Donington Grand Prix Collection
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The Donington Grand Prix Collection is a museum of motor racing cars, based at the Donington Park motor racing circuit in Leicestershire, England. The Collection contains vehicles from many forms of open-wheel, single-seater racing, but is primarily focussed on Grand Prix and Formula One machinery. The Donington Grand Prix Collection is currently (2007) the largest collection of its kind in the world. The museum was formed by Tom Wheatcroft in March 1973 and is based on Wheatcroft's personal collection of vehicles. These include some that Wheatcroft's own motor racing team ran for drivers such as Roger Williamson and Derek Bell, although many cars exhibited are on loan from other owners and various external collections of automobilia and motor racing ephemera have been donated to the museum over the years.
Specific attractions include the world's only complete collection of Vanwall cars, a near-complete collection of McLaren Formula One cars from the team's inception to the early 2000s, and extensive collections of Williams and BRM cars (including examples of both notorious BRM V16-powered machines as well as the H16-powered BRM P83). The collection also has examples of four different four-wheel drive Formula One cars, including an unraced Cosworth car. Another star exhibit is the Lotus 18 with which Stirling Moss won the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix, along with Jim Clark's World Championship-winning Lotus 25. Augmenting the car collections are the world's largest collection of motor racing helmets, a small collection of racing motorcycles, and a number of collections of trophies and awards gained by a selection of British drivers and riders. In addition to exhibits, the Donington Grand Prix Collection also incorporates a conference suite and gift shop.
[edit] References
- The Donington Grand Prix Collection. Donington Park Online. Accessed: 02-09-2007
- Donington Grand Prix Collection. Autotrader.co.uk. Accessed: 02-09-2007
- The Donington Grand Prix Collection. Sidepodcast.com. (video presentation.) Accessed: 02-09-2007
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