The Mullin Automotive Park, the £150-million car museum dreamt up by American collector Peter Mullin for the UK, has been given outline planning permission after an 18-month battle, meaning it will now go ahead. Mullin is best known for his collection of Art Deco era French cars, including one of the three remaining Bugatti Type 57 Atlantics and the famous “Bugatti in the lake”. His existing museum in Oxnard, California, is world-renowned, and he applied for initial planning permission in November 2017 for a new public museum and accompanying holiday lodges for a brown-field site in Enstone, Oxfordshire, UK on the edge of the Cotswolds.
However, a number of locals objected, resulting in the original plans being completely redrawn by Sir Norman Foster’s Foster + Partners and resubmitted in November 2018. After several delays outline planning permission was granted today by West Oxfordshire District Council.
The new museum will house many of Mullin’s fantastic cars, but will also seek to tell the story of the automobile, and deal with future transport solutions and environmental issues. It will consist of the museum, a demonstration road where museum cars can be viewed in action, manufacturer pavilions, workshops and 28 residential lodges. Sixteen of the lodges will be adjacent to the museum with glass-fronted car storage areas, enabling lodge owners to display their cars to visitors.
The proposal from Peter Mullin also included local investment in housing, a new car park for a primary school and “environmental improvements” at nearby Enstone and Middle Barton.
Images courtesy of Foster + Partners
