INTERNATIONALLY known artist Simon McKeown is turning his fleet of disability cars into a virtual museum for people to learn more about the history of the iconic vehicles.

Simon McKeown, a Reader in Post Production and Animation at Teesside University, has been collecting the disability cars for the last two years.

The North Yorkshire man currently has 12 and his latest, an Invacar Mark 8B, is the only one of its type in the world and was recently imported back to the UK from Australia where it has been since the 1950s.

Mr McKeown has been working with engineers from Ross McTurks, in Felixkirk, Thirsk, to restore his cars, which date from the 1930s.

The Invacar Mark 8B, from October 1954, was the first to be completed and was recently driven for the first time in 60 years.

Invalid Carriages, or Invacars as they were known, used to be given out by the NHS to help disabled people become independent. All were government owned and leased to disabled drivers.

Mr McKeown, who is himself disabled and whose art often considers the way disability is viewed, remembers his granddad having an Invacar.

“They are incredibly fun but also difficult to drive and at times dangerous, but they represent such a great and complex part of our social history.

"There is a great beauty in these cars and they tell the story, not only of disability history, but also of UK automotive engineering history.”

Invacars were discontinued in 2003 and the Government ordered tens of thousands crushed though a small number survived. It is believed there are just over 300 left in the world today.