Hello from Sweden!
Car, airplane and motorbike museums have become an obsession of mine. So much so, that my business partner and I have set out to create an awesome website directory of Automotive, Aviation, and Motorbike Museums across the world. A most enjoyable endeavor but not always so easy.
Our Journey began on this path when my friend and colleague Kristian Adolfsson was planning a trip down through Europe to visit Automotive Museums. We are based in Southern Sweden, so it’s only a hop and a jump over to Germany, where he would start in Hamburg visiting the Automuseum PROTOTYP.
Kristian then traveled west to The Haag, Netherlands and visited the Louwman Museum, the world’s oldest private collection of motor cars. Then he moved onto Belgium to visit Lo-Reninge’s Old Timer Museum. The journey continued from there for another week or so south before heading back to Sweden.
Now being the type of man who plans things in great detail, he wanted to contact each museum he planned to visit, and ask if he could take photographs, and if so could he use a tripod etc. At this point he had gotten me involved in planning the trip and we started to search for contact details and web addresses for each one.
“Wouldn’t it be good if all these were in one place” remarked Kristian one afternoon at work. “Yes I said” opening my 15th tab in search for Austrian Automotive Museums.
We run a small web development and photography business together, so we already had the knowledge and the tools in place to create such a directory.
Thus far we have started with the Automotive Museums, and are just scratching the surface with 160 (at time of writing) added so far. We have taken on this mammoth task partly to make it easier to plan our own Museum visits, but also to bring together these incredible institutions and charities that strive to keep our rich Automotive, Aviation, and Motorbike history alive.
Our plan mostly involves working out how we are going to complete this task while juggling clients and family life.
We are now starting to concentrate on America, and I have taken on the eastern half of the United States, exploring spectacular locations such as Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan, which is a huge complex containing 7 other Automotive Museums!
Another gem that I spent far too long researching is The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which was named Museum of the year 2017 in the recent Octane Awards.
Needless to say there are some incredible Museums out there that are just begging to be explored.
We have just started to add Car Clubs, and Car Shows, and will roll those out as soon as we have enough interest and content.
Our plan is to become the “go to” website for Automotive, Aviation, and Motorbike Museums, but also a one stop shop for all the things that surround the different cultures.
We hope this can help strengthen the community, and it’s many enthusiasts, and that it helps people find their next day out.
If you know of any car, plane or bike museums that are currently not listed in the directory, please contact us with the information.
From guest writer Ian Hunter, Car Air Bike Museums
