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Britain By Car - A Motoring History

Created Date:

06 March 2016

Last Modified:

26 January 2024
South Kensington

The Science Museum

A major museum, focusing on science, technology and medicine, with a small section on the development of the car.

Location
Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, SW7 2DD.

Date
1909 – present

  • Part of the Museum’s transport gallery, with a Fiat 600, Citroen 2CV, Morris Minor, Saab 93, and Hino Contessa displayed on the far wall, © Heather Cowper, via Flickr.
    Part of the Museum’s transport gallery, with a Fiat 600, Citroen 2CV, Morris Minor, Saab 93, and Hino Contessa displayed on the far wall, © Heather Cowper, via Flickr.
  • The Rover JET 1 gas turbine car, 1950, © Tony Thorpe.
    The Rover JET 1 gas turbine car, 1950, © Tony Thorpe.
  • Part of the Museum’s transport gallery, with a Fiat 600, Citroen 2CV, Morris Minor, Saab 93, and Hino Contessa displayed on the far wall, © Heather Cowper, via Flickr.
  • The Rover JET 1 gas turbine car, 1950, © Tony Thorpe.

Commentary
First opened to the public in 1857, the museum was initially known as the South Kensington Museum.  The title, Science Museum, was not officially used until 1909. 

Today, the Museum is arranged on four floors, with further temporary exhibitions being regularly introduced.

A small part of the section 'Making the modern world' is devoted to road transport.  Included in the display, are an 1895 Panhard-Levassor, a Model T Ford, a Rover Gas Turbine, Isetta and Messerschmitt bubble cars, and a cutaway Mini.  There is also a very striking vertical display of six cars, comprising a Hino Contessa, a Saab 95, a VW Beetle, an early Morris Minor, a Citroën 2CV, and a Fiat 600.

Further details 

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