Stephen Laing: Curator of the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon

Stephen Laing is the current Curator of the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon, Warwickshire, England; he has worked for the museum, which houses more than 300 cars owned by the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust, for over 20 years. The collection has been located in its present building for just over 21 years, having previously been housed at near-by Studley Castle, Warwickshire and Syon Park, in London. The Trust and facilities, on the former RAF Gaydon site, have grown year on year since the early 1990s as the collection has expanded. A new building to accommodate cars, which are not part of the chosen theme, and a new workshop is under construction and should be open in a matter of months. The collection is not just about the cars, but has an archive of films, photographs and documents, which provide a detailed historical account of the British motor industry. Following the closure of the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust museum, in Coventry, a selection of its cars are now on permanent display. Vintage Roadcar’s European Editor, Mike Jiggle, sat down with Stephen Laing to learn more about the history and current work of the Trust.

VR: What is the origin of the collection?