Cite de l' automobile (aka Schlumpf Collection)
Discussion
I'll put simply: if you're into cars, if you claim to be a petrolhead with more of an octane rating than a blood group, then you. Must. Go.
Not long back from my second trip out there. A bit of a drive for a day at a museum (reckon on a good 4-5 hours in there if you take your time and lots of photos) but it's worth it. Easy enough to get to: 6 hours drive, maybe? All autoroute, and if you go via Belgium and Luxembourg, barely 20 euros in tolls, too. Mulhouse is nice, too
You could probably hop over to Stuttgart and see the Mercedes/Porsche museums in the days after to make the most of your time over there.
Back to the museum. This place is biblical. It make J. Lenos collection seem like a shady East London council lock-up. Two of the six Bugatti Royales ever made (est. value today of £12 million-ish. Each.) next to each other? Sure. A Mercedes 300SLR driven by some bloke called Fangio? Why not. A pair of Maserati 250Fs? OK. Seemingly one, maybe two, of each Bugatti Type 57 ever made? In fact, so many they can afford to have one disassembled as an exhibit? Ferrari 250LM? Rolls Royce Silver Ghost? Veyron? 959? RS200? Everything.
The collection starts at the very early days of "motoring" i.e. steam powered cars, and progresses right through to a Veyron and a fly-spattered 2002 Audi R10.
The story behind the museum is just as interesting as the cars themselves. Two French textile magnates of the 1930s-1960s set about collecting and restoring every Bugatti they could get their mitts on, buying 30+ at a time if just to secure one. They also purchased cars from Ferrari, Mercedes, etc, etc, and all in utter secrecy, only being found out when some recently-sacked workers stormed the place in the 1970s, IIRC.
I'll try and post some photos once I find some acceptable ones off my phone.
Not long back from my second trip out there. A bit of a drive for a day at a museum (reckon on a good 4-5 hours in there if you take your time and lots of photos) but it's worth it. Easy enough to get to: 6 hours drive, maybe? All autoroute, and if you go via Belgium and Luxembourg, barely 20 euros in tolls, too. Mulhouse is nice, too
You could probably hop over to Stuttgart and see the Mercedes/Porsche museums in the days after to make the most of your time over there.Back to the museum. This place is biblical. It make J. Lenos collection seem like a shady East London council lock-up. Two of the six Bugatti Royales ever made (est. value today of £12 million-ish. Each.) next to each other? Sure. A Mercedes 300SLR driven by some bloke called Fangio? Why not. A pair of Maserati 250Fs? OK. Seemingly one, maybe two, of each Bugatti Type 57 ever made? In fact, so many they can afford to have one disassembled as an exhibit? Ferrari 250LM? Rolls Royce Silver Ghost? Veyron? 959? RS200? Everything.
The collection starts at the very early days of "motoring" i.e. steam powered cars, and progresses right through to a Veyron and a fly-spattered 2002 Audi R10.
The story behind the museum is just as interesting as the cars themselves. Two French textile magnates of the 1930s-1960s set about collecting and restoring every Bugatti they could get their mitts on, buying 30+ at a time if just to secure one. They also purchased cars from Ferrari, Mercedes, etc, etc, and all in utter secrecy, only being found out when some recently-sacked workers stormed the place in the 1970s, IIRC.
I'll try and post some photos once I find some acceptable ones off my phone.
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