Cite de l'Automobile - Mulhouse

[TT-Pete]

I recently posted pictures of our visit to the SNCF railway Museum "Cite du Train" in Mulhouse:

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/128642-cite-du-train-sncf-museum-mulhouse/

 

There is also another significant museum in Mulhouse, the Cite de l'Automobile, which is the Schlumpf brothers collection and housed in one of their old textile mills. Both the collection and the story behind it is amazing (if a little tragic). The brothers were a little bit obsessed with Bugattis, to the point that there are 123 of them in the collection of some 500 cars:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cit%C3%A9_de_l%27Automobile

 

It is possible to get a combined ticket for the two museums at a reduced rate, which is what we did, spending the morning at Cite de l'Automobile and the afternoon at Cite du Train. Was one day enough? Not really, to do both properly justice I think a day in each is required. Anyway, here are a few photos that may be of interest, given the sheer scale of the collection it would be impossible to photograph everything, so I took pics of things that were of interest to me personally, or that I found strange or quirky.

 

A beautiful piece of British motoring history, a 1934 SS. Renamed to "SS Jaguar" in 1935 with the "SS" being quietly dropped when production resumed in 1945 thanks to the antics of some black-clad fellers in Germany...

More follows...

[TT-Pete]

Part 2

A short wheelbase Renault 4? Looks more like an over-sized Dinky Toy!

I have always admired the Citroen-Maserati SM introduced in 1970, with styling like an automotive spaceship it was technologically ahead of it's time but required regular specialist Maserati maintenance to keep the performance V6 engine in tune. Sales started to drop and following Citroen going bankrupt and being taken over by Peugeot in 1975, the relationship with Maserati was terminated.

More follows...

[TT-Pete]

Part 3

I wonder what Hans and Fritz would have made of the Veyron?

Yuck. Gets my vote for "Ugliest Bugatti ever" award.

More follows...

[TT-Pete]

Part 4

What? A Mercedes-Benz Beetle?! Introduced in 1936 it was not a commercial success and wasn't produced in large numbers before WW2 brought production to an end. So why does it look so similar to a VW Beetle? Well, Dr Ferdinand Porsche was chief engineer at Daimler-Benz 1923-1928 when rear-engined Mercedes were under development.... Today this is the rarest and most sought-after of all Mercedes-Benz (well, there's no accounting for taste... )

There is still some debate about what "SM" actually stood for. One theory is that as DS could be interpreted as "Deesse" (Goddess), so SM stood for Sa Majeste (Her Majesty). More likely though is the more prosaic "Projet S-Maserati".

Three wheels on my wagon, but I'm still rolling along... The Scott Sociable, produced after WW1, it just looks like someone has nicked a front wheel.

"Turning was dangerous at speed." 

[The Stationmaster]

Thanks for the pics - alas when we went to Mulhouse a good few years back my son was totally disinterested in cars so the Schlumpf collection was very firmly off the agenda.

[w124bob]

I always feel sorry(well smug actually TM gets a Jag!)for the transport the current French President endures, at least Chirac and his predecessors got to ride round in custom built SM's and DS models. Macron gets a DS7 hatchback!

 

[TT-Pete]

I always feel sorry(well smug actually TM gets a Jag!)for the transport the current French President endures, at least Chirac and his predecessors got to ride round in custom built SM's and DS models. Macron gets a DS7 hatchback!

 

 

DS7? Pffft! Pas comparable, mon ami!

[Horsetan]

....Macron gets a DS7 hatchback!...

Hollande had to make do with a DS3. Still, it could have been worse, given his love life. It could have been the back of a scooter.