The Markham car collection heritage was entrusted with the Western Australia Museum in 1969. Subsequent events caused estrangement between the state’s motoring community and the museum, and forty-five years later still engender
anger in motoring enthusiasts in Western Australia. Recollections of what actually happened are inconsistent; this paper investigates what happened and what went wrong. The paper concludes with discussion on the lessons learnt from this controversial incident for the Markham family, motoring community and cultural institutions. Questions about trust and ethics with donors and depositors, including the role of cultural institutions as custodians of national heritage are posed.
