Antoines picture of the Autoworld in Brussels made me think to open a thread about car-museums and our experiences in or with them. I start with brainstormin about the museums I have visited in the past - I'm even not sure, if I remember all of them.
In Germany are a plenty of car-museums, mostly private owned. From a lot of the smaller ones, I've never heard about.
Oops, quite a lot: http://www.oldtimermuseen.de/museen-karte.htm
I must admit, that I've never visited the small, private classic-car-museum in the town of Dortmund - even I've passed it for several years on my way to work.

I'll start the list just by the sequence of my remembrances, with short comments about them:

- http://www.wolfsburg-citytour.de/wolfsburg-tourist/Zeithaus_1/zeithaus_1.html

The ZeitHaus in the Volkswagen AutoStadt is expensively made, but unfortunately the organisators are a bit (quite a lot) uncapable. So there are intersting cars, but several of them in not real good condition.
They took the cars from that older collection:
http://automuseum.volkswagen.de/
which caused the fact, that the AutoMuseum's collection is not complete any more -I wasn't complete before anyways-
A real disappointment for people, who expect a great presentation of great classics of one of the biggest car-companies of the world.
Forget it. Junky cars in rough condition. This situation is caused by a plenty of responsible idiots over 20 years. And by the Volkswagen AG, which is not interested to spend money for theis history.


- http://www.sdtb.de/Startseite.63.0.html
A very good museum, but it's car-collection is not very well presented, due space-, money- and time-problems. It shall be going better, in hte past it was worst. The -dirty and rusty- cars were standing in a kind of big board in an old locomotive-shed. You couldn't reach them and take closer looks, no presentation at all. Hopefully they can manage it better in the future.


- http://www.museum-mercedes-benz.com/
Quite new. It shall be a real fantastic collection of perfect cars in a great architecture. I haven't been there until now
(the plate of the 300 SEL 6.3 is a personal gift from me)


- http://www.porsche.com/germany/aboutporsche/porschemuseum/
Shall be great, too


- http://www.technik-museum.de/museum_sinsheim_deutsch.html
Great, very recommended. Unfortunately I had not much time, when I'd been there in 1999.


- http://www.deutsches-museum.de/
One of the most popular museums in germany, nearly too big. Interesting car-collection, but in the past they hadn't enough capacity to take care of all vehicles.


- http://www.ame.eisenachonline.de/
I've visited it, before the Wall falls down. There it was a small, but not bad collection of racing-cars and prototypes. I don't how it was going on after the collapse of the GDR and the Wartburg-factory


- http://www.automuseum-busch.de/index-en.htm
A very good one, founded and owned by one of the most popular German motor-journalists. It was always one of the best made (with the owner's heart, too) private museums. I've been there in 1986.


- http://www.dafmuseum.nl/NL/Pages/Museum_homepage.aspx
It shall be a good one, too, but unfortunately I wasn't able to come with my K 70-friends, when they had made a visit there. I will try it later again (it's just a bit more than 1 hour to drive for me)

- http://www.fordmuseum.nl/cms/pages/home.php?lang=EN
There I've been with my K 70-fellows. Ford is not my real favour, but the collection was good. The halls are too dark, not nice, if you want to take pictures.


- http://www.tekniskmuseum.dk/
I remember it as interesting, too, but it was 1987, when I'd been there



There was a huge classic-car-collection in Vancouver, which I had visited in 1988, but it was closed a short time later. The cars were sold all over the world. I remember a Rolls Royce, formerly owned by John Lennon. It was painted with flowers.



to be continued...


Perhaps you guys have your own recommondations. To keep in mind for the next vacations.

P.S.
- http://www.toyota.co.jp/Museum/
There I had been in 2003. It looks like a try of Toyota to copy the Volkswagen AutoStadt. The collection is a bit unstructured. I had expected more of the Toyota-history, but it was a bit a tangle of a plenty of cars, which have not many relations to each other.
O.k., this is the same in the VW AutoStadt...

Oh, I'd been a bit in trouble there. They has Daihatsu Copen, where you were allowed to sit in. I take seat - but than I couldn't get out again. I stucked in the car! My friend had to help and have pulled me out.


And we'd been there, too:
http://www.velocetoday.com/lifestyle/lifestyle_8.php
Its homepage is broken. I've heard rumours, that the owner of the museum had financial problems. Even in 2003, some of the cars were sold shortly before.
It was presented in a big building of modern architecture, but finally I haven't really liked it. Except the fact, that I'm not much interested in Ferrari, I had the whole time the impression, that the owner, a (formerly?) very rich guy had enough money to buy a plenty of the most expensivest cars of the world, but that he wasn't a real enthusiast, a real lover with a big knowledge about car-historical things.
You can say, that the "heart's blood" was missing.



- http://www.brooklandsmuseum.com/
Nicely made on a real historic ground. Recommended especially for the fans of British technic.
I'd been there in 1996.