What are the best/most famous/most amazing auto museums…IN THE WORLD?

"MegaSuper" (megasuper) 05/01/2015 at 09:27 • Filed to: None

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What are the greatest automotive-related museums/exhibits/collections that should be on any Oppo’s “must-see” list? In other words: If you were on a roadtrip and wanted to make sure you saw all kinds of auto-related sights, what would you make sure to see?

Stuff I can think of off the top of my head:

Corvette Museum in Bowling Green

BMW Museum in Munich

Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart

Porsche Museum in Stuttgart

Audi Forum in Ingolstadt

Ferrari Museum in Maranello

That one Toyota museum/exhibit in Japan where you can drive any model (yes, they even have videos on YouTube of people driving the Century…!)

What else is there? Any really wacky ones? Any private collections that are open the public (sounds funny, I know)? Are there any note-worthty ones in smaller automotive-manufacturing nations, such as Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, etc?

505Turbeaux > MegaSuper 05/01/2015 at 09:31

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For me, the Sclumpf auto museum in france is the pinnacle. http://citedelautomobile.com/en/home

The Bugatti collection alone...

WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe > MegaSuper 05/01/2015 at 09:34

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Not specifically automotive, but the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH has some pretty sweet cars owned by musicians. (ZZ Top’s Eliminator, a purple Lincoln coupe owned by Elvis, Roy Orbison’s C1 Corvette, etc)

Rainbow > MegaSuper 05/01/2015 at 09:35

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There’s the Petersen museum in LA, and the other big one in the southeast whose name is on the tip of my tongue...

EDIT: It’s not as exciting as those, but the Star Cars museum in Gatlinburg, TN has a bunch of original movie and TV cars. I think there might be a few recreations, but most of them do have screen time.

The Powershift in Steve's '12 Ford Focus killed it's TCM (under warranty!) > MegaSuper 05/01/2015 at 09:39

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No list of car museums is complete without mentioning the Henry Ford Museum. There’s more to it than cars, but they are a big part of it. I haven’t been there yet, but I will one day.

Also, the Porsche Museum was awesome. It’s a pity I didn’t have more time in Stuttgart, otherwise I would have visit Mercedes Benz as well.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > MegaSuper 05/01/2015 at 09:39

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http://www.canadianautomotivemuseum.com

I remember it as cool... but then I was pretty young when I went. I have no idea what I might think of it now.

Also the war museum in Ottawa has a fairly large collection of military vehicles. And Hitler's car.

Moves-Like-Senna > MegaSuper 05/01/2015 at 09:46

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Wow, I’ve done half that list already.

E. Julius > MegaSuper 05/01/2015 at 09:49

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Porsche, BMW, and Mercedes museums are awesome, although to be honest I’ve had more fun at museums that aren’t specific to one manufacturer. One commenter already mentioned the Henry Ford, which is incredible—definitely world class, not to mention all the non–automotive stuff they have.

I’m going to give an honorable mention to the Gilmore Museum in West Michigan as well. I don’t know if I’d call it best in the world, and certainly not most famous, but it’s in a beautiful location and their collection is pretty cool. Lots of awesome prewar/immediate postwar stuff, a Model T driving school, tons of open car shows. Great place to visit if you’re in the area.

E. Julius > 505Turbeaux 05/01/2015 at 10:04

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Methinks a day trip is in order…

Pitchblende > MegaSuper 05/01/2015 at 11:08

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Allan Marshall’s Humber Collection, a bit of an odd ball, most people probably don’t even know Humbers existed, but Allan (a potato merchant) has the world’s largest collection.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/a…

They all drive, he hires them out for weddings, and he’s not cagey about letting people sit in them. It’s pretty much the only place you can see the British car people considered better than a Rolls-Royce.

DocWalt > MegaSuper 05/01/2015 at 13:32

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The Simeone Museum in Philly is pretty darned nice.

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > MegaSuper 05/01/2015 at 18:57

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The Lane motor museum in Nashville is wonderful. Full of strange European cars, like Tatras. Torch wrote a few articles about it.

Barber museum in Birmingham, AL is fantastic if you like motorcycles. Seven stories of bikes spanning the entire history of them.