Cars of the Stars Motor Museum

Coordinates: 54°36′04″N 3°08′10″W / 54.601°N 3.136°W / 54.601; -3.136

Cars of the Stars Motor Museum Logo

The Cars of the Stars Motor Museum was in the English town of Keswick, Cumbria, and owned a collection of celebrity television and film vehicles. On 8 May 2011, the attraction closed, with a message on the museum website stating "...check the website for details of the relocation of the vehicles to a new location shortly..." The sister site The Bond Museum in Keswick, with its over 30 original screen cars from the James Bond films, also closed at the same time.^[1] Briefly afterwards it became known that nearly all of the vehicles had been sold to the American collector Michael Dezer.^[2] He relocated the collection to America, where he used it to establish a permanent Cars of the Stars exhibition at his Miami Auto Museum.^[3]

History

In 1982 the museum's founder, Peter Nelson, was approached for use of his MG TC in "The Spoils of War" television production. As a result, he formulated the idea of starting a motor museum with a focus on television and film-based vehicles. The Royal Oak Garage in central Keswick was purchased and refurbished to house the collection.

The museum opened to the public on 1 May 1989 and closed in May 2011.^[4]

The collection

The collection included:

• A Ford Anglia 105E, which had been used during the filming of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets^[5]
• Both of the two remaining A-Team GMC vans
• KITT (convertible) from Knight Rider
• Batmobiles from the various Batman related films and television series^[5]
• A De Lorean DMC-12 promotional replica from the Back to the Future films
• One of the original Mr. Bean MkIV Austin Minis. (A replica of this is also at the National Motor Museum)
• Laurel and Hardy's Model 'T' Ford
• A comprehensive collection of vehicles from the James Bond films including at least five Aston Martins and a variety of other James Bond cars such as the Lotus Esprit, Toyota 2000GT, AMC Matador,^[6] and a BSA motorcycle
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang from the film of the same name^[5]
• The Mad Max film Pursuit Special Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe
• The Munsters' Munster Koach, a hot rod based on a lengthened 1923 Ford Model T chassis with a custom hearse body built by famed customizer George Barris
• A life-sized replica of FAB1 from the supermarionation television series Thunderbirds
• The Street Hawk Motorcycle
• The yellow Reliant Regal van used in Only Fools and Horses^[5]
• A Triumph Roadster 1800 as used in the detective series Bergerac^[5]
• A Herbie Volkswagen Beetle as used in the film series of the same name^[5]

References