If you walk around London's West End you might not be surprised to see a Bentley convertible, a Ferrari Spyder, a Hummer and the fastest car in the world parked alongside each other. But it may surprise you to cars like this can be seen every day of the week in Hayes, in the shadow of the Nestlé coffee factory!
The London Motor Museum is a hidden gem, tucked away in a corner of Hayes and run by local parents Elo and Mai.
Elo, a former model, has always had a passion for classic and custom cars and his collection of amazing super cars have been on display in Hayes for a few years now. The collection is eclectic and if you have boys in the family (big and small), they'll all find their dream car there!
My other half, Chris, loved the Porsche 356 Speedster and the Auburn, while Alex took a shine to the fastest car in the world, the SSC Ultimate Aero (257mph) and the classic Herbie Beetle - not to mention the Hummer, which had the biggest wheels in the world!
For me, choosing a favourite was a toss-up between the pink Cadillac or maybe the orange car (I can't be more specific than that!) that featured with Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas in a recent music video.
My car-mad brother spent the whole time walking round with his mouth hanging open - he restores Beetles and of all of us, he was the one who could really appreciate all the work, blood, sweat and tears that had gone into putting together this amazing collection!
More than 70 cars are on display and the collection continually changes and rotates.
We also saw replicas of the car from Harry Potter that flew into the Whomping Willow, the Delorian from Back to the Future, the Starsky and Hutch car and Herbie, too. On other days, you might see replicas of the original Batmobile from the 1960s or even the Flintstones' car sitting alongside hotrods from the 1930s-50s, lowriders and modern supercars.
The London Motor Museum is the only museum of its kind in Europe and it's well worth a family outing.
* Find out more at www.londonmotormuseum. co.uk or by calling 0800 195 0777. It's open seven days a week from 10am to 6pm and is at 3Nestlés Avenue, Hayes, UB3 4SB.
Tickets cost £10 for adults and £5 for children aged three or over, or they have a family ticket for £20 for two adults and three kids.
One piece of advice, though - wrap up warm. We went on one of the coldest winter days we've had and it was draughty when we were there.
Cathy recommends
WE'RE off to a fantastic new event my mum-friend Nicola told me about - Breakfast With Santa - at the Wyevale Garden Centre in Pield Heath Road, by Hillingdon Hospital.
Santa is hosting breakfast parties every Saturday and Sunday morning until the weekend before Christmas. It costs £6.99 per child, which includes meeting Santa, a gift, a glass of orange juice and either a cooked breakfast with sausage, eggs etc or a cold breakfast with cereal and a chocolate Danish twist. An adult breakfast costs £2.49.
Booking is recommended. Call 01895 236 141 or pop in and complete a booking form.
