Atwell Wilson Motor Museum

The Atwell Wilson Motor Museum is a small friendly museum situated in the heart of Wiltshire. It has more than 100+ exhibits, mainly cars from the 1920s onwards. The museum also has an interesting collection of motorcycles, mopeds and bicycles. In addition, the displays include a wide selection of motoring memorabilia, the Jack Spittle Model Lorry Collection and a reconstructed 1930s style garage complete with vehicles.

The contents are varied, from a number of everyday classics, to rare cars as well as lorries. These include a 1934 Alvis Speed 20, 1938 Daimler EL24, 1936 Rover 14hp Sports/Saloon, as well as a 1951 Dennis Fire Engine.

The museum’s founder, Richard Atwell, always had a strong interest in North American cars, so there is an interesting array of Ford, GM, and Chrysler products from across “The Pond”. In addition, there are several rare motorcycles, including the legendary Ariel, Brough, BSA, Douglas, Triumph, Velocette and Indian, to name but a few.

Issigonis Mini 9x gearless prototype
The Atwell Wilson Motor Museum is also home to the Issigonis Prototype 1970 Mini 9X “Gearless”. This very special car, registration SOL 258H, is the oldest surviving gearless car and was the preferred transport of Sir Alex Issigonis. It was designed to follow on from the Mini and 1100 as the next generation of small car. Issigonis’ objective was to reduce manufacturing and maintenance costs without sacrificing passenger space of performance.

The gearless Mini prototype was donated to the Museum by the British Motor Museum at Gaydon, Warwickshire.

In September 2018, the Atwell Wilson Motor Museum also added a new Model Vehicle Exhibit. This amazing exhibit contains over 400 white metal models of classic British cars from over the years.

Annual Raffle to Win a Car!
For many years, the Atwell Wilson Motor Museum has held an annual raffle with a single prize: a classic car.

In 2018/2019, the prize is a 1996 Mini Equinox, a limited edition of 750 built with a 1275cc engine. Tickets cost £1 each and the draw takes place at the museums Annual Show in July.

To find other Museums near you which are also worth visiting, click here.

If this museum has inspired you to consider a career in the Automotive Industry, follow the link below to learn more about Automotive Apprenticeships:

Automotive Apprenticeships