43″ Freestanding Kiosk with Lightbox 3 – Bugatti Trust

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It is difficult to capture in words the gravity of seeing the kiosk in situ at the Bugatti Trust. It is our hope that this display can help tell the story of Bill Turnbull’s amazing life and his commitment to the restoration and history of his Bugatti, and in doing so inspire the next generation of engineers.

– Felicity Aston, Museum Assistant for the Bugatti Trust.

The Bugatti Trust was founded in October 1987 to preserve and make available for study the works of Ettore Bugatti. It houses 27,000 technical drawings, over 10,000 photographs and thousands of historic documents, many of which were donated by its late founder and Bugatti enthusiast, Hugh Conway.

We were delighted to work closely with the Bugatti Trust once again and utilise a 43″ Freestanding Kiosk and our in-house developed museum software ‘Lightbox 3’ to showcase an interesting, shared slice of history revolving around one car and one intriguing man (Bill Turnbull) in particular. You can see the completed interactive in action here which we developed in close collaboration with the Bugatti Trust team.

Felicity Aston, Museum Assistant for the Bugatti Trust, talks about the project in its entirety below.

Freestanding Kiosk with Lightbox 3 in use at Bugatti Trust

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The interactive digital kiosk at the Bugatti Trust commemorates Bill Turnbull, a renowned engineer at JCB and great friend to the Trust, who owned and partially restored a Bugatti Type 57S. Upon his death in 2019, Bill not only left a generous donation to the Bugatti Trust, but also established a working relationship between the Trust and the JCB Academy. Through a display which provides insights into Bill’s life, legacy and research into his car’s history, the digital kiosk adds a new dimension to the visitor experience.

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Educational outreach is a vital part of the Bugatti Trust’s activities, but the extent of it is not often seen by visitors to the museum. The kiosk complements visitors’ learning journey by highlighting our working relationship with the JCB Academy, which was established by Bill Turnbull. We worked with the JCB Academy and Blackbox to develop a section of the kiosk showing an insight into the Academy, its facilities and opportunities for its students.

43 Inch Kiosk with Lightbox 3 in use at Bugatti Trust

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There are so many layers to the digital kiosk which make it appealing to all knowledge levels, from those new to Bugatti history, to those with first-hand experience of the painstaking process of car restorations. The ability to have levels of detail which visitors can explore enhances the versatility of the display, from timelines and overviews of car histories to an array of documents which showcase the history of Bill Turnbull’s Bugatti Type 57S in intricate detail. We were also able to create a varied selection of puzzles and games using historic Type 57S photographs from our archive, which have proved especially popular with visitors.

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With one main focus being Bill Turnbull’s Bugatti Type 57S, the kiosk also presents a learning opportunity to look at the Bugatti Type 57 in general. A commercial success for Bugatti, several variations on the Type 57 were made, including the Type 57S and the racing Type 57G known as the “Tank”. Bill Turnbull’s Bugatti Type 57S is a particularly interesting example to feature, with its striking coachwork by British coachbuilder Corsica and its lightweight chassis rails which were previously used on a Type 57G “Tank”. The digital kiosk provides a multigenerational approach to showcasing this, enabling visitors to learn about the Corsica coachwork within the context of the various Type 57S coachwork styles, and to discover the past life of the chassis rails through archive documents, photo galleries and a 3D visualisation.

This was a wonderful project to work on and allowed us to take full advantage of practically every application available within the Lightbox 3 package – the resulting interactive really helps bring the eventful life of Bill Turnbull and the historical significance of the Bugatti Type 57 to the attention of an entirely new generation, preserving the joint memories and legacy for years to come.

Information and images provided by The Bugatti Trust.