Visited in 2011
The Henri Malartre museum opened 1960 in a castle in Rochetaillée near the city of Lyon. The collection is primarily focussed on French marques, and in particular those produced in this general region. The castle building houses a large number of vintage and veteran cars, the rest of extensive collection can be found in a newer building in the castle grounds.
Address
645 rue du Musée
69270 Rochetaillée-sur-Saône
France
Louis Renault built his first prototype in 1898. It had a 1.75 hp 273cc air-cooled De Dion-Bouton engine. Renault fitted it with a 3-speed gearbox that featured a patented direct top gear. The small company Louis Renault and his brothers Marcel and Fernand had established produced 60 cars in the first 6 months. Renault started manufacturing their own engines in 1902. Until about 1920 Renault concentrated on large, luxury cars. Smaller models appeared in 1923 to compete with Citroen. Renault was nationalised after the war. Post-war production started with an upgraded version of the Juvaquatre and the brand new 4CV, that had been developed in secret during the war. Over a million were made before production ceased in 1961.
Simca. Nanterre, Seine, France 1935-1961; Poissy, Seine-et-Oise 1954-1970; Chrysler France 1970 – 1978. In 1978 Chrysler Simca was taken over by PSA concern (Stellantis as of 2020).
In 1979 the Simca name was exchanged for ‘Talbot’.
Facel S.A. Pont a Mousson, France. 1954-1964
Ford S.A.F. 1947-1954
Production of Fords in France began in 1934 at the Matford works, which was itself a continuation of the pioneer car manufacturer Mathis. The company was acquired by Simca in November 1954 and production of the Ford Versailles models was continued under the name of Simca Vedette.
Matra Sports was established in 1965 when Matra (aerospace company) took over the René Bonnet company (Matra built the fibre-glass bodies for Bonnet). This car was known as the Matra Djet. In 1969 Matra was taken over by Simca.
After parting company with Simca (new Chrysler) Matra independently entered into an agreement with Renault to build the Renault Espace and much later, the Avantime.
Visited in 1983, 2007 and again in 2019
The National Museum – Schlumpf Bugatti Collection is chronicled all over the web and in hundreds if not thousands of books.
And yet in real life it is such a breathtaking display and so well worth a visit! The sheer size of the collection is overwhelming and even the most seasoned of motoring history enthusiasts can tire of the seemingly endless rows of exquisite marques. The Schlumpf brothers were famous for amassing an incredible collection of Bugattis, and when you realise how exclusive Bugattis are – many museums have just one or two – the collection really is huge.
Hoewever, the museum does have other makes besides Bugattis. Not just French makes such as Delahaye, Delage, Hotchkiss, Citroen and Peugeot, but also Jaguars, Mercedes-Benz etc.
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Address:
Cité de l’Automobile
Musée National Collection Schlumpf
192, Avenue de Colmar
68051 Mulhouse
France
