Cite de l'Automobile

Fritz and Hans Schlumpf ran textile mills in Mulhouse and spent the profits, quietly, on cars: by the early 1970s they had assembled several hundred in a mill building, restored and displayed under rows of lamp posts copied from a Paris bridge, known to almost nobody. When the textile business collapsed in 1976 the workers occupied the factory and found the collection; the brothers left for Switzerland, and after a long legal fight the cars were classified as a national monument and opened to the public. The holdings include over a hundred Bugattis, among them two Royales, of which only six were ever built.

What you actually see

• The Bugatti hall - over a hundred cars including two Type 41 Royales.
• The lamp post gallery - rows of cars under Paris-style street lighting.
• The early machines - steam and pioneer vehicles from the 1870s onward.
• The racing collection - grand prix cars from several eras.

When to go

Year-round; the museum is indoors and opens most days, closing some Mondays in winter. A test track and demonstration runs operate in the warmer months.

Honest expectations

It is very large and can be exhausting in one visit. Some cars are behind ropes at a distance. The story of how the collection was formed is as interesting as the cars and worth reading first.

Nearby

The Cite du Train is in the same city; the Ecomusee lies north.