Toutes les Machines du Monde
France, Spain, Portugal
Click on the photo for each museum to visit our photo page for that museum
Museums are arranged by rating
Cité de l’Automobile, The French National Auto Museum ★★★★★
The Schlumpf Collection, Mulhouse, France
www.citedelautomobile.com/en/home
This is a large and extensive collection that includes the largest number of Bugatti cars in one location anywhere in the world. Located near the original Bugatti factory in Molsheim, it is considered to be the unofficial Bugatti museum. It is often also referred to as the Schlumpf Collection as the cars collected by the Schlumpf brothers form the basis of the museum. The cars are in good , though somewhat mixed condition and the display areas suffer some from low ceilings and uneven lighting. Some of the finest cars in the collection are displayed in a very dark room. Presumably this is for preservation purposes, but it makes photographing these lovely cars quite difficult. Still, the collection is extensive, with an understandable focus on French manufacturers, but also cars from all over Europe. Many of the displays are imaginatively done and the museum features a number of old black and white racing films being shown continuously in a small theater. If you can get yourself to the Alsace region of France, you will find this museum well worth the visit. We visited the museum in 2010, but in 2020 I’ve gone back and reworked all of our photos to take advantage of better software to improve the pictures and as a result have been able to more than double the number of images displayed.
Museu do Caramulo, Caramulo, Portugal ★★★★
www.museu-caramulo.net/uk/automoveis.shtml
High in the mountains of northern Portugal, we wound our way up a curving road to Caramulo where we had heard there was a nice museum. The auto and motorcycle collection is excellent and the display space is very nice. There are other museums in the complex as well and Caramulo itself is a lovely resort town. Each September a major classic auto event is hosted here, and in April the museum sponsors a large event in Lisbon as well. As you will see in the photos, many of the cars are placed along a wall of windows and this can make the lighting difficult for photography. We visited the museum in 2011, but in 2020 I’ve gone back and reworked all of our photos to take advantage of better software to improve the pictures and as a result have been able to increase the number of images displayed.
Museé-Automobiles-Reims-Champagne, France ★★★
www.musee-automobile-reims-champagne.com/
This museum is located in downtowm Reims, a fifteen minute walk from the cathedral. I cannot fully recommend a visit unless you have a specific interest in French manufacturers as the collection is not particularly well restored or maintained. I would say that the cars are regularly dusted, but not much beyond that is done. The brochure states that the collection is changed from time to time to provide variety, but I would say that means the best cars are loaned to other museums whenever possible in order to gain some income. Several of the more interesting cars shown in the brochure were missing at the time of my visit. The collection is housed in a very large warehouse, which is fine, but while there are some interesting displays, many of the cars are stacked much too closely together for proper appreciation or photography. The museum is also rather pricey in relation to what is offered and no senior rate is available. My comments are from my visit in 2014; perhaps things have improved since then. In 2020 I’ve gone back and reworked all of our photos to take advantage of better software to improve the pictures and as a result have been able to increase the number of images displayed.
Museum of the 24 hours of Le Mans, Le Mans, France ★★★
Located at the Sarthe circuit in Le Mans, I found this museum to be disappointingly small and it seems to be made up primarily of cars on loan, so the collection will vary over time. While it does have some interesting displays, many of the cars on display at the time of my visit were touring cars rather than racing cars, which was also somewhat disappointing. There are some interesting race posters and historic photographs on display. I cannot highly recommended this museum as I’d anticipated more given the long and storied history of the race; still, interesting if you are in the area. Our visit was in 2010 and in 2020 I have reworked to photo images to improve them using better software.
Museo Historia Automocion de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain ★★★
Salamanca is a lovely old city in western Spain; truly a not to be missed city with spectacular architecture. While there, we came across an auto museum that was reallyly interesting, with a varied collection including some cars we haven’t seen elsewhere. The city itself is the reason for visiting Salamanca; it is really beautiful. While there, the auto museum is completely worthy of your time. Our visit was in 2011 and in 2020 I have reworked to photo images to improve them using newer software.
