Preserving Automotive History: Alexey Gubarev on Restoration, Heritage and His New Car Museum

The 1930s were a very distinct period in British car history, a period of engineering brilliance, hand-built craftsmanship and luxury. That heritage is still very much a part of the classic car world today, but it’s not enough simply to keep the car in good order. You have to protect the character of the car and the story that it tells.

In the private collection of Alexey Gubarev (entrepreneur, investor and collector based in Cyprus) you’ll find Rolls and Bentleys, a number of them from the 1930s. These will be part of a much larger exhibition of approximately 80 rare cars at a new retro car museum in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, which is due to open in 2027.

We spoke to Alexey about the difficulties of preserving automotive history, the rationale behind his museum project and why he feels classic cars absolutely need to be experienced by future generations. He first opened the collection to the press in a 2025 interview with CBN.

What needs to be recorded prior to a car going on display?

Before any car goes into the exhibition it needs its own full record. That should include photos from every angle, a condition report, provenance, a record of what’s original and what’s been replaced. The tyres, brakes, wiring, interior and mechanicals all need to be documented. This is all obviously to establish whether the car is safe to exhibit, whether it can be moved and whether it can be driven. It also gives the future conservator a solid reference point.

What changes when you’ve got old vehicles that need to be moved?

Moving a car from the 1930s is a very different proposition to moving a modern car. The rubber will have aged, the brakes may not be up to much and there are certain parts which simply can’t be replaced. Each car has to be individually assessed prior to moving, secured at the appropriate structural points and transported in a suitable enclosed vehicle. The route, the loading equipment and the floor capacity at the destination all need to be considered. It has to be inspected again upon arrival before anyone even thinks about starting it.

Credits: Alexey Gubarev

How do you strike a balance between keeping the cars usable and protecting the original material?

I think there’s a place for both in a collection. Some cars you’d quite rightly want to keep roadworthy and to drive from time to time as that’s part of the experience of understanding the car. Others you simply wouldn’t want to risk in that way, they’re too fragile, or too historically significant. My overriding principle is that restoration should never be about making an old car look like a new one. If it’s had a life then that life should be visible in the bodywork and in the original materials.

What does it take to display a car other than space for the wheels?

A museum has to get the conditions right for each vehicle to survive over the long term. Direct sun, excessive heat, humidity and dust will all damage the paint, the rubber, the leather and the interior fabrics so lighting and the environment have to be very carefully controlled. You also have to think about the experience of the visitor in terms of the vehicles. People need to be able to walk around the vehicles, to see the detail and to understand the context in which they were used. Good lighting, good display and sufficient space are just as important as the vehicles themselves.

How does the building impact the exhibition planning?

For me the preservation of the building was just as important as the creation of the museum. The former Western Bus Station is part of Bishkek’s history and we didn’t want to just wipe that history out by converting it into something entirely different. The concept was to give the building a new life in some sense, to give it a new purpose whilst retaining its original character and essence. It was a building that was in the past a building of movement, of travel, of vehicles. There is a very natural link with the automotive collection. We are simply reconfiguring the space to house the cars, the exhibition space and the visitor facilities. The building itself is an important part of the story and that is what we are trying to achieve with this project. It’s a chance to give a building of historical significance a new life rather than just replace it with something new.

How do you go about deciding which vehicles actually go into the museum?

My private collection is around 200 cars, the museum will be showing a selection from that. The difficulty isn’t so much in picking the most rare or the most expensive, it’s in selecting the ones which actually do something for the story as a whole. I wanted the exhibition to tell the story of the development of the automotive industry through the various traditions, American, British, French, German and Soviet.

What role do you see the museum playing beyond just displaying cars?

This is much more than a museum. A car is a story in itself about technology, about engineering, about design and the society in which it was made. The project is about helping people to understand the impact of the motor industry on the modern world and to learn the history of the individual car. It will have a number of educational areas, public spaces and event facilities so it’s a place you can go for a variety of reasons. Above all I want it to be inspirational to the next generation in terms of engineering, design and history.

Credits: Alexey Gubarev

What would you say to a collector looking at a public museum?

Firstly, be realistic about the financial side of it. A museum of this type doesn’t make money. The cost of renovating a building, of getting the vehicles in and out, of caring for the collection, of employing people and of running the place is enormous. To me it’s a long term cultural investment rather than a commercial proposition. You have to be genuinely driven by the desire to preserve something and to make it available to the public. You need to start planning well in advance, you need to bring in professional curators, architects and conservators and you need to have the resources to maintain the museum well beyond your own collecting days. It’s something you’re creating which should outlive your own collecting days.

Based in Limassol, Cyprus, Alexey Gubarev (also spelled Aleksey Gubarev and Aleksej Gubarev) collects classic cars and is developing a retro car museum in Bishkek. Due to open in 2027, the museum will combine vehicles from several automotive traditions with the history of the former Western Bus Station. More at gubarev.com.