If you are a real enthusiast for all things motoring try spending half a day at the Mouldsworth Motor Museum in Cheshire. Here you are likely to find some 26 cars, but the strength of the collection must be the bits and pieces which have been collected by proprietor James Peacop.

Back in 1971 James and his friend, Eddie Farrall, were looking for a barn in which to keep their ever-expanding collection of vintage and post vintage cars. Instead they found an art deco all concrete building built in 1937 to house a water softening plant. It became surplus in the 1960s and had been cleared of all machinery. It was ideal. It had no windows so plenty of wall space on which to hang things and a very large roof light provided good overhead lighting. It was the local Tarvin Rural District Council which asked if they were thinking of starting a motor museum. This gave them the idea and in 1974 they opened for a limited season and have been going since. My favourite car had to be the 1932 McEvoy Special, the first car James ever bought. It is basically the early Morris-Minor given a very pretty body by Jensen and a breathed-on engine. Of the 100 of these cars to be made, only 4 are thought to have survived and this is the only one in the United Kingdom. Post-war, Jensen built bodies for Austin when, in the early 1950s, the Austin Company brought out the Austin A40 Sports, an attractive looking 4-seater. There is one of these in the collection. In the 1950s the bubble car started to be in vogue. The Mouldsworth Heinkel is from 1958. It has covered just 20,914 miles before being laid up in a small wooden garage in 1972 (the last tax disc is November 1971). When it was offered to Mouldsworth after the owner's death a few years ago, James asked if he could take the garage as well! He also bought with it the everyday content of the garage. The garage even has the house name on it "Lyndhurst".

James is a great supporter of the Vintage Sports Car Club. He and his family compete in various events with their own pre-war cars. Two typical VSCC cars on display are a 1928 Brooklands Riley and alongside, one of the famous VSCC Specials built by the late Dick Batho, the famous Amilcar-engined Riley. A quite different type of competition car is the 1968 Austin 1800 "Landcrab" works prepared for the London-Mexico Rally in 1970. 00H 745G was rebuilt in 1988 to take part in the Classic marathon. Sadly it expired before it even reached the start! Hiding behind a 1936 Armstrong-Siddeley is a very rare 1922 Wolseley with 7 hp twin cylinder engine. Another early car is an example of the famous Bullnose Morris. This is a 2-seater with dickey from 1923. Often to be seen in a museum when it is not being driven by James Peacop is his 1930 MG Double 12, one of the original 18 Brooklands Cars. In 1934 Rover only built 14 of their splendid streamline coupes. The one in the museum is sadly only in chassis form. Of the more modern cars the 1964 Ford Anglia has been in one family from new and the 1960 Morris Minor 1000 has had just one lady owner. Sports cars are not forgotten. There is a 1969 Jaguar E Type 4.2 and a 1972 Triumph TR8 Grinnall conversion. Besides the cars there is a selection of motorcycles and early bicycles.

At one end of the museum there is a reconstruction of a pre-war working garage. I am not absolutely sure that someone could work in there but it is full of tyres, bottles, signs, spanners and all manner of bits and pieces. The motoring artefacts in this collection are amazing. Some are neatly displayed in cabinets where they are all clearly visible, while many others are jumbled up and you have to look again and again to sort out exactly what is there. James has a great collection of motoring teapots. Whilst on the subject of tea, when did you last see an Eltron 12v car kettle powered by the cigarette lighter? There are petrol cans, petrol pumps, pedal cars, all sorts of toys connected with motoring, including a garage which James's father made for him when he was a child. There are postcards, cartoons, photographs, enamel signs, advertisements, and much more besides.

Children are well catered for. There is a most interesting quiz for them to undertake with prizes. There is nothing James likes better than showing school parties around the museum. There is even a table where car badges can be rubbed just like church brass rubbings! Don't expect the museum to be completely spick and span - it is not. James and his trusty team of volunteers have put on a most interesting and wide-ranging display.

The motor museum is situated six miles East of Chester in the village of Mouldsworth. It is in Smithy Lane and there are brown signs from Smithy Lane, Mouldsworth.

The museum is open on Sundays from February until the end of November and Bank Holidays. It is also open on Wednesdays in July and August. For further details telephone 01928 731781.

The Motor Museum of the Month feature is prepared in conjunction with Motoring and Leisure, the magazine of the Civil Service Motoring Association.