Private Gallery
Situated within an industrial area of Stoke on Trent, the Swift Gallery is home to the collection of photographs privately collected and assembled over 25 years.
About this project
The opening of the Swift Gallery in 2012 by John Surtees OBE marked the first phase in a new project designed to bring a large selection of motor racing photography to a wider audience.
Originally located within an industrial area of Stoke on Trent, the Gallery was home to the collection of photographs assembled over 25 years by the late, great Andrew Swift, whose father Jim raced a private Jaguar C Type during the early 1950s, and who passed on a lifelong interest in motor racing. It was all about the story for Andrew and this project marked the start of a close friendship and shared passion of motorsport. The gallery offered over 7,000 square feet of converted warehouse space, and displayed close to 1,000 photographs showing the history of Grand Prix and Sportscar racing, from the early stages of the sport to the current crop of drivers.
Andrew split the collection into various eras which made for a fascinating pictorial history showing both the technological progress of the sport whilst highlighting many of the great characters who have made this such a rich story. The gallery is permanently closed, but the collection has been purchased by Jonathan Palmer of Motor Sport Vision (MSV) and will be housed within the Donington Hall Estate - we're personally delighted that Andrew's legacy will remain in the form of this unique collection to be shared and seen by others. We were honoured to have met Andrew and worked alongside to create this gallery and assist his late wife Yvonne to ensure that this collection stays together - it was her wish.
There is a website set up which details more about the gallery including a virtual tour and includes some beautiful words written by Yvonne about Andrew, his passion and legacy.
