CARS OF THE STARS MUSEUM KESWICK
Hollywood’s Famous Vehicles in Cumbria England
Archived. The Keswick Cars museum has closed.
Riddle
me this: What is the Batmobile – three of them, actually – doing
in a small quaint forming mining town in North England’s Cumbria
Lake District? If you are fan of movie car chases or iconic vehicles
driven by movie stars you used to be able to go to Hollywood. George
Barris who designed the TV series Batmobile and the Munster car used
to have them on display at his shop in Hollywood. Or dropping a delivery
off at Warner Bros. there would be a couple of wrecked “Generals” from “The
Dukes of Hazzard” and a DeLorean from “Back To The Future” shoved
into a corner of the back parking lot like a junk yard for abandoned
movie cars.
That
was until a resident of Keswick, a picturesque village in the lake
dappled hills of Cumbria
between
Lancaster and Carlisle, Peter D Nelson,
a painter/sculptor with a fascination for cars rented his classic
MG to a British film production. This gave him the idea to track down
other
movie cars and start a collection, which has grown to quite amazing proportions.
In 1989, the decidedly unique and off the beaten track Cars of the Stars
Museum opened in a former service garage the Royal Oak Garage in the
center of Keswick. The collection contains many of the most recognized
cars in movie history. Aside from three of the Batmobiles from different
eras and incarnations of the Dark Knight, the collection has five Aston
Martins from the James Bond films along with other less recognized cars
from the film series.
The Barris masterpiece Munster Car from the 60’s
TV series
is on display along with the “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” flying
car built by fictitious the Caractacus Potts played by the real Dick
Van Dyke. There were a number of cars built for the film of which two
are at Keswick, another is at Beaulieu (see National Motor Museum). The Lotus Elan from the later seasons of “The Avengers” is
here along with the Lotus 7 driven by Patrick MacGoohan in 60’s
television’s most curious British TV series “The Prisoner”.
The “Flintstones”, “Back To The Future”, “Pink
Panther” are in the collection as well as the “Mad Max Interceptor” and
a Model T Ford used in Laurel and Hardy films. Stan Laurel was born in
nearby Ulverston where there’s a small museum dedicated to the
comedic duo. There is a collection of movie props and memorabilia here
as well, like Darth Vader's most famous movie villain costume.
The
Cars of the Stars Keswick movie car museum which claims to be world
famous, perhaps among collectors,
is
a rather nondescript brick garage
from the outside with some low budget signage, but inside the remarkable
collection of cars are displayed in mini movie sets, with accompanying
lighting and sound effects. Parking for the Cars of the Stars Museum
is at the town public parking pay lot a few steps from the old central
Keswick Shambles
historic tourist area, from where daily guided walks of Keswick and the
surrounding Lakeland sites depart and across from
a row of very nice little B&B's (see Keswick
Guest Houses). The
film and tv vehicle museum is not the only individualists collection
in
Keswick.
Across the main road is the Keswick Mining Museum of artifacts of the
areas mining history. Keswick is 15 miles from Junction 40 on the M6
motorway.
Admission
to the Cars
of the Stars Keswick is £4.00 for
adults and £3.00 for kids and open from 10 to 5 daily. Car model
miniatures and some fan merchandise can be had in the entrance shop.
But don’t plan to take pictures, the place is wired like “Goldfinger’s” Fort
Knox, let a flash go off and the “A Team” will show up
to haul you off to “The Prisoner’s Village” (see Portmeirion
Village)
where you’ll
forever be trapped as Number 6. © Bargain
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Cars of the Stars
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See Also:
BEATRIX POTTER'S LAKE DISTRICT
ULLSWATER STEAMERS LAKE CRUISES
