V&A Museum to explore how cars and culture collide

This November, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London will highlight what it’s billed as ‘the most important 20th-century object’, the car, in a new major exhibition that tells the story of the automobile and its incredible impact on the world…

With the automotive industry in a state of limbo as it transitions into an electrified and autonomous future, it feels like the perfect time to look back at how the car has shaped our world over the last 130 years and peek into the future of personal transportation.

Cars: Accelerating the Modern World, poised to take place at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum from 23 November, will feature 15 formative vehicles ranging from the Karl Benz’s Patent Motorwagen from 1886, widely believed to be the first production car, to a self-driving, self-flying car prototype by Italdesign. Other cars will include the 1953 General Motors Firebird 1 Concept, the 1934 Tatra T77 and the Hispano Suiza Type H6B, each of which will tell the stories of their respective eras and the technological and cultural challenges and changes they embraced. There will also be a vast selection of automobilia and art, as well as specially commissioned films showcasing weird and wonderful automotive subcultures from around the world.

Photos: Victoria & Albert Museum