NEWS AND EVENTS
World-renowned Californian collector plans Cotswolds classic car destination
Mullin’s brave new British-based museum; Amelia Island; new R8, Defender, Mercedes
CALIFORNIAN CLASSIC car enthusiast Peter Mullin, the world’s leading collector of Art Deco automotive masterpieces and chairman of The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, is planning to open a new car museum in Britain. The £150-million, 160-acre project is projected to draw about 200,000 visitors a year and it could open as early as 2020.
Provisionally titled The Mullin at Great Tew, the project is being developed on part of the former WW2 Enstone airfield and in conjunction with the Great Tew estate, a Cotswolds jewel located about 20 miles north of Oxford. Peter Mullin told why he had chosen this particular site:
‘There are so many automotive businesses, including Formula 1 teams, in this part of the country that it has been dubbed “Motor Sport Valley”. Plus, of course, the beautiful Cotswolds countryside is ideal for exercising cars. I’ve had a home in Britain for 35 years and so I know how spectacular the area is.’
UK director of the project, Kieran Hedigan, has given a site tour and preview of the architectural sketches submitted as part of the planning application – reputedly the most substantial ever received by the local authority. Its response is expected soon.
As shown in the illustration here, the main museum will feature an overarching curved roof – inspired by the Dunlop Bridge at Le Mans – and an ornamental lake that visitors will pass as they enter (conjuring up the tantalising prospect that Peter Mullin’s famous ‘Bugatti from the lake’, a Type 22 raised from Lake Maggiore in 2009, could be displayed in an appropriately watery setting). The museum will boast 60,000sq ft of floor space on four levels, plus 50,000sq ft of car storage, so that the 200 or so cars on display at any one time can be regularly rotated. It’s anticipated that about 30 will be from Peter Mullin’s collection, with the rest loaned by collectors from around the world.
Peter Mullin adds: ‘I know from my experience with the Mullin museum at Oxnard [California] and the Petersen that there’s a tradition of lending vehicles to other museums. I’m sure there’ll be opportunities for that here, which will extend the range of vehicles on display and the frequency with which they can be changed out.’
‘ABOUT 30 CARS WILL BE FROM PETER MULLIN’S OWN COLLECTION, WITH THE REST LOANED BY OTHER COLLECTORS’
The museum will not just be about classics, however. ‘We want to celebrate not just where we’ve been but where we’re going,’ explains Peter Mullin. ‘At the Petersen, we’ve collaborated with Pixar, Microsoft and the ArtCenter College of Design and used virtual reality software very successfully; in fact, the firm responsible for the entire interior of the revamped Petersen, Scenic Routes, has been engaged to help with this project.
‘I think the chance not only to see the beauty of the past but also to interact with the visions of the future will bring everything together in a way that’s very different from traditional museums.’
Outside the main museum, there will be workshops and a demonstration track where cars can be exercised and visitors given rides. A range of trackside buildings will be available for events or product launches – and Bentley has already expressed firm interest in a standalone two-storey pavilion. In the workshops, apprenticeships and scholarships offered in conjunction with local colleges and universities will ensure that vital skills are passed on to future generations.
‘APPRENTICESHIPS AND SCHOLARSHIPS WILL ENSURE THAT SKILLS ARE PASSED ON TO FUTURE GENERATIONS’
To help fund the project, 28 landscaped lodges of varying sizes will be constructed near the museum and will be offered for purchase as holiday accommodation by car enthusiasts who express a willingness to display their classics in the museum. It’s hoped that the presence of the nearby Soho Farmhouse, a private members’ country club, will be a further attraction.
As part of the proposal, some £12-14 million will be spent on restoring the Grade 2 listed manor house at Great Tew, rebuilt and extended in the mid-19th Century for engineer Matthew Boulton, of Boulton and Watt steam engine fame. The house has lain derelict for much of the 20th century and even this substantial investment will represent only a ‘first fix’ to stabilise and conserve the existing building.
Naturally, plans to build in any part of the Cotswolds will always meet with a certain degree of opposition and there have been a few complaints, not least from Star Trek actor and local resident Patrick Stewart, that this is an ‘elitist’ project. Kieran Hedigan responds: ‘This could not be further from the truth. One of the key objectives of The Mullin is to serve audiences of all ages, rich and poor, young and old. This project will transform an overgrown brownfield site into a destination for grandparents and grandchildren and everyone in between.’
Peter Mullin adds: ‘This is not a business venture for me, it is a legacy project, and it is my most sincere desire to share cars from my collection with the general public and to create a centre of learning to inspire future generations. All my collection is European and this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring them home.’
Octane is proud to support this exciting project and will report on developments as they happen.