The Jackson Shed –  ‘Grand Prix Exhibition’

This shed was built in 1931 by Robin Jackson, one of motor racing’s leading engineers and tuners at the time.

It became famous as the ‘Robinry’ where drivers could have cars serviced and tuned to the highest possible standards by the small team of engineers that worked there. Robin Jackson, himself a racing driver, specialised in the maintenance of MG cars but was also well known for building ‘specials’ such as the Appleton-Riley and the Bentley-Jackson. Following World War Two, Jackson set up premises locally in Byfleet and continued to work on record-breaking and Grand Prix cars through the 1940s and 50s. Today the building has been restored to its 1930s appearance and houses a Grand Prix Exhibition celebrating Brooklands as the venue for the first ever British Grand Prix races in 1926 and 1927. The development of Grand Prix racing in Britain is represented in displays of historic cars, photographs, costume and memorabilia from the 1920s and 30s up to the present day.

The Jackson Shed is also home to our Formula 1 simulator, in which you can drive on the Brooklands track in either the lap record holding Napier Railton or a modern MacLaren Formula 1 car to show the advances in aerodynamic design since the 1930s.  The development of the simulator was an EPSRC funded project carried out with the University of Surrey and XPI Simulations.