Historic rally cars will be featured Saturday when the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, Warwickshire, hosts Historic Rally Car Register Open Day.
“As ‘the Home of Historic Rallying,’ the HRCR Open Day is a social gathering where the rally community comes together to meet friends, view a selection of rally cars from the ‘50s through to the ‘80s and talk to organizers of the events that take place all over the country making up the 6 HRCR championships,” the museum said.
The featured theme this weekend is the MG Metro 6R4, with several such cars on display. The special rally version of the MG Metro was developed in the mid-1980s for Austin Rover by Williams Grand Prix Engineering. The Group B cars had rear-mounted, 410-horsepower V6 engines for the World Rally Championship. To meet the 200-unit homologation requirement, “clubman” versions also were produced, with 240-hp engines.
As part of the HRCR Open Day, the museum also offers a discounted entry fee of £9 ($12.25).
Beaulieu offers rally programs as well
The National Motor Museum, Beaulieu also has special rally related events on its upcoming calendar. On March 10, historian Graham Robson will interview David Richards, former chairman of Aston Martin, chair-elect of the Motor Sports Association and chairman of Prodrive, who will talk about being co-driver with Ari Vatanen when they won the 1981 World Rally Championship, among his other adventures.
On April 28, the museum will offer a special “Speed Queens” presentation about the all-female rally team that participated in the 1970 World Cup London to Mexico Rally in an Austin Maxi nicknamed Puff the Magic Wagon. Two of the three Speed Queens are scheduled to be present to talk about their experience.
America on Wheels extends ‘Transformers’ exhibit
The America on Wheels museum in Allentown, Pennsylvania, is extending its special “The Cars from Transformers” exhibit through January 20.
Corvette museum adds C6 ‘simulator’
Visitors to the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, have a new exhibit to try. For $10, they can climb into a C6 Corvette which has been turned into a racing simulator. The car is surrounded by three big screens “to provide the racetrack’s visuals,” the museum reports, adding that “the car is equipped to engage in life-like movements during the experience.” There is not age requirement, only that participants are tall enough to reach the car’s pedals and steering wheel.
AACA celebrates 15th anniversary
As part of its 15th anniversary celebration, the AACA Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania, is offering Two for $15 Tuesdays, with two visitors admitted for a $15 fee.
Mini Motorists at British museum
Monday morning, January 15, the British Motor Museum launches the 2018 edition of its monthly Mini Motorists program, which features special car-related activities for visitors age 5 and under. Activities include storytelling, crafts, Lego/Duplo automotive assembly, toy cars, sitting in cars, dress up and sing-a-longs.
Special events this weekend
It’s “Hoods Up” weekend at the Newport Car Museum in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, where all the hoods on all the museum’s cars will be open so visitors can see the engines both Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
“Poster Cars” is the theme for the Demo Day vehicle exercises Saturday at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia, which will feature the 1963 Ferrari 250P that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Part of the program will be a discussion of automotive photography by Michael Furman and Andrew Taylor.
It’s “Community Weekend” at the AACA Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania, where admission is only $7 this weekend and where special events include a Disney-Pixar Cars movie scavenger hunt.
