In a relatively short period of time, cars and motorcycles have become essential tools for many of us. However, some vehicles do more than simply transport us from place to place, they have a power and a beauty which captures the imagination. A new exhibition at the National Motor Museum, Velocity: Built for Speed presents some of these cars and motorcycles.

The exhibition explores five key themes:

Going slowly – red tape and red flags
Looking at when the first cars started to appear on roads including fears that they would endanger pedestrians and terrify horses. Legislation controlled the speed of mechanically propelled vehicles and early on even required that each vehicle be accompanied by someone with a red flag walking 60 yards (55 metres) ahead of the vehicle.

Going fast – aerodynamics
Streamlining and aerodynamics have played an important role in the quest for speed and the 1930s saw smooth curvilinear shapes replace the blocky ‘horseless carriages’ of the previous age. Aerodynamics is the science of how air flows around an object and designers must consider two major factors - drag and downforce.

Going faster – giving it grunt
The first half of the twentieth century saw a trend to increase engine power, particularly in the American models, and design changes incorporated all known methods of raising engine capacity.

Going fastest – land speed records
Even before 1900 the 100 km/h barrier had been broken. In 1970 the 1000km/h record was broken. But it was not until 1997 that the sound barrier in a land vehicle was broken, when a speed of almost 1228 km/h was recorded.

Stopping dead
With all this talk of speed, one must consider the negative side - higher speed increases the risk of crashes and injuries. The thrill of going fast has significant risks and is dangerous even for experienced, skilled drivers.

On show will be examples of cars and bikes that are designed to go fast, such as: