You might be considering donating a vehicle or motoring-related object and we will be happy to discuss this with you.
Please note, however, that we cannot promise to accept what may be offered to us and our policy is to avoid accepting items on loan. We cannot accept donation offers with specific terms or conditions or hazardous objects and substances. Please do not be offended if we cannot accept your offer- it may be that we already have a similar example in the collection, or that the object does not fit within our collecting policy.
What we’re collecting
Our Collections Committee makes decisions on what we collect. The Collections Committee meets every four months with out-of-session decisions made on a monthly basis. The Museum is currently focusing on collecting objects and vehicles which demonstrate:
- the history of the British motorcycle
- the history of the later twentieth century
- the impact of Japanese car manufacturers
- the development of green technology
- the history of the Haynes Manuals
How to donate an object
If you have an object or vehicle that you wish to donate to the Museum, please refer to the contact us page where you will find the relevant contact details. Please don’t bring objects into the Museum without having made a prior appointment with the Curator.
Please provide details about the object and an accompanying photograph. The Curator will then pass this on to the Collections Committee to aid the decision-making process.
If accepted, the object could be accessioned into the Museum’s permanent collection. It may be stored carefully for some time before being displayed. Stored objects can be made available for research or may be lent to other registered institutions.
It might be that the object is not approved to be formally accessioned into the Museum’s permanent collection but could be used, with your permission, for education groups. The object would form part of our handling collection.
If you have any questions about an object donation, please go to the contact us page.