The Brooklands Museum has secured a massive £4.681m investment from the Heritage Lottery Fund, enabling the museum to begin its 'Brooklands Aircraft Factory & Race Track Revival Project'.
As well as the restoration of the Finishing Straight of the famous circuit, the money will also help to transform the Grade II-listed Wellington Hangar into 'The Aircraft Factory', containing an exhibition on aircraft manufacture, and to build a new annexe, which will be called the 'Flight Shed'.
Museum director Allan Winn said: "This support for Lottery players is a real vindication of the museum's vision of bringing a wartime temporary aircraft assembly building back to life. It will be the only place in the country dedicated to showing how aircraft are designed and built. This unique exhibition – coupled as it is with a new home for our live aircraft, new workshops and stores, plus the restoration of the Finishing Straight to its 1939 appearance – will give visitors of all ages an unmatched, immersive and imaginative experience."
Work is expected to begin within the next few months, with the Aircraft Factory and Flight Shed expected to be ready for visitors by the summer of 2016.
Stuart McLeod from the Heritage Lottery Fund said: "The Brooklands site has played such an important role in the country's history. Today's glitzy Grands Prix and state-of-the-art airliners can all be traced back to innovation that took place here."
Greg MacLeman is a contributor to and former Features Editor of Classic & Sports Car, and drives a restored and uprated 1974 Triumph 2500TC