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Coventry Transport Museum to attend Stratford Motor Festival 2019 with three show stoppers

26 April 2019

For one day only, three amazing vehicles from our collection will make their way to Stratford upon Avon.

On Sunday, 5 May, the historic streets of Shakespeare’s birthplace will transform into an engine-enthusiasts haven, with a host of fantastic cars and activities for the whole family.

The Stratford Motor Festival features a huge town centre display of over 300 cars - an eclectic mix of classic to super and the quirky cars in between. This year, Coventry Transport Museum will join the festivities with a Triumph 1300, our 1909 Rover Tourer, and 1959 Austin Gipsy Fire Tender. All three cars show strong connections to Coventry, and will be real treats for visitors and transport enthusiasts alike.

(Rover Tourer)

Our trusty Triumph 1300 joins for the first time since being recommissioned to the running collection. Originally, the model was introduced at the 1965 Earls Court Motor Show and described by Autocar Magazine as ‘filling a gap’ for British car buyers, ‘as a small luxury car it should create a market of its own.’

The Rover Tourer was built from 1909 to 1911 at the company’s first car factory, the ‘Meteor’ works in Coventry city centre, very close to the present Coventry Retail Market. The car weighs just over a ton and is powered by a four cylinder 2450cc engine via a three speed gearbox.

(Triumph 1300 advertisement)

The Gipsy fire tender was used at the Morris Engines factory No2 in Durbar Avenue, Coventry (formally the Riley Motor Company). It dealt with many small fires and emergencies during its 31 years’ service at the plant. This Gipsy has only covered 1,800 miles since new as it was only used within the factory grounds.

Ruark Jon-Stevens, Marketing and Communications Manager of Culture Coventry, said: “The Stratford Festival of Motoring is a fantastic way to showcase some of the cars in our running collection which are not on permanent display in the museum.

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