In an earlier post, I already outlined an earlier quest of mine to discover the ultimate European road trip. The objective of these ventures was to quench my thirst for automotive adventures and to find new and exciting aspects of mobility.
At the end of the first trip, I already slipped that my addiction was definitely not cured. In fact, by the time I published that article, I already concluded another automotive pilgrimage. This second road trip was perhaps even longer, partly because it was more of a round trip than a one-way route.
Also, this trip proved to be even more diverse, in terms of polyvalence of impulses. The first and the last two stops could not be more different, beginning with a high-class German art museum with the pride of the noblest private and factory collections. By contrast, the excursion ended with a Truck Museum and a Workshop, where old-school grease-monkey technicians were working on the cherished restoration project cars, buses and trucks, and the most sophisticated vehicle was a Dakar desert racing truck.
- Departure from Brussels
I am headquartered in the capital of Belgium, that offers incredible access to automotive paradises within a day reach. I could visit Rétromobile with add-ons, a full day visit at the IAA, without looking for accommodation. Brussels is also worth a trip for its automotive offering. Autoworld is one of the big five national car museums in Europe with a revolving door for temporary exhibitions.
First impressions and digital shortcut to the Brussels Motor Show
The Brussels car show is now beating the primary European shows year after year, and the InterClassics Brussels is a well- established classic car event.
The idea of a road trip is to gather enough locations to justify a 600 km detour with several overnights. I must say my recon was not complete as since my journey I discovered a list of other sites I could have included, such as a Helicopter Museum. But the six stops proved to be a wholesome programme.
- Art meets Automotive at the PS I Love you exhibition in Düsseldorf
The first stop was located a bit more than an hour away, an exhibition that closed its doors since then. At the Kunstpalast, I encountered the most improbable combination of Art and technology. The Museum and Gallery in Düsseldorf is a purpose-built picture gallery and cultural event hall, with all facilities serving the best impressions on the artefacts showcased. My favourite detail was the portable stool, that visitors can carry around, in case they wish to spend a longer time before the relics, to let impressions sink in.
The PS I Love you exhibition was divided into two major segments (consisting of multiple halls) in two floors of the Museum. The first segment of introduces cars from the late 1940s to the mid- 1960s.
For the next segment, visitors have to move up one floor, and the exhibition also elevates by a decade, with concepts and rarities from the following decades.
Following two hours of cultural delights, I made my way towards Wolfsburg with a hopeful stopover in Einbeck to have a look at the PS Speicher.
Art meets Automotive at the PS I Love you exhibition in Düsseldorf
- The PS Speicher holds more horsepower than I expected
In this line-up, the PS Speicher was a bit of a dark horse, and I was not sure if I should even include it on the busy agenda of a road trip. With the unlimited speed of the Autobahn and a lucky shortcut through the Harz mountains however, I just made it about an hour before closure.
The decision to pay a visit proved to be a wise one, the PS Speicher is a recently refurbished Museum that has enough to offer for a full day.
As the name suggests, it was converted from an old granary (hence the name “the Horsepower Storage”) with keen design and style combining an elegant environment with traditional education.
The Speicher is an excellent museum, but do not expect the vast array of supercars or hypercars. This is not the Louwman or the Mercedes museum (yet it is on par with them in presentation and perfectionist design), it does not keep a wealthy industrial heritage like Turin, but as a museum, it is an excellent one. It is educational, historically accurate, at the same time entertaining and modern with a flawless design.
- Autostadt is the World’s greatest automotive theme park
Autostadt was the actual strategic objective of this road trip, and the largest automotive pilgrimage site of the World was undoubtedly well worth this entire 1200kms itinerary.
Volkswagen’s heartland features a massive compound with dozens of buildings. Each brand of the VW Group received its own pavilion, with many other facilities. These establishments differ in both style and function like the iconic Parkhouse towers or the Zeithaus exhibition hall showcasing the evolution and achievements of the automotive World.
The theme park is, however, far from being an amusement park. Autostadt is closer to an expo that is centred around the presentation of brands and products.
The exhibitions feature mainly current models (except for the Zeithaus building), and even the interactive sections are somewhat brand focussed, primarily aiming at fans and buyers.
Beyond the exhibitions, additional programmes include taking a (forklift) ride in the Car Towers or a boat ride with a guided tour around the VW factory site.
Autostadt offers enough impulses for a full day. Still, I decided to call it a day earlier to catch up with Automuseum Melle.
- Lightning visit at the Automuseum Melle – witnessing history on wheels
I visited the Automuseum Melle on the return trip from Wolfsburg, making maximum use of the last 15 minutes of its opening hours. The extreme speeds on the Autobahn were not taken without reason. The Automuseum is located a bit off-course, in Melle near Osnabrück. Had I not make it, it is quite unlikely that I would get a chance to come around that area any time soon.
In the historical building of an old furniture factory, Automuseum Melle occupies nearly 3,000 m² of exhibition space on three floors, to showcase about 250 – 350 vehicles from the early epochs of the automobile to more recent exhibits of historical significance.
Automuseum Melle follows an exciting concept with the motto that the preservation of technical objects usually requires regular usage. Vehicles exhibited in the Museum shall be used regularly, and thus rotated periodically. The Museum usually presents 200-300 cars, but during its existence, it hosted thousands of vehicles lent to the Museum in rotation. The Museum is run with volunteers only, and the reviews all highlight the enthusiasm and knowledge of the volunteers. Arriving on Sunday evening, 15 minutes before closing, I certainly put that enthusiasm to the test.
Lightning visit at the Automuseum Melle – witnessing history on wheels
- The DAF Museum is the quirkiest place for car enthusiasts
The Museum of the Dutch truck and bus manufacturer DAF is located in the city of Eindhoven, known for its regional budget airport. I discovered this unusual automotive site only in 2018, even if I regularly travelled to its home town.
The DAF Museum is a great educational trip but also a journey through time, starting with the historical heritage of Van Doorne’s Trailer Factory. They cover of course the establishment of the company by the brothers Hub and Wim van Doorne up to the most modern trucks that roll off the DAF production line in the Eindhoven factories.
The Museum hosts a lot of unusual vehicles, from Dakar racing monster trucks through military tanks to special purpose vehicles. And DAF tried to impose their Variomatic CVT on everything with wheels, like the Williams F1 car, often cited as the most technologically advanced F1 car if all time.
- The Abarth Works museum is an unexpected treat for fans of Italian cars
The last stop is another late discovery, especially for the fact that the Abarth Works Museum is one of the nearest automotive pilgrimage sites.
With its current fleet of over 300 cars (the ones in pieces and parts not counted : ) ) the Works Museum provides enough impulses for a several hours walk.
After a thorough second visit, I reckon that the only comparable place for a visit is the FCA Heritage HQ some 2000 km away.
The Abarth Works museum is an unexpected treat for fans of Italian cars
- Back to base, Autoworld- a revolving door to guest exhibitions
The Belgian national museum is one of the closest museums where I live and gives plenty of reasons to go to revisit. Their real deal is the series of guest exhibitions announced in their annual calendar. The Museum usually hosts four-six major exhibitions a year, where several dozen cars occupy the main gallery on the first floor.
In between the main exhibitions, two ground floor exposition spaces are available for smaller (sometimes ad hoc) exhibitions encompassing about a dozen cars.
In autumn 2018, Autoworld was up there again with a birthday package of 12 cars (seven road versions and five colourful and impressive race cars) to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the BMW M1.
Not many of us remember the once renowned luxury cars of Pegaso. Still, Autoworld managed to gather about over a dozen Pegasos, which is probably one of the largest ensembles of vehicles of the millennium from this short-lived Spanish luxury brand.
Pegaso exhibition at Autoworld – a forgotten brand worth remembering
Outro
This road trip brought me a good three days of intensive impressions. I tried to enlist a diverse set of locations, which ensured another intensive roller coaster of impulses. Instead of quenching my thirst for automotive impulses, I now found myself working out an established practice to organise these road trips.
