The British Motor Industry Heritage Trust is set to redevelop the museum displays at its Heritage Motor Centre in Gaydon, Warwickshire.

The £1.1m project – called Road Ahead – will include the construction of a new mezzanine floor within the museum’s exhibition hall and the creation of two new exhibitions.

The first exhibition – Making British Cars – will tell the story of the British motor industry and the people who worked to design and build cars from the 1890s to the present day. It will feature archive and museum exhibits not previously displayed, especially of the motor industry in the West Midlands and Oxfordshire region.

The second exhibition --– Under the Skin – will be interactive to appeal to children and families. It will demonstrate what goes on under the bonnet of modern cars.

In addition, the museum’s existing education facilities will be updated and extended.

Work on site is expected to start in January 2007, with the new exhibitions opening in May 2007.

Although the museum will be closed to the public from December 2006 until May 2007 for the construction work, the centre’s conference facilities will remain open.

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has granted almost £1m towards the project.

Anne Jenkins, HLF regional manager for the West Midlands, said: “The motor industry played an important part in the industrial development of the West Midlands. This project will engage and interest a wide range of people in a period of history which touched many lives and families.”

The Heritage Motor Centre is home to the world’s largest collection of classic, vintage and veteran British cars. Details: www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk

Photograph: Tim Bryan Bryan, head of interpretations and collections, and Stephen Laing, museum curator