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04 February 2025

Don't miss our new display of Fred Clarke's unique model classic vehicles made of scrap wood and brass which offer snapshots from the history of transport and travel in the 19th and 20th Centuries.

Don't miss our new display of Fred Clarke's unique model classic vehicles made of scrap wood and brass which offer snapshots from the history of transport and travel in the 19th and 20th Centuries.

Fred, born in Wisbech in 1942, is a founder-member of the Wisbech and District Historic Vehicles Club, which launched in 1989 and continues to hold a road run around Fenland every August.

 

 

 

Veteran of a long career in skilled trades including tool-making, machining, welding and fitting, Fred had already successfully restored three full-size vintage cars in his spare time when he started to find the work heavy-going. That's when the model-making began to take over.

He said: “With retirement, old age and creaking joints, I was looking for a pastime of a lighter nature and a bit kinder to the body.”

Fred saw an advert in a magazine offering to supply a wooden model of your classic car based on photographs for around £180.

 

 

 

 

He said: “As I had two classic cars in the garage at that time, I decided to have a go myself.

“A good supply of wood offcuts and redundant furniture, including table legs, old mantle shelves and plenty of scrap brass was at hand.

“The first car, a Haywood Special, was successfully completed followed by the Austin Seven.

“The bug had bitten and after 20 models I am still at it. So rewarding is this job of retirement! ”

 

 

 

Enjoy this fascinating collection – with brass engine parts precisely in place inside many models – in the Museum's main gallery from Wednesday, February 19 when the Museum re-opens to Saturday, April 19.

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