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 | Warwickshire and the Automotive Industry |
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Warwickshire and Coventry are home to some of the most distinguished and world-renowned 'British' car brands, who produce a number of respected and desirable car models.
The luxury brands of Jaguar and Land Rover have a large presence in Warwickshire and Aston Martin, one of the world’s most distinguished sports car manufacturers, has it's Head Quarters in the county. See below for details of Coventry and Warwickshire's links and connections with the automotive industry.
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Museums
There are several vehicle museums in Coventry and Warwickshire, all offering a glimpse of historic, exotic and expensive cars. For full details please visit our entries for each museum below;
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|  | | The Coventry Transport Museum, Coventry is the birthplace of the British cycle and motor industry, and the Museum displays the world’s largest collection of British road transport, including 240 cars, commercial vehicles and buses, 100 motorcycles, over 200 cycles and around a million archive and ephemera items. |
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The Heritage Motor Centre in Gaydon, Warwickshire, is home to the world's largest collection of historic British cars. Following a £1.7million make-over, the museum now boasts three new exciting and interactive exhibitions which uncover the story of the British motor industry from the 1890's to the present day. |
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The Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust Museum in Coventry maintains a unique collection of motor cars and artefacts manufactured by Jaguar Cars Limited and the many other renowned marques associated with the company. With around 160 exhibits and an archive containing thousands of images and documents dating back to the very beginnings of the company, there's no better way to see Jaguar's history first hand. |
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The National Motorcycle Museum in Solihull is recognised as the finest and largest motorcycle museum in the world. The Museum records for posterity the engineering achievements of the last century. It is a place where an older generation can once again view with nostalgia the machines they rode in days gone by, and younger generations can study the development of the motorcycle from its earlier days to the golden years of the 1930s-60s, when British motorcycles ‘ruled the world’. |
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Car Brands |
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Aston Martin and Lagonda
Founded in 1913, Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire. The company name is derived from the name of one of the company's founders, Lionel Martin, and from the Aston Hill speed hillclimb near Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire. |
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Jaguar Cars Ltd
Founded in 1922, Jaguar is a manufacturer of luxury and executive motor cars, headquartered in Coventry, England, and now operated as part of the Jaguar Land Rover business owned by Tata Motors of India. |
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Land Rover
Launched in 1948, Land Rover is a 4x4, SUV and all-terrain vehicle manufacturer, based in Solihull, West Midlands, England, now operated as part of the Jaguar Land Rover business owned by Tata Motors of India. |
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BMW Hams Hall Plant
The world-renowned global corporation BMW (standing for Bayerische Motoren Werke AG - English: Bavarian Motor Works) has it's HQ in Germany but chose Coleshill in north Warwickshire as home for an engine plant that produces all 4-cylinder (4-pot) engines for both BMW and Mini. Opened in 2001, this £400-million facility is the first BMW engine plant to be built outside Germany and Austria. |
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Spyker Cars N.V.
Reborn in 1999, Spyker Cars is a Dutch hand-built automobile manufacturer of exclusive sports cars and GT models. Models include the C8 (which includes several variants, including the new Aileron), C12 Zegato, and the forthcoming D12 Peking to Paris which is currently in development. |
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Spyker moved production in early 2010 to Whitley, Coventry, where the Aileron model will be assembled by CPP (Manufacturing) Ltd UK. CPP currently manufactures the complete aluminium chassis and body assemblies for all Spyker road and race cars, as well as undertaking other projects on behalf of clients such as Aston Martin, Bentley, and Rolls Royce.
See the official website at www.spykercars.nl for further details.
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Automotive associations, organisations and other businesses |
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Motorsport Industry Association
Based at Stoneleigh, the Motorsport Industry Association (MIA) is the world's leading trade association for the motorsport, performance engineering, services and tuning sectors. |
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Formed in 1994 with the aim of promoting one of the UK's most successful industries - motorsport, the MIA represents the specialised needs of this highly successful global industry as it undergoes continuing rapid development throughout the world.
See the official website at www.the-mia.com for further details. |
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Prodrive
Formed in 1984, Prodrive is one of the world's leading motorsport and automotive technology businesses and has facilities at a former air field in Honiley near Kenilworth (in addition to it's Banbury base). Working with vehicle manufactuers and their suppliers, the company helps develop new technologies and niche vehicles to enhance car brands. |
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The company has experienced rich success on the rally stage, on the race track and on the road. Prodrives latest creation is the Aston Martin LMP1 that competed and came 4th in the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans race.
See the official website at www.prodrive.com for further details. |
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MIRA Test Facility
Based in Nuneaton, MIRA is a leading independent product engineering, testing, consultancy and certification organisation. |
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Through the integration of innovative design and simulation techniques, validated in over 30 major test facilities, MIRA delivers new vehicle, system and component designs on time and within budget.
MIRA is used regularly by Top Gear and the weekly car magazine Autocar for vehicle reviews and road tests.
See the official website at www.mira.co.uk for further details. |
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