Coventry has been at the vanguard of Britain’s transport industry for almost two hundred years and its road transport museum, established in 1980, portrayed the massive contribution the city had made to these industries. However, despite its pre-eminent collections, its location in a quiet back street of Coventry meant that it remained one of Britain’s best kept secrets.

Free admission, introduced in 1998, doubled attendances overnight and now a £7.5 million redevelopment,

opened in March 2004, and funded by Coventry City Council, ERDF and the Heritage Lottery Fund, has completed the job of revitalisation to widespread visitor acclaim.

The most dramatic change has been the creation of a brand new frontage for the Museum, facing out on to the City’s new Millennium Place.

Four new galleries have been added to existing displays and include an introduction to Coventry’s unique role in transport history which pays tribute to the people who worked in the industry. Other galleries guide visitors through time from the 1860s to the 1940s and, in the Icons Gallery, give visitors an opportunity to design their own car. Two particularly popular exhibits are the World Land Speed Record Cars, Thrust SSC and Thrust2; there is also a special exhibition that explores the enormous growth and then decline of Coventry’s road transport industries between the 1950s and 1970s. A Futures Gallery enables visitors to consider issues around the use of fossil fuels, road safety and the impact of the motor car in the 21st century through low-tech and highly interactive features.

The redevelopment has resulted in a much more integrated and cohesive experience for visitors. Residents, the museum says, who hadn’t set foot in the museum have been drawn in by its stronger outward presence; in the first six months since the relaunch, the Museum received over 180,000 visitors, beating all targets.

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