Car museums are no less than Mecca or Jerusalem for auto lovers. With an array of vintage and quirky automobiles on display, these car museums certainly give you a chance to understand the evolution of this industry over years as well as to witness some out-of-the-box ideas, which you may never have imagined. We list out 10 such amazing car museums for car lovers to treasure and to make visit as soon as possible.
LeMay Museum
The brainchild of Harold E. LeMay, this museum has over 3500 cars on display. Thanks to this huge inventory the museum holds a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. Located in Tacoma, Washington the museum houses some of the oldest cars in history including 1906 Cadillac, 1926 Model T and a 1930 Deusenberg Model J. The museum is not only home to classic but also some of the more common cars. Spread across four floors the museum houses a café as well as other dining and entertainment facilities. All you need to do is reach early to get the parking space and pay $14 to get the entry.
Cité de l’Automobile
Located in Mulhouse, France this museum has the largest collection of Bugatti automobiles in the world. The entrance to the museum displays a collection of car dummies hanging in the air. The museum boasts of over 520 vehicles arranges in a chronological order ranging from 1878 to current times. The exhibition of cars is divided into three eras i.e. Forerunners (1878-1918), Classics (1918-1938) and Moderns (1945-present).
Volkswagen Autostadt
Volkswagen Autostadt is located inWolfsburg, Germany and is visited by 2 million people every year.Autostadt, which stands for “Car City” has already been visited by more than 18million people. The architecture of the museum is a cumulative effort of more than 400 architects andhouses different pavilions for Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Seat, Skoda and Volkswagen. Two additional pavilions give you insight into production and development of cars. The most stunning part of the structure though is a pair of parking towers made of glass and galvanized steel. Each tower is 60 meters tall and can house 400 cars at a time. When purchased the car is car is picked from the silo and is presented to the buyer with the odometer still showing “0”.
Toyota Mega Web
Located inTokyo this theme park consists of three pavilions where you can see, ride and feel your favorite autos. So you cannot only admire the design and style of 140 odd cars in this museum but can rather open the door and try them out on the test course. While the history garage displays historic cars by Toyota as well as other manufacturers, the Toyota City Showcase puts up on display the latest Toyota models, which you can also test drive. You just need to spend 300 Yen to lay your hands on one of these cars.
Galleria Ferrari
Galleria Ferrari is located in Maranello, Italy and is a must visit place for any Ferrari fan. The Galleria houses some of the most modern as well vintage Ferrari models, which include 1947 125 S, which won the first Rome Grand Prix as well as the Ferrari Superamerica.The latest addition to the museum is the “From Cinecittà to Hollywood, all Ferraris in the cinema,” section, where you can see Steve McQueen owned 275 GTB4, Mondial T Cabrio riven by Al Pacino in “The Scent of a Woman” and 330 LM used in Federico Fellini’s “Spirits of the Dead.”
Petersen Automotive Museum
Housed in Los Angeles, Petersen Automotive Museum is world’s one of the largest automotive museums. With its secret underground vault opening to the public this year, the museum has now roughly 250 cars on display spread across an area of 300,000 square feet. The museum was founded in 1994 by Robert Petersen, who also published Hot Rod and Motor Trend magazines. The museum hosts a variety of classic cars, racing cars, movie cars, celebrity cars as well as motorcycles.
Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile
The automobile museum in Turin, Italy has about 200 automobiles on display belonging to 80 different automobile brands. With an exhibition area of around19,000 square metres the museum owns a 1893 Benz Victoria, 1894 Peugeot, 1896 Bernardi, 1899 Fiat and more of such precious vintages cars from different brands will take you back to the beginning of this industry. All you need to do is shell out 8 euros to get the glimpse into history.
The Museo Lamborghini
Museo Lamborghini is house to the oldest Lamborghini’s including one of the very first Lamborghini’s designed by Ferruccio Lamborghini in 1964, 350 GT, 400 GT as well as Miura S. Some of the other landmark Lamborghini’s includes Countach, the first car to break 300 km/h limit as well as LM 002, an off-road Lamborghini designed for military purposes.