Musée National de l'Automobile de Mulhouse
Encyclopedia
Cité de l’Automobile, Musée national de l’automobile, Collection Schlumpf is located in Mulhouse
, France
and houses the Schlumpf Collection of classic automobiles. It contains the largest and most comprehensive collection of Bugatti
motor vehicles in the world.
and Fritz Schlumpf
were Swiss
citizens born in Italy
, but after their mother Jeanne was widowed, she moved the family to her home town of Mulhouse
in Alsace
, France
. The two brothers, who were later described as having a "Schlumpf obsession", were devoted to their mother.
In 1935 the Schlumpf brothers founded a limited company
which focused on producing spun wool
len products. By 1940, at the time of the Nazi invasion of France, 34 year old Fritz was the chairman of a spinning mill in Malmerspach
. After World War II
, the two brothers devoted their time to obsessively growing their business, and became quite wealthy.
Fritz loved cars, driven by an abiding love for beautiful automotive engineering. Having wanted a Bugatti since childhood, he bought a Bugatti Type 35B just before the Nazi invasion of France.
After the war he began racing classic cars, but was requested by the textile union to "abstain from this competition which could endanger your life and deprive us of our esteemed director." Schlumpf had been generous to his workers, providing employee trips, installing an employee theater and driving expectant mothers to the hospital in his own car. This was in great contrast to brother Hans, a former banker, who paid the mill workers poorly, dock fifteen minutes off their pay if they were late or signed out a minute or two early, and did not pay bonuses or increments.
With post-war modern 1950's car designs coming on stream, people wanted to exchange their classic 1920's through 1930's cars in for new models. Fritz and Hans began collecting in earnest in the early 1950s, developing a reputation in the trade for only buying the most desirable models. Assisted by Mr. Raffaelli, a Renault
dealer from Marseilles and the owner of several Bugattis, they built a Bugatti collection obsessively and quickly:
While an enormous variety of marques are represented in the collection, it is now clear that the primary focus of the Schlumpf brothers was Bugatti
. Fritz sent a form letter to all Bugatti owners on the club register, offering to buy all of their cars. In 1962 he bought nearly 50 Bugattis. In the spring of 1963, he acquired 18 of Ettore Bugatti's personal cars, including the Bugatti Royale
Coupé Napoléon. In 1963 American collector John Shakespeare
of Centralia, Illinois
, (oil
developer, and heir of the Shakespeare
fishing reel
fortune), offered his collection of 30 Bugattis (then the largest collection in the United States), and Fritz bought all of them. They were shipped from storage in Hoffman, Illinois
by the Southern Railroad to New Orleans, and then by freighter to Le Havre
, making highly publicised national headlines in the United States. By 1967 an inventory showed 105 Bugattis in the brothers Schlumpf collection.
A team of up to 40 carpenters, saddlers, and master mechanics were assembled to carry out the restoration work; who under a confidentiality agreement kept their work and the scale of the collection a secret - a singlemindedness often referred to as "The Schlumpf Obsession." Many, including irate members of Bugatti clubs around the world, knew of the collection; although the eventual scale of the enterprise became a surprise to almost everybody.
Fritz visited Mulhouse daily, choosing the colors and type of restoration each car would receive. The workers tore down the mill's interior walls and laid a red tile walkway with gravel floors for the cars to rest upon. The brothers Schlumpf remained very secretive about their car collection, only rarely showing it to a few favored guests and visitors.
, by 1976 the Schlumpf brothers began selling their factories. In October the Malmerspach plant laid off employees, and a strike
broke out, with 400 police holding back the workers from ransacking the Mulhouse plant. After a stand-off, on March 7, 1977, textile-union activists staged a sit-in strike at Schlumpf offices, and broke into the Mulhouse "factory" to find the astounding collection of cars. An unrestored Austin 7
was burned and the workers' union representative remarked "There are 600 more where this one came from."
The Schlumpfs fled to their native Switzerland
, and spent the rest of their days as permanent residents of the Drei Koenige Hotel in Basel
. But with wages and tax evasion accusations outstanding, the factory was occupied the next two years by the textile-union and renamed "Workers’ Factory." To recoup some lost wages, the union opened the museum to the public, with some 800,000 people viewing the collection in two years.
As the scale of the brothers Schlumpf debt
rose, various creditors, including the French government and unions, eyed the car collection toward recovering their losses. To save the destruction, break-up or export of the collection, in 1978 the contents were classified as a French Historic Monument by Council of State. In 1979, a bankruptcy
liquidator
ordered the building closed.
In 1981 the collection, buildings and residual land were sold to the National Automobile Museum Association (NAMAoM), a state sanctioned public/private conglomerate that includes: the City of Mulhouse, the Regional Board of the Alsace Region, the organizers of the Paris Auto Show and the Automobile Club de France.
The NAMAoM placed daily management of the museum in the hands of an operating company, the National Automobile Museum of Mulhouse Management Association, which opened the museum to the public in 1982. However, lacking the enthusiasm of the Schlumpfs or the financial drive of the union, the collection gradually fell into decline.
In 1999 NAMAoM contracted Culturespaces to take over and modernise the museum and its operations. Culturespaces renovated the museum, including creating large scale public spaces for other cultural events, while conserving the well-known main hall with its Pont Alexandre III
lamp posts. Widening the relevance of the museum to a younger audience by being given control of the French national automobile collection, the museum reopened in March 2000 as the largest automobile museum in the world.
indemnity to Schlumpf's widow Madame Arlette Schlumpf-Naas in Switzerland. The court also instructed return of the ownership of the 62 cars in the so called "Malmerspach collection" (the reserve stock), including 17 Bugattis - 8 from the collection of John Shakespeare.
Having moved the cars to a shed in Wettolsheim
, Madame Schlumpf-Naas drew up a commercial agreement with businessmen Jaap Braam Ruben and Bruno Vendiesse, which meant that she sold the cars to them, but that they would remain in the storage shed until after her death. After Madame Schlumpf-Naas died on 16 May 2008 at the age of 78, many of the cars were sold to the Peter Mullin collection, to be displayed at the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, California
(formerly housing the Chandler Vintage Museum of Transportation and Wildlife
).
The collection includes over 520 vehicles, with 400 displayed in three main sections in chronological order:
The museum houses three Type 41 "Royale"s: two of the original six Royales plus a replica of the Esder Royale created at the Schlumpf brothers' workshops from genuine Bugatti spare parts.
Few of the cars on display are presently in running order, although the old Schlumpf restoration shop, abandoned after they fled in 1977, is presently being revived to begin working again on the museum's cars.
At the entrance, visitors are given free of charge an audioguide in their chosen language. The tour has been enhanced by new sections, films, driving simulators, robots and attractions such as sound programmes.
, 8 Alfa Romeo
, 4 Amilcar
, 2 Arzens
, 1 Aster, 1 Aston Martin
, 1 Audi
, 1 Austro-Daimler
, 3 Ballot
, 1 Bardon
, 1 Barraco, 2 Barre
, 1 Baudier, 4 Bentley
, 8 Benz, 1 B.N.C, 1 Bollée
, 1 Brasier
, 123 Bugatti
, 1 Charron LTD, 1 Chrysler
, 1 Cisitalia
, 10 Citroën
, 1 Clément de Dion 2 Clément-Bayard
, 1 Clément-Panhard 1 Corre-La Licorne, 6 Daimler, 4 Darracq
, 1 Decauville
, 1 De Dietrich
, 29 De Dion-Bouton
, 3 Delage
, 4 Delahaye
, 2 Delaunay-Belleville
, 1 Dufaux
, 1 Ensais, 1 Esculape
, 2 Farman
, 13 Ferrari
, 4 Fiat
, 3 Ford, 1 Fouillaron, 3 Georges Richard
, 1 Gladiator
, 11 Gordini
, 7 Hispano Suiza, 3 Horch
, 2 Horlacher, 1 Hotchkiss et Cie
, 2 Hotchkiss-Gregoire, Jaquot (Dampfwagen), 3 Le Zèbre
, 1 Lorraine-Dietrich
, 4 Lotus
, 1 M.A.F., 1 MacLaren-Peugeot, 8 Maserati
, 2 Mathis, 1 Maurer-Union, 7 Maybach
, 1 Menier
, 9 Mercedes
, 22 Mercedes-Benz
, 2 Minerva, 2 Monet-Goyon
, 2 Mors
, 1 Moto-Peugeot, 2 Neracar, 1 O.M.
, 19 Panhard & Levassor, 1 Pegaso
, 29 Peugeot
, 1 Philos, 1 Piccard-Pictet
, 3 Piccolo
, 2 Pilain, 6 Porsche
, 1 Ravel, 18 Renault
, 1 Rheda
, 1 Richard-Brasier
, 1 Ripert, 1 Rochet-Schneider
, 14 Rolls Royce
, 1 Sage, 1 Salmson
, 1 Scott
, 1 Sénéchal, 5 Serpollet, 3 Simca-Gordini, 1 Sizaire-Naudin
, 1 Soncin
, 1 Standard-Swallow, 1 Steyr
, 2 Talbot
, 1 Tatra, 1 Toyota, 1 Trabant
, 1 Turicum
, 1 Vaillante
, 7 Vélo, 1 Vélo-Goldschmitt, 1 Vélo-Peugeot, 1 Vermotel,1 Violet-Bogey, 3 Voisin
, 1 Volkswagen
, 2 Zedel
Mulhouse
Mulhouse |mill]] hamlet) is a city and commune in eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. With a population of 110,514 and 278,206 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2006, it is the largest city in the Haut-Rhin département, and the second largest in the Alsace region after...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and houses the Schlumpf Collection of classic automobiles. It contains the largest and most comprehensive collection of Bugatti
Bugatti
Automobiles E. Bugatti was a French car manufacturer founded in 1909 in Molsheim, Alsace, as a manufacturer of high-performance automobiles by Italian-born Ettore Bugatti....
motor vehicles in the world.
History
Brothers HansHans Schlumpf
Giovanni "Hans" Schlumpf was an industrialist and collector of automobiles. He is best known for the Schlumpf collection housed at the Musée National de l'Automobile de Mulhouse....
and Fritz Schlumpf
Fritz Schlumpf
Federico "Fritz" Schlumpf was a French Industrialist of Swiss origins and collector of automobiles. He is best known for the Schlumpf collection housed at the Musée National de l'Automobile de Mulhouse....
were Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
citizens born in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, but after their mother Jeanne was widowed, she moved the family to her home town of Mulhouse
Mulhouse
Mulhouse |mill]] hamlet) is a city and commune in eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. With a population of 110,514 and 278,206 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2006, it is the largest city in the Haut-Rhin département, and the second largest in the Alsace region after...
in Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The two brothers, who were later described as having a "Schlumpf obsession", were devoted to their mother.
In 1935 the Schlumpf brothers founded a limited company
Limited company
A limited company is a company in which the liability of the members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by shares or by guarantee. And the former of these, a limited company limited by shares, may be...
which focused on producing spun wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
len products. By 1940, at the time of the Nazi invasion of France, 34 year old Fritz was the chairman of a spinning mill in Malmerspach
Malmerspach
Malmerspach is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the two brothers devoted their time to obsessively growing their business, and became quite wealthy.
Obsessive secrecy
After the war he began racing classic cars, but was requested by the textile union to "abstain from this competition which could endanger your life and deprive us of our esteemed director." Schlumpf had been generous to his workers, providing employee trips, installing an employee theater and driving expectant mothers to the hospital in his own car. This was in great contrast to brother Hans, a former banker, who paid the mill workers poorly, dock fifteen minutes off their pay if they were late or signed out a minute or two early, and did not pay bonuses or increments.
With post-war modern 1950's car designs coming on stream, people wanted to exchange their classic 1920's through 1930's cars in for new models. Fritz and Hans began collecting in earnest in the early 1950s, developing a reputation in the trade for only buying the most desirable models. Assisted by Mr. Raffaelli, a Renault
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...
dealer from Marseilles and the owner of several Bugattis, they built a Bugatti collection obsessively and quickly:
- During the summer of 1960, they acquired ten Bugattis, including two Type 57s and one Type 46 5-liter model. In addition the pair found three Rolls-Royces, two Hispano Suizas and one Tatra. By the end of the summer, they had purchased a total of 40 cars
- Gordini sold them ten old racing cars in one sale
- Ferrari sold a racing single seater
- Mercedes-Benz sold spare cars from its collection
- Racing driver Jo SiffertJo SiffertJoseph Siffert was a Swiss racing driver.Affectionately known as "Seppi" to his family and close friends, Siffert was born in Fribourg, Switzerland, the son of a dairy owner...
sold three Lotus racing cars
While an enormous variety of marques are represented in the collection, it is now clear that the primary focus of the Schlumpf brothers was Bugatti
Bugatti
Automobiles E. Bugatti was a French car manufacturer founded in 1909 in Molsheim, Alsace, as a manufacturer of high-performance automobiles by Italian-born Ettore Bugatti....
. Fritz sent a form letter to all Bugatti owners on the club register, offering to buy all of their cars. In 1962 he bought nearly 50 Bugattis. In the spring of 1963, he acquired 18 of Ettore Bugatti's personal cars, including the Bugatti Royale
Bugatti Royale
The Bugatti Type 41, better known as the Royale, was a large luxury car with a 4.3 m wheelbase and 6.4 m overall length. It weighed approximately 3175 kg and used a 12.7 L straight-8 engine...
Coupé Napoléon. In 1963 American collector John Shakespeare
Shakespeare Fishing Tackle
The Shakespeare Company is a subsidiary of Jarden which manufactures fishing equipment. It was founded by William Shakespeare, Jr. in 1897. In June of 2005, approximately 438,000 of their children's fishing kits were recalled after being found to contain lead paint....
of Centralia, Illinois
Centralia, Illinois
Centralia is a town located in Marion, Washington, Clinton, and Jefferson Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 13,032 at the 2010 census. The town was founded because it was the point where the two original branches of the Illinois Central Railroad, built in 1853, converged....
, (oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
developer, and heir of the Shakespeare
Shakespeare Fishing Tackle
The Shakespeare Company is a subsidiary of Jarden which manufactures fishing equipment. It was founded by William Shakespeare, Jr. in 1897. In June of 2005, approximately 438,000 of their children's fishing kits were recalled after being found to contain lead paint....
fishing reel
Fishing reel
A fishing reel is a "cylindrical device attached to a fishing rod used in winding the line". Modern fishing reels usually have fittings which make it easier to retrieve the line and deploy it for better accuracy or distance. Fishing reels are traditionally used in the recreational sport of angling...
fortune), offered his collection of 30 Bugattis (then the largest collection in the United States), and Fritz bought all of them. They were shipped from storage in Hoffman, Illinois
Hoffman, Illinois
Hoffman is a village in Clinton County, Illinois, United States. The population was 460 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Hoffman is located at ....
by the Southern Railroad to New Orleans, and then by freighter to Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
, making highly publicised national headlines in the United States. By 1967 an inventory showed 105 Bugattis in the brothers Schlumpf collection.
Mulhouse
Over the years nearly 400 items (vehicles, chassis and engines) were acquired, and from 1964 as the woollen industry started to downturn, a wing of the former 200000 sq ft (18,580.6 m²) Mulhouse spinning mill was chosen to quietly group, restore and house the collection.A team of up to 40 carpenters, saddlers, and master mechanics were assembled to carry out the restoration work; who under a confidentiality agreement kept their work and the scale of the collection a secret - a singlemindedness often referred to as "The Schlumpf Obsession." Many, including irate members of Bugatti clubs around the world, knew of the collection; although the eventual scale of the enterprise became a surprise to almost everybody.
Fritz visited Mulhouse daily, choosing the colors and type of restoration each car would receive. The workers tore down the mill's interior walls and laid a red tile walkway with gravel floors for the cars to rest upon. The brothers Schlumpf remained very secretive about their car collection, only rarely showing it to a few favored guests and visitors.
The Schlumpf affair
In light of the unrelenting global shift of textile manufacturing to AsiaAsia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, by 1976 the Schlumpf brothers began selling their factories. In October the Malmerspach plant laid off employees, and a strike
Industrial action
Industrial action or job action refers collectively to any measure taken by trade unions or other organised labour meant to reduce productivity in a workplace. Quite often it is used and interpreted as a euphemism for strike, but the scope is much wider...
broke out, with 400 police holding back the workers from ransacking the Mulhouse plant. After a stand-off, on March 7, 1977, textile-union activists staged a sit-in strike at Schlumpf offices, and broke into the Mulhouse "factory" to find the astounding collection of cars. An unrestored Austin 7
Austin 7
The Austin 7 was a car produced from 1922 through to 1939 in the United Kingdom by the Austin Motor Company. Nicknamed the "Baby Austin", it was one of the most popular cars ever produced for the British market, and sold well abroad...
was burned and the workers' union representative remarked "There are 600 more where this one came from."
The Schlumpfs fled to their native Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and spent the rest of their days as permanent residents of the Drei Koenige Hotel in Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
. But with wages and tax evasion accusations outstanding, the factory was occupied the next two years by the textile-union and renamed "Workers’ Factory." To recoup some lost wages, the union opened the museum to the public, with some 800,000 people viewing the collection in two years.
As the scale of the brothers Schlumpf debt
Debt
A debt is an obligation owed by one party to a second party, the creditor; usually this refers to assets granted by the creditor to the debtor, but the term can also be used metaphorically to cover moral obligations and other interactions not based on economic value.A debt is created when a...
rose, various creditors, including the French government and unions, eyed the car collection toward recovering their losses. To save the destruction, break-up or export of the collection, in 1978 the contents were classified as a French Historic Monument by Council of State. In 1979, a bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
liquidator
Liquidator
Liquidator may refer to:* Person assigned to oversee sale of assets:** Liquidator , for a company** Estate liquidator, for an estate or contents of a home* Liquidator , disaster-remediation worker...
ordered the building closed.
National Automobile Museum Association
The NAMAoM placed daily management of the museum in the hands of an operating company, the National Automobile Museum of Mulhouse Management Association, which opened the museum to the public in 1982. However, lacking the enthusiasm of the Schlumpfs or the financial drive of the union, the collection gradually fell into decline.
In 1999 NAMAoM contracted Culturespaces to take over and modernise the museum and its operations. Culturespaces renovated the museum, including creating large scale public spaces for other cultural events, while conserving the well-known main hall with its Pont Alexandre III
Pont Alexandre III
The Pont Alexandre III is an arch bridge that spans the Seine, connecting the Champs-Élysées quarter and the Invalides and Eiffel Tower quarter, widely regarded as the most ornate, extravagant bridge in Paris...
lamp posts. Widening the relevance of the museum to a younger audience by being given control of the French national automobile collection, the museum reopened in March 2000 as the largest automobile museum in the world.
Malmerspach collection
In 1981, Fritz Schlumpf filed a lawsuit from Switzerland claiming he was entitled to a portion of the proceeds of the sale to NAMAoM. He died in 1992, but in 1999 a French court found in his favor, and directed that the French Government pay the balance of a 40 million francFranc
The franc is the name of several currency units, most notably the Swiss franc, still a major world currency today due to the prominence of Swiss financial institutions and the former currency of France, the French franc until the Euro was adopted in 1999...
indemnity to Schlumpf's widow Madame Arlette Schlumpf-Naas in Switzerland. The court also instructed return of the ownership of the 62 cars in the so called "Malmerspach collection" (the reserve stock), including 17 Bugattis - 8 from the collection of John Shakespeare.
Having moved the cars to a shed in Wettolsheim
Wettolsheim
Wettolsheim is a communes in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It is situated at the eastern margin of the southern Vosges Mountains...
, Madame Schlumpf-Naas drew up a commercial agreement with businessmen Jaap Braam Ruben and Bruno Vendiesse, which meant that she sold the cars to them, but that they would remain in the storage shed until after her death. After Madame Schlumpf-Naas died on 16 May 2008 at the age of 78, many of the cars were sold to the Peter Mullin collection, to be displayed at the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, California
Oxnard, California
Oxnard is the 113th largest city in the United States, 19th largest city in California and largest city in Ventura County, California, by way of population. It is located at the western edge of the fertile Oxnard Plain, and is an important agricultural center, with its distinction as the...
(formerly housing the Chandler Vintage Museum of Transportation and Wildlife
Chandler Vintage Museum of Transportation and Wildlife
The Chandler Vintage Museum of Transportation and Wildlife, more commonly referred to as The Vintage Museum or The Chandler Museum was the primary showcase for the collections of Otis Chandler since its foundation in 1987...
).
The museum today
The museum is now listed as a National Heritage site by the French Government. The museum is still dedicated to the Schlumpf brothers' mother Jeanne Schlumpf; there is a large shrine to her at the entrance to the museum.The collection includes over 520 vehicles, with 400 displayed in three main sections in chronological order:
- The Motorcar Experience
- Motor Racing - including a grid of Type 35 Bugattis, plus Maserati 250Fs, Mercedes-Benz W125 and W154 pre-war Grand Prix cars and a hoard of light blue Gordinis
- Motorcar Masterpieces
The museum houses three Type 41 "Royale"s: two of the original six Royales plus a replica of the Esder Royale created at the Schlumpf brothers' workshops from genuine Bugatti spare parts.
Few of the cars on display are presently in running order, although the old Schlumpf restoration shop, abandoned after they fled in 1977, is presently being revived to begin working again on the museum's cars.
At the entrance, visitors are given free of charge an audioguide in their chosen language. The tour has been enhanced by new sections, films, driving simulators, robots and attractions such as sound programmes.
The collection
1 ABC (British)ABC (1920 automobile)
The ABC was an English car manufactured between 1920 and 1929 by ABC Motors.It was a light car , powered by a 1203 cc flat-twin, air-cooled engine designed by Granville Bradshaw...
, 8 Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of cars. Founded as A.L.F.A. on June 24, 1910, in Milan, the company has been involved in car racing since 1911, and has a reputation for building expensive sports cars...
, 4 Amilcar
Amilcar
The Amilcar was a French automobile manufactured from 1921 to 1940.The first offering was a small cyclecar; designed by Jules Salomon and Edmond Moyet, it bore a striking resemblance to the pre-war Le Zèbre. Next was the 903cc CC, which was available in two further versions; the CS was a sport...
, 2 Arzens
Paul Arzens
Paul Arzens was a French industrial designer of railway locomotives and motor cars.Arzens was born in Paris, at an address along the Boulevard des Batignolles on the northern side of the city...
, 1 Aster, 1 Aston Martin
Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire. The company name is derived from the name of one of the company's founders, Lionel Martin, and from the Aston Hill speed hillclimb near Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire...
, 1 Audi
Audi
Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group....
, 1 Austro-Daimler
Austro-Daimler
Austro-Daimler was an Austrian automaker company, from 1899 until 1934. It was subsidiary of the German Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft .-Early history:...
, 3 Ballot
Ballot
A ballot is a device used to record choices made by voters. Each voter uses one ballot, and ballots are not shared. In the simplest elections, a ballot may be a simple scrap of paper on which each voter writes in the name of a candidate, but governmental elections use pre-printed to protect the...
, 1 Bardon
Bardon
Bardon is a civil parish and former village in North West Leicestershire about southeast of the centre of Coalville. The parish includes Bardon Hill, which at above sea level is the highest point in Leicestershire.-History:...
, 1 Barraco, 2 Barre
Barre
-People:* Abdulrahman Jama Barre, Somali Foreign Minister* Barre Phillips , jazz and free improvisation bassist* Erika Michelle Barré , Canadian model* Isaac Barré , British soldier and politician...
, 1 Baudier, 4 Bentley
Bentley
Bentley Motors Limited is a British manufacturer of automobiles founded on 18 January 1919 by Walter Owen Bentley known as W.O. Bentley or just "W O". Bentley had been previously known for his range of rotary aero-engines in World War I, the most famous being the Bentley BR1 as used in later...
, 8 Benz, 1 B.N.C, 1 Bollée
Léon Bollée
Léon Bollée was a French automobile manufacturer and inventor.-Life:Bollée's family were well known bellfounders and his father, Amédée Bollée , was the major pioneer in the automobile industry who produced several steam cars...
, 1 Brasier
Brasier
Brasier was the successor of the early French Richard-Brasier automobile maker that had been in business since 1902. The name of the make was simplified to Brasier when Georges Richard left in 1905 to found Unic. Before World War I, several twin, four and six-cylinder models were offered...
, 123 Bugatti
Bugatti
Automobiles E. Bugatti was a French car manufacturer founded in 1909 in Molsheim, Alsace, as a manufacturer of high-performance automobiles by Italian-born Ettore Bugatti....
, 1 Charron LTD, 1 Chrysler
Chrysler
Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
, 1 Cisitalia
Cisitalia
Cisitalia was an Italian sports and racing car constructor. The name "Cisitalia" derives from "Compagnia Industriale Sportive Italia", a business conglomerate founded in Turin in 1946 and controlled by the wealthy industrialist and sportsman Piero Dusio...
, 10 Citroën
Citroën
Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...
, 1 Clément de Dion 2 Clément-Bayard
Clément-Bayard
Clément-Bayard was a French manufacturer of automobiles, aeroplanes and airships founded in 1903 by the entrepreneur Adolphe Clément-Bayard . The name celebrated the Chevalier Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard who saved the town of Mézières in 1521...
, 1 Clément-Panhard 1 Corre-La Licorne, 6 Daimler, 4 Darracq
Darracq
Automobiles Darracq S.A. was a French motor vehicle manufacturing company founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq.Using part of the substantial profit he had made from selling his Gladiator bicycle factory, Alexandre Darracq began operating from a plant in the Parisian suburb of Suresnes...
, 1 Decauville
Decauville
The Decauville manufacturing company was founded by Paul Decauville , a French pioneer in industrial railways. Decauville's major innovation was the use of ready-made sections of light, narrow gauge track fastened to steel sleepers; this track was portable and could be disassembled and transported...
, 1 De Dietrich
De Dietrich
De Dietrich is a holding company based in France which traces its history back to the early 17th century. It was active in the automobile, railway and industrial machines industry. It sold it holding stake in De Dietrich Ferroviaire to Alstom in 1990...
, 29 De Dion-Bouton
De Dion-Bouton
De Dion-Bouton was a French automobile manufacturer and railcar manufacturer operating from 1883 to 1932. The company was founded by the Marquis Jules-Albert de Dion, Georges Bouton and his brother-in-law Charles Trépardoux....
, 3 Delage
Delage
Delage was a French luxury automobile and racecar company founded in 1905 by Louis Delage in Levallois-Perret near Paris; it was acquired by Delahaye in 1935 and ceased operation in 1953.-History:...
, 4 Delahaye
Delahaye
Delahaye automobile manufacturing company was started by Emile Delahaye in 1894, in Tours, France. His first cars were belt-driven, with single- or twin-cylinder engines. In 1900, Delahaye left the company.-History:...
, 2 Delaunay-Belleville
Delaunay-Belleville
Automobiles Delaunay-Belleville was a French luxury automobile manufacturer from Saint-Denis, France, north of Paris. At the beginning of the 20th century they were among the most prestigious cars produced in the world, and perhaps the most desirable French marque.Julien Belleville had been a maker...
, 1 Dufaux
Dufaux
Dufaux may refer to:*Armand Dufaux , Swiss aviation pioneer*Dufaux automobile, Swiss race car manufacturer, 1904 - 1907.*Henri Dufaux , aviation pioneer, brother of Armand*Laurent Dufaux Dufaux may refer to:*Armand Dufaux (1883-1941), Swiss aviation pioneer*Dufaux automobile, Swiss race car...
, 1 Ensais, 1 Esculape
Esculape
The Esculape was a French automobile manufactured only in 1899. Advertised as being "worked by an improved De Dion-Bouton motor, strengthened by a water current", it was said by its Paris-based makers, the Automobile Union, to be "fast, silent, and vibrationless".- References :*David Burgess Wise,...
, 2 Farman
Farman
Farman Aviation Works was an aeronautic enterprise founded and run by the brothers; Richard, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 1936; during the French nationalization and rationalization of its aerospace industry, Farman's assets were...
, 13 Ferrari
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
, 4 Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
, 3 Ford, 1 Fouillaron, 3 Georges Richard
Georges Richard
Georges Richard was a French automobile that was manufactured from 1897 to 1902. Originally copying Benz cars of the era, Richard bought a licence, in 1900, from the Belgian Vivinus to build voiturettes. The designer Brasier joined the firm in 1902 and the marque became Richard-Brasier. Georges...
, 1 Gladiator
Gladiator Cycle Company
The Gladiator Cycle Company was a French manufacturer of bicycles, motorcycles and cars based in Le Pré-Saint-Gervais, Seine.Throughout its productive life from 1891 until its demise in 1920 the company was variously owned by the founders Alexandre Darracq and Paul Aucoq; from 1896 by Adolphe...
, 11 Gordini
Gordini
Gordini is a French sports car manufacturer. The firm was founded by Amédée Gordini nicknamed "Le Sorcier" .Gordini competed in Formula One from 1950 to 1956....
, 7 Hispano Suiza, 3 Horch
Horch
Horch was a car brand manufactured in Germany by August Horch & Cie, at the beginning of the 20th century.-History at a Glance:The company was established first by August Horch and his first business partner Salli Herz on November 14, 1899 at Ehrenfeld, Cologne. August Horch was a former production...
, 2 Horlacher, 1 Hotchkiss et Cie
Hotchkiss et Cie
Société Anonyme des Anciens Etablissements Hotchkiss et Cie was a French arms and car company established by United States engineer Benjamin B. Hotchkiss, who was born in Watertown, Connecticut. He moved to France and set up a factory, first at Viviez near Rodez in 1867, then at Saint-Denis near...
, 2 Hotchkiss-Gregoire, Jaquot (Dampfwagen), 3 Le Zèbre
Le Zèbre
Le Zèbre is a French make of car built between 1909 and 1931 in Puteaux, Seine. The company was founded by Jules Salomon who had been with Georges Richard with finance from Jacques Bizet, son of Georges Bizet the composer....
, 1 Lorraine-Dietrich
Lorraine-Dietrich
Lorraine-Dietrich was a French automobile and aircraft engine manufacturer from 1896 until 1935, created when railway locomotive manufacturer Société Lorraine des Anciens Etablissments de Dietrich and Cie branched into the manufacture of automobiles...
, 4 Lotus
Lotus Cars
Lotus Cars is a British manufacturer of sports and racing cars based at the former site of RAF Hethel, a World War II airfield in Norfolk. The company designs and builds race and production automobiles of light weight and fine handling characteristics...
, 1 M.A.F., 1 MacLaren-Peugeot, 8 Maserati
Maserati
Maserati is an Italian luxury car manufacturer established on December 1, 1914, in Bologna. The company's headquarters is now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. It has been owned by the Italian car giant Fiat S.p.A. since 1993...
, 2 Mathis, 1 Maurer-Union, 7 Maybach
Maybach
Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH is a German luxury car manufacturer. It was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach and his son. The company was originally a subsidiary of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH and was itself known as Luftfahrzeug-Motorenbau GmbH until 1912.Today, the ultra-luxury car brand is owned by...
, 1 Menier
Menier
Menier may refer to:Places:*Port-Menier, Quebec, a small fishing town located in Anticosti Island, Quebec, Canada*Port-Menier Airport, , located 2.7 NM east of Port-Menier, Quebec, Canada...
, 9 Mercedes
Mercedes (car)
Mercedes was a brand of the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft . DMG which began to develop in 1900, after the death of its co-founder, Gottlieb Daimler...
, 22 Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
, 2 Minerva, 2 Monet-Goyon
Monet-Goyon
Monet-Goyon was a French motorcycle manufacturer, founded in 1917 by the engineer Joseph Monet and his financial backer Adrien Goyon in Mâcon, France.-Further reading:...
, 2 Mors
Mors (automobile)
The Mors automobile factory was an early French car manufacturer. It was one of the first to take part in automobile racing, beginning in 1897, due to the belief of the company founder, Émile Mors, in racing's technical and promotional benefits...
, 1 Moto-Peugeot, 2 Neracar, 1 O.M.
Officine Meccaniche
Officine Meccaniche or OM was an Italian car and truck manufacturing company, founded in 1899 in Milan as Societa Anonima Officine Meccaniche...
, 19 Panhard & Levassor, 1 Pegaso
Pegaso
Pegaso was a Spanish make of trucks, omnibuses, tractors, armored vehicles, and, for a while, sports cars. The parent company, Enasa, was created in 1946 and based in the old Hispano-Suiza factory, under the direction of the renowned automotive engineer Wifredo Ricart...
, 29 Peugeot
Peugeot
Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...
, 1 Philos, 1 Piccard-Pictet
Pic-Pic
Pic-Pic was a Swiss automobile manufactured in Geneva from 1906 to 1924. They were produced by the Piccard-Pictet Company until 1920, and by Gnome et Rhône from 1920 until the demise of the marque in 1924.-History:...
, 3 Piccolo
Piccolo
The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
, 2 Pilain, 6 Porsche
Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....
, 1 Ravel, 18 Renault
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...
, 1 Rheda
Rheda
Rheda may refer to:* Hreða, an obscure Anglo-Saxon goddess*Rheda, Germany, a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany* Reda, Poland, a town in Pomeranian Voivodeship, PolandSee also* Reda...
, 1 Richard-Brasier
Richard-Brasier
Richard-Brasier was the successor of the early French automobile maker Georges Richard from 1902. The firm made large chain-driven cars.Léon Théry drove the cars to victory in the Gordon Bennett Cup races in 1904 and 1905...
, 1 Ripert, 1 Rochet-Schneider
Rochet-Schneider
Rochet-Schneider was a French company that produced automobiles during the early 20th century. The Rochet-Schneider sales slogan was "strength, simplicity and silence"....
, 14 Rolls Royce
Rolls-Royce (car)
This a list of Rolls-Royce motor cars and includes vehicles produced by:*Rolls-Royce Limited *Rolls-Royce Motors , which was owned by Vickers between 1980 and 1998, and after that by Volkswagen...
, 1 Sage, 1 Salmson
Salmson
Salmson was a French engineering company, initially in the automobile and aeroplane manufacturing area,turning to pump manufacturing in the 1960s.-History:...
, 1 Scott
Scott
- Companies :* H. H. Scott, Inc., vintage tube hi-fi company* SCOTT Sports, a producer of bicycles and sportswear* The Scott Motorcycle Company* The Scott Paper Company, brand of paper towels and toilet paper owned by the Kimberly-Clark Corporation...
, 1 Sénéchal, 5 Serpollet, 3 Simca-Gordini, 1 Sizaire-Naudin
Sizaire-Naudin
Sizaire Frères et Naudin was a French automobile manufacturer based in Paris between 1905 and 1921.Sizaire-Naudin was founded by Maurice and Georges Sizaire and Louis Naudin in around 1900. The company was registered in 1903...
, 1 Soncin
Soncin
Soncin was a French automobile constructed by Louis Soncin and manufactured between 1900 and 1902. A two-seat 4½ hp voiturette, it was the forerunner of the Grégoire. A Soncin raced by Henri François Béconnais set the 1 km speed record on September 21, 1899 at Achères, and the speed record of ...
, 1 Standard-Swallow, 1 Steyr
Steyr
Steyr is a town, located in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria. The town is situated at the confluence of the rivers Steyr and Enns. Steyr is Austria's 12th most populated town and simultaneously the 3rd largest town in Upper Austria....
, 2 Talbot
Talbot
Talbot was an automobile marque that existed from 1903 to 1986, with a hiatus from 1960 to 1978, under a number of different owners, latterly under Peugeot...
, 1 Tatra, 1 Toyota, 1 Trabant
Trabant
The Trabant is a car that was produced by former East German auto maker VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau in Zwickau, Sachsen. It was the most common vehicle in East Germany, and was also exported to countries both inside and outside the communist bloc...
, 1 Turicum
Turicum
Turicum was a Swiss automobile manufactured between 1904 and 1906 in Zurich, 1907 till 1912 in Uster. Turicum is the Latin name of Zurich....
, 1 Vaillante
Vaillante
Vaillante is a fictional French company of which most of the activity is related to automobile. Vaillante is featured in the French comic book series Michel Vaillant.-In the related comics series:...
, 7 Vélo, 1 Vélo-Goldschmitt, 1 Vélo-Peugeot, 1 Vermotel,1 Violet-Bogey, 3 Voisin
Voisin
- Companies :*Avions Voisin, the French automobile company*Voisin , the French aircraft manufacturer- People :*Catherine Monvoisin, known as "La Voisin" , French sorceress during the reign of Louis XIV...
, 1 Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
, 2 Zedel
Zédel
Zédel was a Swiss automobile manufacturer established in 1901 by Ernest Zürcher and Herman Lüthi. The factory first manufactured motorcycle engines.In 1906, Zedel began producing automobiles . By 1914 about 400 units had been produced....