Ghost Town? What happened to the Coventry Car Industry? 1980 - 2010

Take a trip down memory lane while ambling through our brand new gallery ‘Ghost Town? What happened to the Coventry car industry?’ and re-live Coventry’s rollercoaster fate from 1980 to 2010.

This gallery shows what happened to the Coventry car industry during the 1980s, and from 1990 to 2010. It asks the audience to think about why the industry declined and uses interactives, activity books and audio visuals to explore the theme.

At the start of the 1980s only four large car makers survived in Coventry: Jaguar, Rover, Peugeot and makers of the London Taxi, LTI Vehicles. By 2010 only LTI survived.

This gallery uses large newspaper headlines, covering all the gallery walls, to detail the decline of the industry. The ups and downs of the industry are depicted in stark detail highlighting that effect that all the closures had on Coventry and its people. There are also poignant video interviews with people who relate their experiences of working in the declining industry.

There is a reconstruction of a Board Room which once stood in Peugeot’s Ryton factory. In here we ask the audience to consider the arguments for and against closing a factory and then vote on what they would have done.

The gallery was designed by RFA Design and has great impact. The stark red and white colours, ramps and overhead gantries give the gallery a unique look that highlights the cars on display and emphasises its theme.
 

Click here to see footage from the VIP launch night of this gallery

The gallery was produced in conjunction with University of Salford school of Art & Design

The School of Art and Design at the University of Salford offers innovative and challenging postgraduate programmes, more information about which can be found here
 

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