From AUTONarrator to Forest Bump, visitors have been queuing to add their suggestions to name Beaulieu’s talking crash test dummy – the ‘guide’ in the National Motor Museum’s new Driving Change display.
He may be a dummy but this ‘guide’ plays a leading role in Driving Change, telling visitors fascinating facts about how safety has evolved with motoring innovations and technology throughout history.
We thought about clever suggestions from SID (Side Impact Dummy) and CRABI (who tested child seats) to popular dummy characters Vince and Larry, whose job was to drive home American road safety messages.
Beaulieu visitors have come up with imaginative and creative entries, including the god of transport and communication ‘Hermes’ and ‘Fragor’, a Latin word for crash.
More suggestions include ‘Buster’ (Belt up, safe trip every ride), ‘Victor’ (Very important crash training on roads), ‘NATMO’ (from NATional and Motor), ‘Onica’ (Oh no I crashed again), ‘Safelee’, ‘Barny Bash’, ‘Gordon Bennett’, ‘Monty’, ‘Samuel’ (after an inventor of the crash test dummy) and ‘BEAU’ (Beaulieu’s Extreme Accident Utilitarian).
Beaulieu has invited visitors to make an impact by choosing the name in a competition to win a special pass to come back and visit the dummy throughout the year.*
Driving Change, which opened for February half-term, uses film footage, memorabilia, gadgets and cars from the museum’s collection to tell the story of motoring right up to today’s electric vehicles and even make predictions for the future. Hands-on features also explore how gears, suspension and engines work.
The display’s iconic cars show huge advances in automotive design. See the Crossley Burney Streamline of the 1930s, with its rear-mounted engine and futuristic styling, and the tiny Peel P50 micro-car, which tackled the problem of city congestion.
Compare the Austin A40 Countryman, the first small modern hatchback, with the car that pioneered the ‘hot hatchback’ concept, the sporty Volkswagen Golf GTi. Then discover the start of the four-wheel-drive legacy, with the wartime Willys Jeep and one of the earliest Land Rover prototypes which was inspired by it.
Family classics of the past, such as the Rover 2000, Triumph Herald and Ford Cortina, rub shoulders with oddities such as the diminutive ATCO Junior Trainer, which was designed to teach children how to drive.
To enter Beaulieu’s ‘name the dummy’ competition visit www.beaulieu.co.uk/name-the-dummy and send us your chosen dummy name by March 18 2016.
*A special pass allows admission for a family of up to two adults and three children and is valid for 2016 for the Beaulieu and Buckler’s Hard attractions. For full terms and conditions, visit www.beaulieu.co.uk/name-the-dummy