Sinshiem museum, possibly one of the best technical museums in the world, had a large collection of American classic cars, with special focus on the 1950's. https://sinsheim.technik-museum.de/en/
Overview
Looking down on a pair of Corvettes and a Harley.
Simplex - America La France ~ 1914/15
1915 Simplex
Stutz Bearcat ~1915
1937 Cord 812. My ultimate dream car. These magnificent, streamlined, front-wheel drive cars were truly ahead of their time and they paid the ultimate price. They were just too different from the rest of the pack and so were shunned by customers. Cord folded in 1940.
The stylish 1935 Auburn 851 roadster.
Auburn 851. Auburn actually owned Cord, along with the luxury car manufacturer Duesenberg.
1956 Chevy
1958 Chevy
Cadillac
A Cadillac lines up on the runway.
Cadillac
Still got the fins but just a little more restrained in 1961
Ford Thunderbird
Ford Thunderbird
Cadillac Eldorado
Another Cadillac Eldorado
Cadillac
Chevrolet Corvette. Not only an extremely attractive car, it also pioneered the use of fibreglass.
Here is a selection of German and European classic cars on display in the Speyer and Sinshiem Technology museums. I've thrown in a few links here and there too.
Porsche 356 roadster
1950s Porsche 356
Volkswagen Karman Ghia https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2015/08/history-of-karmann-ghia.html
1956-59 BMW 503 Coupe
1929 BMW with racing body by Ihle. BMW started life as an aircraft engine manufacturer, but after Germany was blocked from building aircraft under the Versailles Treaty of 1919, the company needed to diversify. This led to its development of motorcycles in the early 1920s and in 1928, they bought out the ailing Dixi company. Dixi built British Austin 7's under license. BMW transformed the Dixi 7 into a sportster. This early model is a Dixi 7 with a racing body by the karosseriewerke, Ihle. It's at this period that the famous kidney radiator grill makes its appearance.
1939 Horch 830 BL cabriolet.
Horch 930. The peak of luxury for the late 1930s.
Wanderer W24, another of the Auto-Union stable. https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2020/06/1937-wanderer-w24.html
1938 Rosengart LR 4N2
Tempo Hanseat 3-wheeled truck http://tempohanseat.blogspot.com/
1937-39 Opel Admiral
A Borgward Isabella (1954-1961). A beautiful car designed and styled by Carl Borgward to compete with the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia.
NSU Prinz 1000 - late 60s
The iconic Mercedes Benz 300SL Gull Wing
1960 Mercedes Benz 190SL
1953 Mercedes Benz type 220 cabriolet A
1934 Mercedes Benz 130. Mercedes-Benz' somewhat unsuccessful experiment with rear engines. The car wasn't terrible, but its handling was initially poor until the bugs of rear end sway could be resolved. The fact that they were poorly regarded cars is one of the reasons so many survived the war years as they were not commandeered for military use. https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2025/02/1934-mercedes-benz-130.html
Mercedes Benz 540 kompressor https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2024/06/mercedes-benz-540k.html
And more...
Mercedes Benz G3 six wheeler. This is one of only two surviving Nazi general staff cars in existence. Three other G3 variants came up for sale in late 2009. Here is a link. http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/29/three-mercedes-benz-hitler-cars-on-sale-for-9-million-w-video/
Mercedes Benz G3 side view
A 1930 Maybach Zeppelin. Maybach originally built engines for the Zeppelin company. The Treaty of Versailles banned Germany from building either airships or aircraft so in 1921 Maybach decided to build cars. In an age of big saloon cars, the Maybach Zeppelin with its enormous straight 12 engine was positively huge and you needed a truck license to drive one. Maybach managed to stay in business until the Nazis rearmament program diverted them back into engine production. They ceased manufacturing cars in 1940.
More Maybachs
More Maybachs
Daimler-Chrysler resurrected the Maybach brand in 1997 and in 2009 launched this new Maybach Zeppelin DS8, one of the worlds most expensive modern production cars. If you want more details, check out this link: http://www.gizmag.com/new-maybach-zeppelin/11098/
A royal limousine
Bugatti. The king of automobiles
A magnificent Bugatti roadster
A row of Bugatti racers
Jaguar SS
A Rolls Royce, formerly in the possession of some Indian Rajah
Very customized coachwork on this Rolls Royce. In fact, Rolls Royce never built bodies for their Silver Ghost, only the engine and chassis. The buyer was responsible for their own coachwork.
1923 Bentley "Red Label" and a German Hercules motorcycle
A British Morgan Plus-3 roadster.
An extraordinary 'one track car' - the Mauser Einspurauto
Amphicar - the name says it all - an amphibious car. http://www.amphicars.com/acfaq.htm
Project Brutus. This is not so much a real car as a real monster:
1907 American La France chassis
1925 BMW pre-WWII seaplane engine Type VI, series 8 (used in the Heinkel He-9 and Dornier Wal flying boat) - 12 cylinders 47 litre
3.82 litres per cylinder
550 PS at 1,530 rpm
750 PS at 1,700 rpm
red line at 2,000 rpm
3-gear manual
Wheel-spin at 140 km/h in 3rd gear
Average fuel consumption 100 litres per 100 kilometers
