The history of British automotive design and manufacture is a storied one, and that means there are brilliant motoring museums dotted all over the UK.
There’s something to suit most motoring moods with a vast selection of motor museums across the UK, from national institutions with monorails running through their exhibition halls, to quirky, family-run operations that will sell you spare parts for your classic car while you’re browsing the exhibits. And if your tastes run more to buses and lorries, well, there’s a museum for you, too.
There’s a great geographical variation, so you can head out locally or plan a road trip further afield. We’ve rounded up some of the best motor museums in the UK to inspire your next visit to one of the best motor museums on offer.
National Motor Museum
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The National Motor Museum in Beaulieu not only benefits from being in the heart of the beautiful New Forest National Park, it also houses around 280 of the most significant and unusual road cars, racing cars and motorbikes, including F1 cars and World Land Speed Record holders.
One of the newest collections, ‘We Had One Of Those!’, celebrates everyday motoring history, with family cars of childhoods from the 1960s into the 2000s. You can also take a ride through the museum on England’s oldest running monorail, and keep an eye on their calendar for regular events including autojumbles and rallies. Your ticket also gets you entry to Palace House, the atmospheric ruins of Beaulieu Abbey and the fascinating ‘Secret Army’ exhibition.
Boundless offer: If you’re a Boundless member, you can use your National Art Pass to save 50% on entry to the National Motor Museum. National Art Pass can get you free or 50% off entry prices to hundreds of museums, galleries, and historic houses around the UK.
Ulster Transport Museum
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Ulster Transport Museum is home to an almost bewildering variety of transport, including trains, trams and trolleybuses – it delves beyond mere motoring. But there are two particularly unusual exhibitions that honour Northern Ireland’s unique automotive history: its ‘Museum of Innovation’ gallery and the bike-focused ‘Driven’.
The former pays homage to some of the unique manufacturing stories of Northern Ireland, including Ferguson tractors and the ill-fated DeLorean DMC-12. The latter tells the fascinating story of motorcycle road-racing, which has been at the heart of motorcycle culture in Ulster for over a century.
Boundless offer: If you’re a Boundless Plus member, you can use your National Art Pass to get free entry to the Ulster Transport Museum.
Great British Car Journey
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The Great British Car Journey is a relatively recent addition to the roster of UK motoring museums nestled between the River Derwent and the A6 in the Derbyshire Peak District, and offers a particularly appealing selling point: you can drive the exhibits!
More than 50 cars out of the 150-strong collection are available for a spin, though you’ll need to book in advance and the driving only takes place on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. But even if you’re not driving, the museum is a treat, telling the story of British motor manufacturing via the everyday cars of the British family over the years.
British Motor Museum
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The British Motor Museum in Gaydon, Warwickshire, has the distinction of featuring the largest collection of historic British cars in the world – more than 400, in fact. These include significant everyday production models: the first and last original Mini off the production line, the very first production Land Rover and the millionth Land Rover Discovery.
There’s also a multitude of the rarities, prototypes and might-have-beens from UK car design and manufacturing history: Rover’s experiments with gas turbine-powered models in the 1960s are particularly interesting curios.
Cotswold Motoring Museum
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For those who grew up in the 1990s, the Boundless-owned Cotswold Motoring Museum is best known as the home of Brum, the model vintage car with a life of his own, and the star of his own TV series. No doubt much to his chagrin, Brum was placed in the toy section of this charming museum in 2025, but at least he’s no longer in the shadow of the 40 or so full-sized cars on display in the elegant 18th-century former mill.
The motoring line-up starts with models from the 1900s and runs all the way up to the 1970s with a Hillman Imp. Best of all, Boundless members get in free!
Boundless offer: All Boundless members can enjoy unlimited admission to Cotswold Motoring Museum, plus one free adult and up to five free children.
Make a holiday of it – Boundless members can also save up to 20% on their stay when booking with Cotswold Cottages.
Llangollen Motor Museum
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Llangollen Motor Museum isn’t one of the larger automotive museums you can visit. In fact, you might describe it as cosy. It’s pretty exclusive, too, as it’s only open at weekends and for the first seven days of every month.
Its single-span roof covers a relatively modest collection of beautifully preserved cars and motorbikes, but there is a charming 1950s garage scene, as well as the oldest motor-drawn caravan in Britain – all surrounded by memory-stirring garage accessories.
Uniquely, the museum also operates as a spares business for classic cars, specialising in ignition, brakes and suspension components. It claims to stock more than 7,000 spark plugs alone…
British Commercial Vehicle Museum
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Waiting ages for a bus only for three to turn up might be a perennial frustration, but for fans of public transport, the sight of multiple buses will be a treat – and the British Commercial Vehicle Museum features plenty. As well as buses, the former Leyland Motors factory site houses every type of British commercial vehicle, from small vans and horse-drawn carts to modern hybrid trucks via fire engines and armoured cars. There’s even a Leyland-built Popemobile.
Boundless offer: Boundless Plus members can use the National Art Pass to save 50% off the entry price at the British Commercial Vehicle Museum, as well as gaining free entry or half price entry to a variety of other galleries, houses and gardens across the UK.
Do more with Boundless
If you're working in or retired from the public sector or civil service, Boundless has two great membership options to choose from: Boundless and Boundless Plus.
With Boundless, you get unlimited access or discounted entry to many of the UK’s top attractions including Kew Gardens and Wakehurst and WWT centres across the UK, as well as year-round deals on restaurants, holidays, shopping and much more. With Boundless Plus, you can enjoy additional benefits, including unlimited access to Historic Royal Palaces sites, National Trust for Scotland places, access to the Ramblers' extensive group walks and routes, and peace of mind with roadside assistance and local recovery by Britannia Rescue.
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