GLASGOW Museums has taken delivery of the youngest car in its collection - a rare Honda Insight Mk1 from 2000.

Built at the turn of the new millennium, it is one of only 239 Mk1s sold in the UK and the first hybrid car to be donated to the city’s transport and travel collection.

Described as ‘the blueprint for contemporary hybrids’ the Honda Insight lets Glasgow Museums tell the story of the emergence of electric vehicles and environmentally friendly transport.

The car was donated by Charles Collins from Braco near Dunblane, who purchased the red, two-seater coupe in 2009.

Charles was commuting 120 miles per day, which led him to search out a fuel efficient car with a small engine.

Charles said: “I felt like I was in some kind of car from the future, like in Minority Report.

“It’s a real head-turner. It always provokes a reaction. I’m not sure why, perhaps because of the unique shape and having the rear wheels covered.

"Not all attention has been good though, you do get the odd white van man passing, whilst laughing with his work mates.

“I’m really pleased to have donated the car – it feels like the future has now become a part of history.”

Curator of transport and technology with Glasgow Museums, Neil Johnson-Symington, and Jacek Wiklo, transport and technology conservator with Glasgow Museums, took delivery of the Honda Insight at Glasgow Museums Resource Centre.

Classic & Sports Car magazine recently described the Honda Insight as “a testbed for new technology” due to its weight-saving aluminium body shell, aerodynamic coupe design, auto engine cut-off and the combined power of a small 990cc petrol engine with an integrated electric motor/generator – the IMA, integrated motor assist.

Although Honda made a financial loss with the development of the Insight, they can be said to have paved the way for the creation of the mainstream hybrid cars popular today.

Chairman of Glasgow Life, Councillor Archie Graham, said: “We are very grateful to Charles for his generous donation to the city’s collection.

“The car has arrived at Glasgow Museum Resource centre. We are working on a new display for Riverside, Scotland’s museum of transport and travel.

"In time this striking and technologically significant car will be the centre piece of an exhibition reflecting the changes in 21st century car design, which take more account of important environmental considerations.”

The new addition to the collection will, bosses say, give curators the chance to create a display examining car manufacturers’ shift towards developing and promoting alternative energy vehicles.