Plans for a classic car museum on a disused airfield have cleared the first round of planning permission after being awarded outline planning permission by West Oxfordshire District Council.

The Mullin Automotive Park aims to capture the history of automobiles over the last century, but also to be an open-ended collection that charts the changing face of mobility in the future. It will be a centre of knowledge, education and excellence that showcases the impact automobiles have had and will continue to have on our lives.

Designed by Foster + Partners as a collection of buildings arranged in a crescent, the museum will be the focal point of the development, allowing for most of the site to remain as green parkland. A small cluster of workshop type buildings with visitor facilities including the ticket office and café are located at the entrance of the site. From here, visitors can walk to the museum.

The automotive park also features roads especially designed for ‘exercising’ cars from the Mullin collection, allowing visitors to have an immersive experience. The proposals also include a series of residential pavilions and landscaped lodges bringing automotive enthusiasts closer to their collections.

“I don’t regard myself as a collector of wonderful classic cars, but more as a custodian of a collection which I want to make available in a public forum well beyond my lifetime,” says Peter Mullin, the man responsible for the project.

“My philosophy has always been to assist with education and innovation, and to illuminate the past for the benefit of the future. The impact of the automobile on our modern way of life deserves to be recorded in the most imaginative, educational and absorbing way possible.”