Though far from being a petrol-head in thrall to the appeal of modern motor cars, I have a sneaking regard – OK, a strong love – for those of my childhood, 60 years ago and more.

The mere mention of names like the Jowett Javelin, Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire, Triumph Mayflower or Morris Isis stirs powerful feelings of nostalgia, while the sight of such a vehicle, polished and cared for, brings a spring to my step that lasts all day.

How fortunate I feel, then, to be so close – rather less than an hour away in the car – to the British Motor Museum, just off the M40 at Gaydon, north of Banbury.

I was there on one of my occasional visits last month. This was not planned merely as an inspection of the cars on display – there are more than 300, from the classic, vintage and veteran eras. Be assured that plenty of this was done, though.

I went across for the opening of a new show, The Car. The Future. Me, which is running until July of next year.

This was an exhibition full of surprises, not the least of which was to find out that the first battery-powered vehicle, the Bersey Electric Taxi Cab, invented by Walter Bersey, was on the road as long ago as 1897.

A survivor, belonging to the Science Museum, is on display, looking like a bright yellow stagecoach separated from its horses. The vehicle had three speed settings – 3, 7 and 9mph.

Alas, the heavy cost of maintenance – particularly of the tyres – proved prohibitive and production ceased in August 1899.

At the opposite end of the time scale, the show features the very latest battery-powered car, the Jaguar I-Pace, the company’s first all-electric vehicle.

This bright red beastie (the 2019 World Car of the Year) has excellent performance and can accelerate from 0-60mph in 4.5 seconds. It has a commendable range, too, of nearly 300 miles between charges. Naturally, all this comes at a price – from £63,925.

An aim of the exhibition, according to its curator Stephen Laing, is to spark debate among visitors.

He told us: “Will there still be cars in 100 years’ time? How will we drive them? Will we drive at all.”

Perhaps not – we’ll be piloting ourselves instead, believes Aston Martin, which is showing a model of its Volante Vision concept aircraft. This futuristic machine, like something from a sci-fi film, can be seen in the photograph above.

Immediately behind is the latest Aurrigo PodZero autonomous pod. Built in Coventry, this is playing an important role in the first international trials of driverless vehicles for communities with reduced mobility.

Admission to the show is included in the museum entrance fee, which is £14,50 for adults, £12.50 for concessions, and £9 for children aged five to 16. Under fives are admitted free.

In my two-hour tour of the museum’s classics collection, I was delighted to encounter a shining example of the Triumph 1800 Roadster, dating from the late 1940s.

I dimly remember seeing these on the road, sometimes with passengers perched rather precariously, as it seemed, on the boot lid. This was because the Roadsters were the last cars in Britain built with a dickey seat. A design hangover from coaching days, the upholstered benches (known to Americans as rumble seats) gave passengers no protection from the weather but presumably a fun ride.

That this was indeed the case had been explained to me a few days earlier by Rosemarie, who often travelled in a friend’s Roadster during her student days.

The subject came up on a journey to the Buxton Festival when we stopped for lunch at a pub (The Crown, in Marston Montgomery) and found it was hosting a rally by the Crossley Register. The car park was packed with lovely Crossley cars, which were built by an engineering firm in Manchester between 1904 and 1938, many of them with dickey seats.

These were high-end vehicles, comparable, say, to a Rover or Riley. The company was the first to fit a car radio as standard in 1933.

Mention of Riley, reminds me that I was pleased to see a Riley Elf at the British Motor Museum as part of its special new display commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Mini. The Elf was made by BMC between 1961 and 1969, as an up-market version of the Mini, distinguishable by the Riley radiator and small rear fins. There was also a Wolseley version called the Hornet.

This Sunday, the museum is hosting a major celebration of the Mini’s 60th, at which hundreds of Minis, MINIS and Metros will be on display. They will include 621 AOK, the first Mini produced in 1959, the last in classic style from Longbridge in 2000 and the Monte Carlo Rally winning Minis of 1964, 1965 and 1967. Stunt Drive UK (pictured) will be performing a tribute to the film The Italian Job in live shows with classic Minis, red, white and blue.