used for operating brakes, steering, gear-change and the self-levelling suspension. It was chosen for these experiments because it was one of the few cars whose power-assisted steering can be readily modified for automatic steering.

Citroen type DS19 automatically guided motor car,

Road Transport

1960

Volga Mark21K motorcar, c. 1965. Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod or Gorky Automobile Plant, based in Russia, started to produce Volga cars in 1956. Registration number Q128 RGF

Volga Mark21K motor car

Road Transport

c. 1965

Volkswagen Golf Mark 1 motor car, 1093cc. It is Marino Yellow in colour and was first registered on, 1 October 1975. Registration number: MFM 885P; Chassis number: 1753443786; Engine number: FA 211001. Although the car was built late in 1974 ('N' registration year) it was not registered until the 1975 model-year (with a 'P' registration plate). Its warranted speedometer reading is 9,264 miles.

Volkswagen Golf Mark 1 motor car, 1093cc. It is

Road Transport

1975

Stanley Locomobile Steam Car, 1899

Stanley steam car with early type pneumatic tyres.

Road Transport

1899

Renault type AG 7.9hp taxi, 1910. Registration no: CD 2922. Engine no. 7304. Chassis no: 22634. This taxi seats four passengers. It is powered by a 2 cylinder 7.9 hp engine that drives through a 3 speed gearbox to the bevel rear axle. The radiator is mounted behind the engine. The Renault Taxi was the first motor taxi to be built in large numbers. It was introduced in Paris in 1906 and in London in 1907. They were so successful that, by the end of 1910, there were more motor taxis than horse-drawn cabs in London. This particular vehicle was used as a taxi at Hove station from 1910 until the 1930s.

Renault Type AF 7.9hp taxi.

Road Transport

1910

Lagonda saloon car, 1957. The first Lagonda car was produced in 1907 by a car manufacturer, based in Staines, Middlesex and founded by the American Wilbur Gunn, who named his company after a river near the town of his birth Springfield, Ohio. By the mid-1930s Lagonda were experiencing financial difficulties and were bought by Alan Good who also employed W O Bentley, former founder of Bentley’s Motors and designer for Rolls-Royce. Lagonda was taken over by David Brown and integrated into Aston Martin in 1947. Brown continued to work with Bentley, and Aston Martin started to produce models with the Lagonda engine and the initials DB, of which this is an example.

Lagonda Saloon Car, 1957

Road Transport

1957

Knight 0.75 hp motor car. The car, originally constructed as a three-wheeler, was completed and ran in July 1895. It was altered to a four-wheeler in April 1896. It has a one cylinder engine with hot-tube ignition, later converted to electric ignition (by battery, coil and plug). The car is fitted with a direct-acting hand brake. Transmission is by belts.

0.75 hp motor car, 1895

Road Transport

1895

Component from the three wheeled motor car, by Benz, Paris, France, 1888

Component from the three wheeled Benz motor car

Road Transport

1888

‘Double-headed' Vauxhall Astra for demonstrating a range of working mobility aids to assist disabled drivers gain access to, as well as exit, a motor vehicle. Constructed at Vauxhall Motors Ellesmere Port plant c1990-1991, and subsequently fitted with a number of different aids, occasionally updated, for demonstrations and driver assessments until 2005 at the Department of Transport's Mobility Advice and Vehicle Information Service (M.A.V.I.S.) at Crowthorne, Berkshire, England, 1991-2005.

Vauxhall car fitted with mobility aids, United Kingdom, 1990-2005

Orthopaedics

1990-2005

Fiat 500, manufactured in 1970. Model L, registration number ABW 175H

Fiat 500, 1970

Road Transport

1970

NSU Ro 80 motor car, 1973. Chassis no. 0831001542 registration no. LHW 80L. In 1967 NSU produced the Ro 80, the first car specifically designed to be run by the Wankel rotary engine. The smooth compact engine was expected to offer significant advantages over the conventional piston engine and it did receive some high praise from the motoring press. It was complemented on its outstanding road handling, ride and high speed cruising, however fuel consumption let it down and it soon got a reputation for being unreliable. By 1970 most of the car’s problems had be resolved but due to a necessarily generous warranty policy and the damage to the car's reputation sales were low. NSU discontinued the Ro 80 in 1977 and now only Mazda make cars with a Wankel engine.

NSU Ro 80 motor car

Road Transport

1973

Vauxhall Victor series 2 de luxe motor car, registration no. 6532 MH, engine no. 340817, chassis no. FE340464, 1960. The Victor, one of Vauxhall Motors best-selling models in the 1960s, was introduced in 1957 as a four door saloon with a completely redesigned body - a panoramic windscreen, wrap-around rear window and traditional Vauxhall flutes along the body sides. Series 1 was succeeded in 1959 by series 2 models, recognised by smooth body side panels, full width radiator grille and smooth wrap-around bumpers. This is an example of the de luxe version which featured bucket seats and two-tone leather upholstery. The Victor continued to sell well despite receiving criticism for its American influenced styling and Vauxhall’s recent reputation for making rust-prone vehicles. The Victor was finally discontinued in 1972.

Vauxhall Victor series 2 de luxe motor car

Road Transport

1960

Second generation Ford Festiva / Aspire with Orbital two-stroke experimental engine, 1995. This Orbital Corporation (Perth, Australia) Eco Sport motor car comprises a Ford Aspire modified for use in a joint Orbital Corp. and Walbro Engine Management (Tucson, Arizona, USA) fleet test of Orbital's Genesis engine and direct injection technology. 1995 manufacture (Kia of Korea 10/02/1995) Ford Aspire (Festiva) automobile with three cylinder, two-stroke Orbital engine. VINKNJLT05H1T6168229.

Second generation Ford Festiva / Aspire

Road Transport

1995

Daimler four cylinder, 12hp car, 1899. The engine is placed vertically at the front and drives the rear wheels through a gearbox, transverse differential and chains. In 1899, the car's owner, Lord John Scott Montagu, took King Edward VII on a drive in it through the New Forest on one of the King’s early rides in a motor-car on public roads when Montagu was staying at Highcliffe Castle in Hampshire.

1899 Daimler four cylinder, 12hp car

Road Transport

1899

Daf 44 car, 1967, Registration no. ATE 79E, chassis no. 501 458, converted by Shell Research Ltd at Thornton Research Centre to be powered by a hydrogen fuel-cell to demonstrate the feasibility of fuel cells for vehicle propulsion. The standard petrol engine has been replaced by a solid state control system developed by Lucas Research Centre. The fuel cells, mounted in the boot of the car, react hydrazine with air to produce electricity which provides the base load energy at cruising speed. Additional energy is provided by lead-acid batteries which are kept charged by the fuel cells during periods of low energy consumption. The car has a top speed of 50 mph and a weight of 3,040 lbs.; 47% more than the standard DAF 44.

DAF 44 Petrol car converted to fuel cells for propulsion

Road Transport

1967

Trabant P601 Two Door Saloon, 1986. Reg. No. D799 NCV. Chassis No.36084342. The Trabant was first introduced in 1959, in what was then East Germany (German Democratic Republic) and continued to be produced until 1991. They have become typified as the symbol of Eastern European motoring before the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, partly because of the legendry long wait for a new one (up to 15yrs), partly because they lasted so long, but also because so many were seen to come out of East German in 1989. This example has a two-stroke 594cc engine and was produced in 1986 and exported from East Germany to Cornwall in 1992.

Trabant P601 motor car

Road Transport

1986

Cylindrical glass bottle with cork stopper, contains "car" stalks from Lahore, Indian, 1830-1930

Cylindrical glass bottle with cork stopper, contai

Materia Medica & Pharmacology

1830-1930

Ford Cortina automatic car, registration no. BRA 669B, 1964

Ford Cortina automatic car, registration no. BRA 6

Road Transport

1964

Lanchester saloon car, 1937. The Lanchester Engine Company Ltd was started in 1899 by three brothers, George, Frederick and Frank. Frederick Lanchester was one of the most influential automobile engineers of the 19th and 20th century and even though he officially left the company in 1909 was still heavily involved on a consultancy basis. In 1931 Lanchester Motor Company merged with the British Daimler company, which was owned by BSA. George and Frank continued to work for Daimler and this is an example of the Lanchester Eighteen, the first Lanchester model to come out of Diamler, still designed by George Lanchester, and produced between 1932 and 1940. However George left in 1932 and by 1956 the Lanchester marque was no longer used.

Lanchester 'Eighteen' saloon motor car

Road Transport

1937

Hillman Minx touring car, 1932. The Hillman Motor Car Company was founded in 1907 but by 1929 Hillman had just become a marque, being bought by Humber which was in turn bought by the Rootes Group in 1931. This is probably one of the earliest examples of the well-known Hillman Minx cars made by the Rootes Group. The ‘Minx’ cars were made between 1932 and 1970 and included many variations including saloons, estates and convertibles; however the first models were touring or, like this one, touring-sports cars. The Hillman name is now owned by the French company Peugeot.

Hillman Minx touring motor car

Road Transport

1932