European Car Museums Of Interest

[Steve Holmes]

My wife and I are planning to go to Europe later this year, and I'd like to check out a few motoring museums that we can incorporate into a road trip. Helen (my wife) has relatives in Amsterdam and Brussels, plus we plan to spend time in the south of France.

So we're looking at driving from Amsterdam and heading south. Obviously I want to visit Cite de l'Automobile, which houses the incredible Schlumpf Collection of Bugattis: http://www.citedelautomobile.com/en

But can anyone else make recommendation?

[Spgeti]

There is an amazing Abarth museum Steve. I will dig out the details and email to you.....race and rally cars.

[Ray Bell]

Donington was a sheer disappointment to me, almost a waste of time...

However, they do have a good BRM and Vanwall exhibition and lots of modern GP cars.

Scihlumpf is unforgettable. €12 per head, you can stay all day or even get a pass-out and go elsewhere for lunch and return. There is a cafe in the building, however. Literally hundreds of pre-WWI cars, even more from between the wars and plenty of forties, fifties and sixties stuff. Not one American car at all, only four or five British cars. Where else would a Lotus 7 sit beside a 250LM?

They have three Bugatti Royales, but they consider one of them not worth counting, it's just a replica made from original parts. 4WD rally cars, the only 300SLR not owned by M-B (they had a car M-B wanted for their museum and swapped), the 1954 Bugatti GP car which had the transverse straight 8 in the back... with another engine on display next to it. That's one of the great things about the Schlumpf Museum, the many cars with an engine displayed alongside.

I went to the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart too. There's lots of stuff there, including a replica of the high-speed transporter they built in 1954, LSR cars, aircraft engines and more. The stories are well told, but at the end of it all I was wishing to see something of another marque. For this reason, I should have gone to the Porsche Museum down the road, as Porsche would have displays of other cars that Ferdinand Porsche helped create. But while you're there, don't neglect to do a lap of the old road circuit at Solitude. Over five miles of sheer heaven!

And when you go to look at the old Spa circuit, take a drive into Malmedy and shell out €5 for a look at their little museum, some very interesting exhibits even if it is small.

I actually focussed more on the living museums, the roads still extant upon which racing once took place, especially the legendary stuff.

[seaqnmac27]

Steve, there is the Ligier Museum at Magny Cours I have a good friend who is a French journalist, he has not long written a book on Renault in Formula 1, I can put you in touch with him if you would like.

[Oldfart]

The very best of them all in my opinion is "Manoir de L'Automobile" 4 Rue de la Cour Neuve, 35550 Lohéac, France. Amazing cross section, all sorts and all eras. More F1 than anywhere else I have been, Touring cars, Le MansRally and Rallycross etc 400+ cars.
http://www.manoir-automobile.fr/museum/

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks everyone, this is really great stuff.

Ray, I like your description of the Schlumpf collection. Everything I was hoping for. I do plan to visit Spa this time around. The last time we were in Europe I had planned to do a lap of the Nurburgring, even though car rental companies forbid it. But my drivers licence had expired about a week beforehand, which meant Helen had to drive. She was not happy, and suffice it to say, we didn't visit the Nurburgring.

Sean, I would love to visit the Ligier Museum. Thanks. We have set out a rough plan for what route to take, but this is sure to be changed several times before then.

Rhys, I did view the Manior de L'Automobile website when doing a search a few weeks back. I had written it off as its on the opposite side of the country to where we'd be travelling, but I'm wondering if we should try and somehow include it. Le Mans on the way too!

[John McKechnie]

While you are in Bulgaria Steve, do check out the museum that has the prewar collection of Packards that belonged to King Boris and then his brother king Keril......of course on the way to the Golden Sands resorts at the Black Sea.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Steve Holmes
.....I did view the Manior de L'Automobile website when doing a search a few weeks back. I had written it off as its on the opposite side of the country to where we'd be travelling, but I'm wondering if we should try and somehow include it. Le Mans on the way too!

That being the case, you could look for Rouen and Reims, even Amiens. But don't go to Rouen without a map showing where the circuit was.

[Oldfart]

That being the case, you could look for Rouen and Reims, even Amiens. But don't go to Rouen without a map showing where the circuit was.

Reims ( Circuit de Reims-Gueux) is a long way from Loheac. We did it in a longish day. Reims I found very emotional, I managed to buy a coffee cup from the local garage, the only thing I could find to but, then broke it having a coffee back in Nz. Rude words were said.
Many things on line say it's just crumbling away. Not true. There is a group of local enthusiasts who are sympathetically , step by step restoring, or at least preserving the stands, pits and adjacent buildings. www.amis-du-circuit-de-gueux.fr/

[Ray Bell]

Indeed there are...

At a restaurant in Gueux there is a multitude of photos on the walls from many eras of the racing there. And, of course, it's on the part of the circuit which was disused from the early fifties. There are two circuits there, the common part being the northern leg where the grandstands and pit buildings are being preserved.

While driving in Europe you must also keep your eyes peeled...



... or you might miss something. Mobile or...



...stationary.

[Ray Bell]

A quick glimpse of some of the Schlumpf magic...



Doctor Heinkel's personal transport, a 770K Grosser.



Ferrari's 1500cc supercharged GP engine alongside Ferraris from that formula.



Sporting Alfas from the thirties, the coupe being a Mille Miglia legend.



Check the Czech V8.



Heard of the Farman? It's here with extra engine and transmission, and a story about how quiet it was.

[Ray Bell]

The 1954 GP Bugatti... and its power unit.



Just one of the V12 Hispanos on display, the sleek car in the background is a Delahaye.



The 'Tank' Bugatti was small, wasn't it? It's tucked away among less famous cars.



A row of long bonnets, it looks inviting.



Not the only Maserati on display.

[Ray Bell]

Big cylinders from Germany, mit kompressor!



Not everything's exotic, but some things are really strange.



Small cars are represented too, but look at that vertical machine behind them sitting up on a transverse leaf spring!



More than one car is unclothed so you can see all the mechanicals.



And there are some wild creations...

[Shoreboy57]

Steve - If you are going to be in Brussels - and have a pass out - you could check out Autoworld, which is only about 3km from the central square (Grand Place). They have a 70 years of Ferrari feature July/August.
Lindsay

[rf84]

Steve. I will preface this by saying I am not a great fan of car museums. Cars were made to move, the faster the better and seeing them sitting in museums does not do much for me.
Having said that, the Schlumpf Museum is a "must see". To appreciate it fully it is essential that anyone intending visiting it is aware of the story behind it. It is truly one of those stories where fact is stranger than fiction.
The other one I personally found most worthwhile was the Transport Museum in Coventry. It is literally in the middle of the city, has free admission and contains the Thrust and SS LSR cars.

[Oldfart]

Steve. I will preface this by saying I am not a great fan of car museums. Cars were made to move, the faster the better and seeing them sitting in museums does not do much for me.
Having said that, the Schlumpf Museum is a "must see". To appreciate it fully it is essential that anyone intending visiting it is aware of the story behind it. It is truly one of those stories where fact is stranger than fiction.
The other one I personally found most worthwhile was the Transport Museum in Coventry. It is literally in the middle of the city, has free admission and contains the Thrust and SS LSR cars.

Having worked at the Transport museum in Coventry early this year (after the whole place has been re configured) I think it is now rather ho hum. Gaydon is now a lot better, but still not a patch on the Euro ones, nor Southwards, except there are different things to see IMHO>

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks again everyone, I'm really enjoying all the feedback. The Schlumpf collection I've been wanting to see since I was a teenager. I remember reading about it back when it was kept as a private collection, and its always fascinated me.

Has anyone visited Autoworld in Brussels? The building looks as interesting as the displays: http://www.autoworld.be/onthaal

[ERC]

Which way are you travelling Steve? We have just arrived back via LA today, and we made an effort to see the Petersen Museum. I'll be posting pics shortly. We didn't really have time for the 'Vault Tour', this time, and even if we did do it, no photographs allowed, though they are allowed in the main museum.

Interesting that Ray Bell thought Donington almost a waste of time, as it confirms my suspicions that unlike many museums, it has shrunk rather than grown, with many of the unique cars now gone and Kevin's military collection is a poor substitute for racing cars. I failed to get any sense out of them as to what was actually on display these days and am just grateful that I visited it several times in its heyday.