It’s getting harder and harder for me to find places I have never visited in Cumbria. Before now the Lakeland Motor Museum was one of them, and be quite frank, I’m gutted that I haven’t been here earlier. You’ll find this museum down in the southern portion of the Lakes, at Backbarrow which is only a stone’s throw away from Newby Bridge at the bottom end of Windermere. The Lakeland Motor Museum houses a staggering collection of over 30,000 individual exhibits and I can almost guarantee that every time you visit, you’ll spot something you haven’t noticed before, but of course, everyone will have their favourites.
Up First: the Amphicar
Mine included the gloriously red 1966 Amphicar. It could reach nearly 70mph over land but with a James-Bond-esque flick of a lever, it would transform into a ‘little boat that could’ with a top speed of 10 knots. The Amphicar was the creation of a German engineer, Hans Trippel, and was launched at the New York Auto Show back in 1961. Now, nearly 60 years later it remains the only amphibious passenger car ever to be mass produced. Ex-US President Lyndon B. Johnson was the proud owner of an Amphicar. He would invite friends to ride in it with him on his Texas ranch before careening towards the lake shouting that the brakes had failed and they were going under. His guests would be panicked but LBJ would be laughing knowing that they were never in any danger whatsoever. You could say he should have been spending his time not getting involved in Vietnam, but we’ll table that for another day.
Automobilia and more
Peppered around the Museum you’ll find a variety of vintage auto signage and advertising. I’m sure I’ve mentioned in a previous post somewhere that I am a Marketing graduate and a little bit obsessed with old advertising, so really this was my idea of heaven. Many of these steel signs were created in a time when their designers thought the brand be around forever and the offers would never change. I think there’s something quite endearing about that! Of course, some of the brands have lived on. Take Shell, for example, which still uses its rather iconic scallop albeit in a much more minimalist format.
It would be amiss of me to not mention the insane array of other automobilia they have at the Lakeland Motor Museum. Number plates from across the world, matchbox cars, the tiniest of road signs, and more bonnet ornaments than you can shake a stick at. Everyone will have their favourites, but mine has to be this cheeky chappy:
Speaking of bonnet ornaments though, there is another that springs to mind, and it’s this one:
The bird by itself is maybe not so special, but the blue in the background might give away its significance. Donald Campbell and Bluebird are a pairing so tightly bound that’s impossible to think of one without the other. He is one of our enduring Cumbrian heroes and this Bentley which sits in the Lakeland Motor Museum was once owned by Donald, if only for about a year.
Donald Campbell: Record Breaker
Campbell came from a strong motoring background. His father, Sir Malcolm Campbell, set both land and water speed records in the early 1900s and Donald went on to do the very same. He travelled across the world taking part in time trials and the like, pushing his Bluebirds to the max. Campbell was driven to continually break his own records, and he did – multiple times. He was the very first, and so far only, person to break the water and land speed records in the same year, 1964. Like many other sporting types, he was also quite superstitious. The colour green was a no-no, and nothing good ever happened on a Friday. Having said that though, he set the land speed record at Lake Eyre, Australia on 17th July 1964. A quick Google will tell you that was a indeed a Friday.
Donald Campbell has been in and out of the news here in Cumbria since both Bluebird and his body were recovered from Coniston from 2000-2001. He was buried in Coniston Cemetery in September 2001 but Bluebird has since been through a bit of a saga. Gina Campbell, Donald’s daughter, gifted the wreckage to The Ruskin Museum in 2006 and thus began its process of restoration. The mechanical side of the project has been led by engineer Bill Smith, with the Ruskin Museum taking on the role of home-to-be, building a new wing to house the rebuilt craft.
However, nothing is ever that easy is it? Debate has erupted between the two parties about where Bluebird should be kept in the Museum for visitors to ogle, or whether it should be out on the water to be seen in action. I don’t see why a mix of the two wouldn’t be possible; we’ll just have to wait and see.
To find out more about the great collection at the Lakeland Motor Museum, head over to their website here, or find them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. As always, you can find more Holme & Away on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram too!