Over 130 exhibits illustrate the history of motorsport - particularly Formula 1 - from the turn of the 20th Century, where visitors can pay homage to the cars driven by such famous names as Tazio Nuvolari, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Stirling Moss, Juan Manuel Fangio and Jackie Stewart to name a few.
Thursday was marked by sad news for lovers of motorsport. The Donington Grand Prix Collection , the Donington Park Circuit Museum in England, will end on 5 November.
Founded in 1973 by Tom Wheatcroft, to display his growing collection of Grand Prix machinery, and the cars raced by young protégé Roger Williamson in F2 and F3, it quickly grew to become the largest collection of F1 and other racing cars in world, with over 130 exhibits.
Famously containing the largest collection of Williams and McLaren F1 cars outside their respective factories, the collection is also home to a wide range of cars from several decades of Formula One, including the only complete set of Vanwall machines, as raced by Stirling Moss.
Wheatcroft passed away in 2009, and his son Kevin became custodian of the Collection. Kevin not only holds a passion for motoring, but also military history, and over the years, the first two halls of the collection have been taken over by fascinating exhibits from World War Two, including tanks, armoured vehicles and ultra-rare motorbikes, each lovingly restored to perfect condition.
In addition, he had a special area for three-time champion Ayrton Senna, who held the track in 1993 which was considered the best first lap in Formula 1 history: he overtook Michael Schumacher, Karl Wendlinger, Damon Hill and Alain Prost to take the lead and then winning the only race of the highest motoring category at Donington Park.
The venue had historic team cars such as Vanwall and BRM, and, of course, several McLaren and Lotus cars. The death of the circuit owner in 2009 was turned over to Kevin Wheatcroft, his son, who leased the runway to MotorSport Vision, owned by former driver Jonathan Palmer.
According to MSV, the operation of the museum was not financially viable in the long run. With that, the cars that belonged to the museum will be sold and the lent, returned to their owners.
A sad end to a historical place which will mark the end of a race lover's dream, a motorsport shrine of sorts that houses the DNA of Formula 1.
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