If I think about some of the reactions from the classic car community towards Mercedes-Benz World at Brooklands - from its proposal to the present day - the words that spring most readily to mind are "sniffy", "indignant", and "apoplectic".
Let's face it, we all knew from the outset that it was really just a big, posh car dealership, but at least the Stuttgart company had the decency to feel the heavy burden of history on its shoulders and to severely compromise its plans to accommodate that.
It was always on to a bit of a no-lose situation with me anyway. Consider these things:
1) whatever we like to think or dream, Brooklands is never going to be recreated as it was, that is physically and financially impossible,
2) it was inevitable therefore that something would be built on that piece of land one day.
3) M-B World may be a car showroom, but it is not a B&Q. Nothing against B&Q, but if people think that M-B World is inappropriate for the site, they need to consider what they might have got instead.
4) M-B's guilt (or goodwill) means that what you actually get is a pretty interesting (though limited) free museum to while away a couple of hours in. Hoorah!
You certainly can't fault the attention to detail, from the cinema to the bakelite wheels and wall of headlamps in the restaurant, to the history and cars displayed on the rotunda. They have conspicuously done their utmost to do it right, to bring in the history at every opportunitty, and that deserves credit.
On my most recent visit I, as always, marvelled at the escalator, but there was plenty more beyond that for the classic enthusiast.
