A visit to the Schlumpf Collection by David Tunnicliffe. 

The official web site of the French national Motor Museum at Mulhouse tells us: 

“The Schlumpf Collection is certainly the most prestigious car collection in the world. This is demonstrated by the two Bugatti Royales, including the famous Coupé Napoléon, the 150 Bugatti, Hispano-Suiza, Ferrari, Rolls-Royce, Maserati, Maybach, Mercedes models, etc. It was in a former Mulhouse woollen mill, with its typically 19th century architecture, that Fritz Schlumpf established his fabulous collection of 437 cars belonging to 97 different brands. With this unique collection, the Cité de l’Automobile sees itself as being to cars what the Louvre is to art”.

  This rather bland statement does not do the museum and it’s fabulous collection justice.  That said, it would be far too easy to over egg things with hyperbole – so breath taking and absolutely wonderful will have to do!

 We were prompted to visit by Sporting Bears member, Paul Knowles, who with his brother Nigel, visited the museum on the way back from Luzerne to Colmar on the Stelvio Tour back in July.  We, for our sins, having opted for the ‘scenic route’ missed this treat but planned to revisit as soon as possible.

  Setting out from Calais on this 521 mile journey south required some careful planning.  For example we had booked a one night stop in Laon on our way south and again on the return journey to break things up a little.  We had also booked a ‘hotel’ in Mulhouse for two nights.  As my wife has great difficulty walking I contacted the museum before hand and arranged for the loan of a wheel chair.  With these several house keeping activities in place we felt confident of a successful and stress free visit to ‘Sclumpf’.

Our hotel in Laon, was, as always, the St Vincent.  We stay here annually while taking part in the Circuit Historique de Laon event. We had our old room on the ground floor and having checked in drove up to the ‘Coronet’ and had an aperitif at Les Arcades in Le Grand Place. 

 The following morning we set out bright and early for the almost 400 mile stretch south to Mulhouse.  Our journey on the Autoroute took in Reims and Strasbourg before finally leaving the Autoroute for the run into Mulhouse.

Thanks to the TomTom by 4pm we were outside the hotel.  You should note we were €50.60 (£46) lighter in the pocket on Tolls by the time we reached Mulhouse….!  Driving on Peage roads in France is not a cheap option.

Premier Class, for those not in the know, are very simple hotel rooms comprising a ‘cabin’ measuring 4mtr x 3mtr.  Into this space fits an ample double bed, a small side table, two stools (not chairs) and wall-mounted TV. 3 coat hooks but no coat hangers. In one corner is a triangular bathroom which holds the WC, wash-hand basin and shower.   A simple and adequate breakfast can be had bringing the total for a couple to €45 per night (€35 for the room only).  We were offered and accepted a 15% discount on dinner in the Campanile Restaurant next door.  Their rooms, though only slightly larger but better appointed, cost €71 with breakfast at and additional  €7.90 per person.

 We had located the museum the day before, sussed out the car park and opening times and armed with this information arrived on site a little after 9.30 am.  The doors open at 10 am sharp but leaving it any longer you would run the risk of the arrival of the dreaded tour coaches – two of which arrived just after 9.30 am!

 I don’t believe anyone can really prepare you for that first impression of the museum as you reach the ground level.  The vastness of it all is quite staggering.  All 25,000 m² with row upon row of immaculately prepared and presented vehicles stretching out in every direction. 

 http://www.collection-schlumpf.com/en/schlumpf/

 Every car suspended on axle stands with tyres only a few millimeters above the grey gravel enclosures.  The avenues marked with Parisian street lamps adding to the wonderful feeling of nostalgia.   But which way to go?  Every direction I looked I saw vehicles I wanted to take a closer look at.  To be fair the avenues are marked with blue and white signs affixed to the floor at each intersection stating ‘Tour direction’ – which does help a little.  But feeling like a little boy in a toy-shop I wanted to look at everything and NOW!

 Every exhibit is beautifully prepared and where necessary restored to a very high standard.  In front of each vehicle, mounted on a pedestal is an engraved stainless steel plaque giving details of the car in French AND in English!   I took the liberty of moving these aside to clear the my view to photograph specific vehicles that caught my eye, replacing the pedestal as I had found it before moving on.

  It would be pointless trying to detail all that we saw. Suffice to say that I was told someone lovely polishing a line of racing cars from the 1950’s that the museum is home to no less than 470 cars, of which, 148 are Bugatti’s including 2 Bugatti Royale’s and a Bugatti Veyron.  Many of the ‘priceless’ and exotic exhibits are housed in a special, carpeted enclosure, with low lighting edged with spot lamps to further highlight and enhance the exhibits including Charlie Chaplin’s Rolls Royce.

 Visitors are encouraged to pick-up one of the audioguide’s supplied free of charge. It is perhaps worth trying to reserve these in advance as none were available in English during our visit as one of the tour buses had secured the lot!   While on the subject of charges, a single entry visit to the museum will cost €11.50, parking is a further €2 for the day and all disabled persons entry is free of charge.  Anthea suffers from arthritis so I took the precaution of contacting the museum in advance to reserve a wheel chair as Paul Knowles had advised me that we should allow between 3 and 5 hours for our visit.  This was welcome advice and is a service provided free of charge by the museum.  It made a real difference to her personal enjoyment of the day.

 I should also say a word about facilities for younger motoring enthusiasts.  “Kid’s Corner” as they call it,  offers Go-karting, garages for budding mechanics , drawing boards and  “The activity book” for children aged 7 – 12 years.  Not forgetting “The World of Max and Lea” – the largest collection of children’s cars in France.  Plenty then, to keep them occupied for quite a while.

 The restaurant is worthy of mention.  After 3 hours we were more than ready for lunch.  We opted to make this the main meal of the day and they did not disappoint.  The wide selection of food on offer was wholesome and reasonably priced.  Anthea had roast duck and desert while I opted for the regional three pork slices plus sausage, sauerkraut and potatoes with smoked salmon as my starter. 

 After this handsome, great value meal for 2 for €30 we needed to walk it off and spent a further hour watching some of the excellent videos running in various areas of the museum.  These range from the history of the motor car, early car production and racing, rallying in the 1980’s right up to modern manufacturing techniques as employed by Citron and Peugeot.

Mulhouse is a long way to go for a single visit.  However, if you are in the region you should seriously put it on your ‘to do’ list.  I certainly consider it to be a real jewel in the ‘Glories of France’.  We will certainly visit again if we are able, perhaps in a year or two.  It is also worth noting for railway buffs, that Mulhouse also houses the national railway museum.  Follow this link for more information:

 http://www.citedutrain.com/en/train/