Library and Archive
The Library within the Pall Mall clubhouse houses one of the best resourced motoring and motorsport collections in the country.
The Club Archive, located at Westminster City Archives, stocks a wide range of material relating to the Club’s history and the history of motoring and motorsport generally.
Club Library
The quiet atmosphere of the library enables the Club member to read, relax, and undertake his or her own research. And members are welcome to use their devices (on silent mode) within the library. Open 24/7, staff are on duty Monday to Friday, 9.00am to 5.00pm to assist members with motoring research and/or non-motoring enquiries. A range of newspapers, periodicals, and general reference works is also provided.
[Exceptionally, library staff may invite a non-member of the Club, by prior appointment only, to use the library for research purposes.]
Club Archive
A visit to the Club Archive (close to Westminster Abbey), by either a Club member or non-member, must be booked in advance with heritage staff. For further information on the archive’s holdings, please email heritage@royalautomobileclub.co.uk.
Search the Collections
The heritage catalogue (see ‘Search the Collections’ on the right of this page) acts as a single portal for the entirety of Club holdings on a particular subject-area. The heritage collections comprise books, periodicals, paintings, trophies, badges, photographs, and other ephemera. The collections also contain the corporate papers of the Club and its affiliates, and members’ personal papers. Some examples worth singling out are documentation relating to the ground-breaking 1000 Miles Trial of 1900 and the Tourist Trophy, the oldest continuously run motor race in the world, as well as the papers of the Club’s founder, Frederick Simms.
