The Haynes Motor Museum is a charitable trust that was set up by
John Haynes OBE the founder of the Haynes Publishing Group, and
first opened its doors to the public in July 1985, with an inventory of
49 cars and 3 motorcycles. Since then the museum has grown vastly
in size to accommodate an ever growing range of exhibits, such that it
now comprises of ten interlinked halls housing nearly 300 cars and
over 70 motorcycles, together with a vast array of motoring
memorabilia and toys, |
Ferrari Import Kroymans BV are the long time importer for the marque
in The Netherlands, whilst the CEO Frederico Kroymans is a
passionate classic car enthusiast, and was the overall winner of the
Shell Historic Ferrari Maserati Challenge race series in 2001, driving
his 250 GTO, chassis # 4757GT. He also has a fine private collection
of some rare and beautiful Ferraris, which Edwin van Nes was able
to access, to provide you with the images that you will find in this
gallery |
The Collezione Maranello Rosso recently moved to new premises in
San Marino, close to the state border, where the fine selection of
Ferrari models that form the core of the collection are displayed.
These include examples of 250 GT TdF, 250 GT "Interim", 250 GT
SWB and 250 GTO berlinettas amongst a wide range of models on
show. The Abarth part of the collection is not normally open to the
public, but access can be obtained by special request |
Geneva, beautifully situated at the south side of Lac Leman, is
always worth a trip. It is famous for its sights, narrow streets where
you can either shop around in one of Geneva’s uncountable watch
and jewellery shops or just sit in a cosy café or bar to watch the busy
business people walk by. But between shopping and enjoying
cheese fondue you have to visit one of Geneva’s younger attractions:
The International Auto Museum. |
The town of Maranello is Mecca for Ferrari enthusiasts world-wide,
you may not easily gain access to the Ferrari factory, but there is a
wide variety of choice for the aficionado to appreciate during a visit.
You can see and hear F1 cars testing at the Fiorano track, visit the
factory run Galleria Ferrari, enjoy a meal at the Cavallino restaurant,
shop for memorabilia and |
Italian born brothers Hans and Fritz Schlumpf made their fortune in
the textile industry. Fritz was an enthusiastic collector of cars of all
sorts and makes, but had a special love for Bugatti. Since 1964, the
ever-growing car collection was housed in the Mulhouse factory of the
Schlumpf brothers. When the textile industry was in a decline during
the 1970's the Schlumpf brothers sold their factories. To save the
immense car collection, meanwhile it grew to well over 400 cars,
amongst them some 100 Bugatti's, the collection was classified a
French historic monument in 1978 and sold to the National
Automobile Museum Association in 1978 |
The Marconi Automotive Museum is a non-profit organisation that
through its activities supports the Marconi Foundation For Kids, that
assists numerous children’s charities with financial support. The
foundation was started by the museum founder and owner, Dick
Marconi, in 1994 based on a philosophy imparted by his father –
”Learn, Earn, Return”. Having done the first, and succeeded in the
second |
Until 1991the Le Mans museum was housed in what was basically a
warehouse within the confines of the racing circuit, with the exhibits
displayed in uninspiring rows behind rope barriers. This all changed
in that year, with the opening of a new purpose built museum
building adjacent to the main entrance to the circuit. The architectural
design of the structure is intended to convey a sense of speed and
motion, and the project was a joint venture between the regional
council and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, organisers of the world
famous 24 Hour Race, |
If Formula One cars are your passion, then a visit to the Donington
Grand Prix Collection is an absolute must, as it is the largest
collection of Grand Prix racing cars in the world. Even if your interest
is general motor sport as opposed to specifically Formula One, you
will find the displays fascinating, and be impressed by the sheer
scale of the collection, plus the variety of cars exhibited |
The Daytona Motorsports Attraction is situated a mile east of exit 87
off Interstate 95, adjacent to the main entrance of the Daytona
International Speedway, on West International Speedway Boulevard.
The venue was opened in 1996 and in 1998 was made the official
NASCAR attraction, with its static and interactive exhibition areas
reflecting America’s most popular form of motor sport. On the paved
concourse outside the entrance stands a life size bronze sculpture of
Bill France and his wife, the founders of NASCAR and builders of the
Daytona International Speedway |
Located near Rennes in Brittany, the litle village of Loheac is home to
the car collection of Michel Hommell, the Manoir de l'Automobile. His
name is well known in French motoring circles, both as the head of a
big press group (their motoring magazines include Echappement
and Auto Passion), and also as the instigator with Gilles Dupré (the
ideas man) of the Berlinette Echappement considered by many to be
the new "berlinette Alpine" |
For those who have visited Modena regularly over the years, it is
relatively easy to find all the points of interest for the motoring
enthusiast. However, for those who have no knowledge of the area,
perhaps don’t speak Italian, or for whom it may be a one-off trip from
the other side of the globe, it could be a daunting experience. No fear,
help is at hand! |
The Klassix Auto Attraction is situated just west of junction 87
(northbound) or 87B (southbound) on Interstate 95, with the ”totem
pole” mounted Chevrolet Corvette clearly visible high above the
junction. The exhibitions comprise of mainly classic ”American Iron”
including a wide variety of Corvette models that have been produced
over the years, sixties and seventies muscle cars, plus a selection of
pre-war cars and various racing cars |
Not far from Stuttgart, in the beautiful village Tuebingen, you will find a
real little gem - The Boxenstop Museum. It's not only another car
museum but a small collection of some of the all-time favourites in
automobile history surrounded by normally long lost - and now
historic - toys for children. The Boxenstop museum therefore can't be
recommended highly enough to those of us, who have grown up with
sheet children's toys and who still have such toys - maybe a little
bigger and stored in the garage now |
The Gallery in Brummen is a unique concept in the field of classic
and sportscars. Under one roof you can find not only three floors with |
The famous "Museo Luigi Bonfanti" in Romano d'Ezzelino hosted a
very special exhibition about Tazio Nuvolari from April to October this
year. Displayed were not only some of the cars he had originally
raced but thousands of race pictures which covered all his life from
the early beginnings to the end. |
When I first visited the Schlumpf Collection many years ago, it was
known as the Musée National de l’Automobile, and the entrance was
in the original 19th century mill building on the Ave. de Colmar in
Mulhouse. It was a discreet entranceway in a rather |
On Saturday the 28th of November we had the opportunity to visit
the "Prototyp-Museum" in Hamburg for the opening of their
special exhibition dedicated to the legendary 24 hours at Le
Sarthe. This small gem is located in an old redbrick building in
the Hafencity listed for preservation. After a complete renovation
in 2008 this building is shining in a new gleam combining exciting
new architecture with the existing one. |
One of the greatest and most spectacular building projects in the
history of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG was completed in
December 2008: the new Porsche Museum in
Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. Located directly in the very heart of this
unique sports car company so rich in tradition, the Museum
serves to present the fascinating thrill and diversity of the
Porsche brand to visitors from all over the world. |
The Mercedes-Benz Museum is the only museum in the world
that can document in a single continuous timeline over 120 years
of auto industry history from its very beginnings to the present
day. On nine levels and covering a floor space of 16,500 square
metres, the museum presents 160 vehicles and over 1,500
exhibits. As a place of innovation, it also demonstrates that
history can point the way ahead. |
When attending the major Concours in the World it becomes
obvious that many of the top cars are usually entered by a small
but very enthusiastic group of international collectors and after a
while one can recognize individual preferences both in the sort of
cars they own and the way they are presented. |
After the success of the “California Dreaming” exhibition in 2014,
the Museo Ferrari in Maranello has a new themed exhibition,
“Genio e Segreti” (Genius & Secrets), that is scheduled to run
until the end of the year. Apart from a selection of cars from the
company’s “vaults”, styling and experimental departments, there
is the opportunity to discover some of the “secrets” straight from
the mouths of people, who have been, or are, close to the
epicentre of the company. |
The automobile museum at Le Mans has recently undergone a
total revamp of the interior layout, with new galleries and new
exhibits, portraying the history of the famous 24 Hour Race and
also the evolution of the car itself. The new layout is essentially
divided into six specific areas, which are in sequence as one
enters the museum, each with its own theme, plus a temporary
exhibition area. |
A unique exhibition dedicated to the Centennial of Maserati was
inaugurated in Modena this morning. MASERATI 100 - A Century
of Pure Italian Luxury Sports Cars retraces the story of the Italian
car manufacturer through an exhibition featuring some of the
Trident marque’s most significant road and racing cars, plus a
highly engaging show employing 19 projectors, enabling visitors
to relive the most significant moments in the history of Maserati
and to learn about the individuals who shaped its history. |
The original Casa Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modena adjacent to
the house in which Enzo Ferrari was born, which also forms part
of the complex, and which opened in March 2012, recently had
its management transferred to the Ferrari organisation, and was
temporarily closed for a short period for refurbishment and
rejuvenation. The new museum, renamed Museo Enzo Ferrari,
fittingly opened on Tuesday 18 February, which for those with
short memories was Enzo Ferrari’s date of birth in 1898. |
When people talking about American cars they usually think of
Detroit being the centre of the American car industry and home of
the big names. But this is just a development of the time when
mass production and cost efficiency reduced the variety of car
manufacturers spread out all over the country to a few remaining
names. In the beginning of the last century, the dawn of motoring,
numerous independent small companies and individuals designed
horseless carriages just like the Eckhart family. |
A new exhibition opened at the Museo Ferrari in Maranello in
April 2014, and is planned to run through to the end of the year.
The theme is essentially Ferrari in the USA, very apt in the 60th
anniversary year of official imports to the country, with particular
emphasis on the state of California, in light of the recent launch of
the new California T model, hence the exhibition title “California
Dreaming”. |
Ferrari President, Luca di Montezemolo, performed the official
opening ceremony for a new exhibition in the Museo Ferrari in
Maranello, during the morning of Tuesday 15 October 2013. The
exhibition entitled “Ferrari Sporting Spirit” is designed to show the
symbiosis between Ferraris racing and road cars, whilst also
heralding the arrival of the latest “Extreme Machine” the 458
Speciale, and the recently redesigned interior entrance to the
museum galleries |
Between 08 March and 30 September 2013, the Museo Ferrari in
Maranello is hosting an exhibition titled “Ferrari Supercar
Tecnica, Design, Mito” The exhibition focuses on the Ferrari
limited production supercars spanning nearly 30 years, which
started with the GTO (288) in 1984, continued with the F40 in
1987, then came the F50 in 1995, the Enzo in 2002 and the
LaFerrari presented at the Geneva Salon this year. |
The National Motor Museum was founded over half a century ago,
in 1956, by Lord Montagu as a tribute to his father, who one of
the pioneers of motorised transport in Great Britain. The museum
has grown in size and stature from those early days, and in 1970
Lord Montagu founded a charitable trust to ensure the longevity of
the collection as a national heritage. |
Today we take a look back to our visit of one of the most famous
race car collections in the world, the Simeone Foundation
Museum in Philadelphia. When arriving from the airport the
journey leads to the nearby business park that is home of the
rental car parking lots and numerous car dealerships,
unimpressive signposts guiding to a brown industrial building.
Just a blue sign and the name over the entrance indicate that this
building might be more than an ordinary factory building, a banner
“Museum of the Year” is making curious. This award was given to
the Museum in 2011 by a well known international jury of
automotive experts in London in this category as part of “The
International Historic Motoring Awards” |
During our visit to Los Angeles in October we took the
opportunity to visit several museums in the area, two of them we
reported earlier on. Last but not least we take a look at the
Petersen Automotive Museum that is located directly in Los
Angeles on the famous Wilshire Boulevard about half way from
downtown LA to Santa Monica. |
J.B.Nethercutt made his fortune with Cosmetics and bought his
first two classic cars back in 1956, a Duesenberg and a 1930
DuPont Town Car, both in unrestored condition. Although
estimated with just a few weeks the restoration of the DuPont
took more than 18 months to perfection with a lot of research for
originality so the car was driven |
The name Blackhawk is very familiar to the world of classic cars
being renowned for dealing with some of the world's most
glamorous cars for the last decades. Beside a large showroom of
the subsidiary “The Auto Collection” at the Imperial Palace in Las
Vegas the name Blackhawk is resident in Danville, about 30
miles east of San Francisco. In 1988 the Blackhawk Museum
was opened to show some of the cars for sale plus many others
to the public in a modern 70.000 sq-foot building. |
When visiting the numerous prestigious Concours d´Elegance
around the world, like Pebble Beach, Amelia Island or the Villa
d´Este, some names reappear regularly on the list of the award
winners and one becomes aware that there are some serious
collectors who never seem to run out of superb cars. Some of
those names have been around for decades showing that they
started to collect classic cars well before the boom time of the
late 1980s and early 90s, when collecting cars was more a
question |
The BMW-Museum in Munich right beside the corporate
headquarters first opened in 1973. The heritage protected building
by the architect Prof. Karl Schwanzer has become one of the
town´s landmarks called “Museums-Schüssel” ( “museums bowl”
) and featured the company´s history for about 30 years. In 2002
the lack of exhibition space made a new concept necessary.
Whereas other companies decided in the same period the
construction of a totally new museum for one or the other reason
BMW made the decision to extend the existing building. |
“La Macchina del tempo – Museo Storico Alfa Romeo” is the
heart of a genuine “brand center”, with a bookshop, café,
Documentation Center, test drive track, events venues and a
show-room with a customer delivery area: it is the perfect bond
between past, present and future. In Arese, next to Milan city
center and the Expo area. |
The Cinquantenaire Park in the centre of Brussels was built as
part of the vision of King Leopold II, in the late part of the 19th
Century, although it was not completed until early in the 20th
Century. Central to the park is the majestic triumphal arch from
either side of which spread the colonnades to the exhibition
centres, which were used for the first time in 1880 to exhibit
products of Belgian art and industry, and later for the 1897 World
Exposition. |