Idea for a museum
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One day I’d like to visit an F1 museum, but it would be a very special museum.
Its core would be a huge table, say, 2 meters wide and 15 meters long, and on it models of (almost?) every F1 car. I think that the 1:24 scale would show reasonable detail while keeping the size manageable (see the table dimensions above, one can lean over a 2 m wide table to see things in the middle). Cars would be arranged in rows by seasons, and to make things more educational, the order of cars in seasons would follow WCC standings. Cars of the same team would be connected by a suitably colored strip on the table, enabling the visitor to trace a particular team’s car development from season to season. Moreover, when seen from high above, these strips would actually create graphs reflecting performances of teams over the years.
I think I could spend a day in such a place and visit frequently. If I had a spare life, I’d built those models myself. (During my high school and university years, I managed something along these lines with fighters of World War 2 in 1:72 scale and being able to directly compare airplanes was very cool.)
Since this museum would be buying models in quantity, I am sure it could get a good price. The whole collection might cost less than one real F1 car. Perhaps Bernie could save one his weekly allowance and build such a museum in every city hosting an F1 GP.
How do you like this idea?
I’m guessing the meds have worn off!! :D
Joking aside, you mean some thing like this picture – http://www1.picturepush.com/photo/a/4151984/img/Anonymous/all-f1-cars-ever-3.jpg
Re: Renner
Actually, the pictures from that site (with exceptions of the last few seasons) are the same as those on that giant jpeg, which unfortunately means that a few dozen cars are missing, some quite notable, like Renault RE20 from 1980, Renault RE30 from 1982, Williams FW07 from 1979, Tyrrells from 1981 and 1983, McLarens from 1975 and 1976 (the car shown as the winner of 1976 is in fact an M26 from 1977) etc.
But the site is nice, with crosslinks and even some info about champions. Pity about its author’s HD crash, with photos it would be great.
In the end it will just be a rather large model collection. The appeal of good museums is pieces which are actually original to the subject of the museum. An exhibit on Ancient Egypt needs to have actual stuff from ancient Egypt, and not just replicas or scale models. A dinosaur exhibit needs actual bones. An F1 museum needs actual F1 cars.
The thing about a real F1 car is the level of detail, as well as the slight imperfections which give it character. Being able to see evidence of use (scrape marks on carbon strakes from the car touching the ground) to the level of build quality. The body panels around the driver on older cars were really flimsy by modern standards, which would be evident when viewing the real thing up close, but not evident in a scale model.
If the actual item is on display, it adds a great deal to the viewing experience. For the viewer, being able to see an actual car from a race which they remember would be so much more valuable than just seeing a model.
Of course, such a thing is prohibitively expensive, which is why Museums tend to be few and far between.
On the other hand, the table idea could be incorporated into a Museum show as a side exhibit, but it wouldn’t be enough of an attraction on it’s own.
What I would be impressed by is a scale model of the Monaco circuit along two walls.
To be honest, the best “museum” to see F1 cars is the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The downside is, its 3 days of the year and weather can play a part. But, theres always a great number of classic cars, a number of modern F1 cars and the best part that you wont see in a museum, is the cars starting up and taking to the hill climb (some setting timed runs) Static cars are nice to see, but at the FoS you can get in amoungst them, see their inards and phsically touch them, you cant do that in most museums.
Very nice site, with all the cars in history of f1. Best place if you want to know your history :D
DavidS: If the actual item is on display, it adds a great deal to the viewing experience.
I agree. I took it for granted that such a museum would also have several real cars, so I did not write it.
However, I feel that models may be more than just a side attraction, I see it more like an equal partner, since such an exhibit IMHO complements real cars almost perfectly. The few cars a small museum can afford can hardly show enough of the history, wealth of shapes and richness of liveries – which models would do fabulously, while the real cars are the perfect starting point for exploring technology and also getting the feel for the real thing as you described (which is where models lack).
The combination of several real things and many models is often used in smaller aviation museums and it works rather well. Of course, they have it easier, about 100 planes are enough to cover fighters of WW2, a dozen would do Vietnam War, while one would need some 700 models to cover F1 cars.
Of course I am being selfish here. I would really like having such a collection, but even if I could fork out the money, I’d never find the room for it. I can only hope someone will do it for me :-).
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