From the weird and wonderful racers at the turn of the 20th century to today’s incredibly advanced single-seaters, prototypes and GT cars, there’s just something about race cars that grabs my attention. The engineering, the design, the history behind them, it’s all part of the appeal.
Because of that, I’ve also become a big fan of car museums.
Some are better than others of course, but every museum has something interesting hidden away. Sometimes it’s the shape of a beautiful classic, other times it’s a strange bit of engineering that makes you stop and think “what on earth were they trying to do here?”
Either way, they’re great places to slow down, take it all in, and of course take a few photos.
Over the years I’ve travelled quite a bit visiting car museums and collections. A few times I’ve even built an entire weekend trip around going to see a particular museum that’s been on my list.
Porsche Museum
One of those trips took me to Stuttgart last year to visit the Porsche and Mercedes museums. We got to the Porsche Museum right as it opened, and honestly I was blown away almost immediately. It’s one of the best display of cars I’ve seen in any museum.
The whole building feels more like an art gallery than a traditional car museum. Everything is beautifully presented, with lighting and displays that make each car feel like a piece of art.
And from a photography point of view, it’s amazing.
One thing that really surprised me was the access. There are no barriers around many of the cars, which means you can get really close and shoot angles that would normally be impossible in most museums.
I probably looked a bit strange at times, lying on the floor or leaning over a balcony waiting for the shot I wanted but the staff were really friendly about it. A few of them even came over to ask what I was trying to capture. Those kinds of moments always make the experience even better.
Mercedes Museum
After Porsche we headed over to the Mercedes Museum. By normal standards it’s a really good museum with a huge range of cars covering the history of the brand.
The only problem is that it’s very hard not to compare it to the Porsche Museum when you visit them back-to-back. The cars are well displayed and there’s a lot to see, but from a photography perspective some of the ones I was most interested in were hidden behind others. That made it a little harder to get the shots I was hoping for. That said, it’s still a fantastic place to visit and well worth the time if you’re in Stuttgart.
The Le Mans Museum
The Le Mans Museum is somewhere I’ve visited a few times, one of the great things about it is that they regularly change some of the exhibits, so there’s usually something new to see each time you go back. It’s also a really special place if you’re into endurance racing.
Walking through the museum takes you through the history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and seeing some of those legendary cars up close never gets old.
On my most recent visit there were several Ford GTs, a Shelby Daytona Cobra, multiple Porsche 917s in different configurations…
And one of the three Mazda 787Bs. That’s definitely one that makes you stop for a moment.
There was also an Alpine exhibition running during the visit, along with a few cars that were still there from the 100-year celebrations, including the incredible Toyota GT-One.
Loh Collection
Earlier this year I also managed to visit the National Auto Museum in Germany. It’s located in Dietzhölztal, about an hour and a half northeast of the Nürburgring. It’s a little out of the way compared to some of the more famous museums, but it’s absolutely worth the detour.
Inside there’s around a billion pounds worth of cars.
The main collection alone took us about two and a half hours to walk through. It starts with some really early automotive history and gradually works its way forward through the decades to modern supercars and legendary racing machines.
There were also two temporary exhibitions when we visited, one celebrating 125 years of Opel and another featuring a beautifully presented Ferrari collection.
Since those exhibits rotate over time, it’s definitely a place I’d like to go back to again in the future.
Car museums are some of my favourite places to visit. They’re part history lesson, part engineering showcase, and for someone who enjoys automotive photography they’re also great places to practice finding interesting angles and details.
And honestly, I’m already thinking about where the next museum trip might be. If you know any car museums that are worth visiting, feel free to send me a message, I’m always looking for somewhere new to explore.
If you’d like to see more of my motorsport photography, you can follow my work here:
Facebook – facebook.com/RBorowikMedia
Instagram – instagram.com/robertborowikmedia
YouTube – youtube.com/@robertborowikmedia
You can also visit my store if you’d like to purchase any of my images.