Part of the new Rotary collection of motorcycles and cars at Isle of Man Motor Museum, Jurby

The good news is that the museum will reopen to the public in a fortnight’s time on Thursday, July 2 and will be open every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday thereafter until the end of the season.

This year sees IoM Motor Museum celebrates its fifth anniversary and to mark the occasion some special new attractions have been assembled for visitors to enjoy when the doors finally open.

The feature exhibit is a Wall of Hondas, featuring race, road and off-road examples from all eras of production, from a 50cc Monkey Bike to TT machines from icons such as John McGuinness, Phillip McCallen, Joey Dunlop and our very own ’Milky’ Quayle.

Also celebrated is the Wankel rotary engine with a display of rotary-powered motorcycles from Norton, Suzuki and DKW, along with rotary-powered cars from Mazda, NSU and Citroen.

Other new attractions include an ornate gold Japanese Miyagata-style hearse on a Cadillac chassis as well as a 1909 CarterCar which features a very unusual friction-drive transmission.

Museum director, Darren Cunningham, said:

’The lockdown period has been tough on all of the tourism and hospitality sector but hopefully we have now turned a corner and we will be welcoming visitors back soon.’

Government is encouraging staycations, so Darren hopes that the Manx public will take the opportunity to visit the Motor Museum along with the many other amazing attractions that the Isle of Man offers.

’We currently have almost 350 motorcycles on display and more than 200 cars and other vehicles, so there is something for everyone at the Museum, whether they are petrol heads or not’

He wishes to thank all of the team at the museum and volunteers who helped put together the new displays over the winter period and would normally have seen the fruits of their labour enjoyed by hundreds of TT visitors.