I've been there! Though I notice that not everything that is/was there is up for auction. I already know someone after the Ford Transit riot van! Some might recall the review I did on the place for Rum Car News in 2011, but for those who don't, here's the wordage....
A Visit to Lower Stondon Museum 3rd September 2011
Stuart Cyphus
Lower Stondon Motor Museum, located on Station Road, Lower Stondon, Henlow, Bedfordshire, has long been on my list of places to visit, for housing not least three invalid carriages which the ICR had no current information on, but also a number of microcars, and so with business in Bedfordshire on the eve of the 2011 National Microcar Rally, the time seemed right to pay that visit. The museum itself consists of eight halls crammed full of everything from double-decker buses to Soviet missile carriers to invalid carriages to bicycles via the obligatory Austins, Fords & just about everything else listed in the A-Z of Cars. The sheer numbers of vehicles does make it somewhat impossible at times to get either a good look at, or a decent photo of some cars, such as the immaculate Reliant Regal at the top corner of the long passageway between halls two and three.
Most of the cars RUM readers would be interested in are located in hall’s one & two, with a Nobel 200, Enfield 8000 and a Fiat 126-based Impala kit car (somewhat misleading stated as being built on a Goggomobil though the Fiat origins were clear to see) all sat in a line at the top right-hand corner. Along into hall two can be found a bright yellow Berkeley and a Bond Mk G estate flanking a brace of Cursors. It is here at the Cursors that one of the limitations of cramming so many cars into the available space becomes apparent for the two Cursors are parked back-to-back in a double line of vehicles along the division of hall’s two & seven. Although there is no wall dividing said halls, the red Cursor was technically in Hall two whilst the white one was technically in hall seven and so could not be closely inspected for another hour until we reached that particular side of the display whilst officially passing through hall seven despite the two cars only being inches apart, for Stondon has clearly defined narrow walkways which must be followed religiously through each hall in turn in strict rotation. This proved frustrating at other times too as often a particularly interesting car may be spotted at the other side of the hall but the route layout takes you all the way through several other halls before passing back though the other side of the original hall. Meanwhile, your reviewer’s personal favourites, the green Mini Comtesse, 1966 Invacar Mk 12B and 1968 Tippen Delta were found all in a line on the steps between halls seven & eight, with ingenious use of concrete blocks used to support them.
The museum is open six days a week (closed Fridays) 10am-4pm. Entry cost is £6 per adult, with a twice-daily guided tour of the full-size replica HMS Endeavour sat in the pond in front of the museum costing a further £1. Mention must be made of the replica Endeavour. Unless you are a harden navel enthusiast, this ship is disappointing in the extreme. The museum freely admit it is not a faithful replica and that there is no real enthusiastic point to it being there other than the proprietors woke up one morning & wondered what to build in the space available! Apart from the captains cabin there is nothing at all to view on board apart from a few name plates over doors, several large barrels, acres of rotten wood and piles of bird droppings in every corner.
Cars of interest as of 3rd September 2011;
1975 Mini Comtesse
1941 Harding De Luxe FON 146
1966 Invacar Mk 12B PEV 627D
1968 Tippen Delta 8 ORW 132F
1986 Cursor D23 AFH
1985 Cursor C722 CKP
1964 Bond Mk G estate 997 KO
1974 Enfield 8000 XYX 698N
1960 Berkeley T60 72 KKM
1983 Trabant A175 TNK
Fiat 126-based Impala
White Nobel 200
Several Reliants
