The 5 best car museums in Europe: Nr. 1: Cité de l’Automobile, Mulhouse, France

Finally, we can present you with the single best car museum in Europe (or at least we think it is). This probably means it can claim to be the best in the world as well, as far as we can tell from net resources. We developed our very own scoreboard taking into every aspect that led to a reasonably balanced outcome. Our top 5 list encompassed a well-balanced selection of public and corporate museums representing four countries.

Our team arrived in the Cité de l’Automobile with a slight disbelief about the superiority of this site. But we left without a shadow of a doubt that the Cité is the greatest car collection in the world.

To win this list, it takes more than being excessively huge. The Cité excels in every area, from interactive and educational sections to children’s corner, race cars from all ages and sports, modern and even some contemporary vehicles, great design and consistent architecture, all the boxes are checked. One might find aspects where the Louwman or Mercedes Museum can beat the Cité. Still, the credit for overall excellence goes to Mulhouse.

The Museum was established based on the Schlupf Collection, in the former site of the Schlumpf Textile Factory. The two industrialists relentlessly acquired classic European cars in their craving while shunning American models.

As a result, despite some reinforcements, the Museum’s fleet is still dominated by European cars. So if you ever thought of curing your Bugatti-mania with an overdose, this is the best place. But it’s easy to get an overdose of anything related to automotive here…

The sheer size of the Museum is astonishing. The defunct factory complex is now entirely in use as a Museum. The extremities of the massive main hall are indicated by the endless lines of hundreds of lampions, 2-3 illuminating a car. Each row holds at least 30-50 vehicles.

Altogether, about 250 vehicles are parked in this endless hall following a timeline from 1878 to today. Each row illustrates a different era.  In practice, this results in endless lines of cars reaching so far that one cannot recognise where the lines end.

The main hall features dozens of 19^th-century vehicles and even more pre-war cars, and the timeline goes up to the 2010s.

Vehicles of every category are present, from microcars like the Peugeot BB and short-wheelbase Renault 4 to high-end luxury cars, like a Gullwing Merc, an Aston Martine Rapide or 3 specimen of the mother of all luxury cars, the 6,5-metre-long Bugatti 41 Royale with a 14-litre engine.

In addition to the vast main hall, there are dedicated rooms and halls detached from the main hall (like the race cars segment, the pre-WW II luxury section, and the hall hosting temporary exhibitions), in addition to many smaller rooms and stage corners.

In the past few years, the Cité organised many excellent special exhibitions to commemorate anniversaries, like the Porsche 70 in 2018, the Incomparable Bugatti celebrating Bugatti’s 110^th anniversary in 2019 (probably the best Bugatti exhibition of all time), or a Lamborghini exhibition last year.

To cope with the vast size, a small electric train departs every half an hour with a guided tour. There is even a private race oval, where you can try out classics and supercars.

The Cité has an extensive programme for children with arcade simulators, junior go-kart track, and educational installations. Just to give a few examples: there is a Peugeot factory segment, then a machine that rolls over a Peugeot 206 to illustrate the importance of wearing seatbelts and video projections to explain Rallye racing or the history of the local hero Bugatti Veyron.

There are classic oldtimers and pieces of machinery that are regularly started up during opening hours, so it’s worth planning the walk accordingly. In addition, there is a segment of classic children’s toys, including pedal cars that fit well to the style of the museum.

The overall design is superb in every aspect. The Cité is housed in a refurbished complex. There may be elements where the design could be improved or is just outperformed by other Museums. But again, the Cité has all the ammo to fight back on many different fronts. Perhaps the single aspect where the Louwman or Mercedes Museum can beat the Cité is the design/architecture, but the credit for overall excellence goes to Mulhouse.

The Cité de l’Automobile is not just excessively huge, it excels in every area.  from interactive and educational sections to children’s corner, race cars from all epochs and sports, modern and even some contemporary vehicles, great design and consistent architecture, all the boxes are checked.