So that's where you went? Tell us about your travels!

[ang]

I just got back from Navarre Beach, FL; Sunday morning at 2:30a.

 

This picture was taken at the Gulf of Mexico.

 

One sunny week, with 16 people sharing a beach house. We had our own pier leading to an the inlet side of the island.  

 

It was beautiful! And the days just melted away, it was like 'What! It's time to pack up & leave...? 

 

Ahhhha... It was a much needed getaway.

[Alexa]

5 minutes ago, ang said:

 

That's nice ang, no charges to watch the sea  Paradise will be so much fun and the vacations will be longer too

[ang]

33 minutes ago, Alexa said:

That's nice ang, no charges to watch the sea  Paradise will be so much fun and the vacations will be longer too

And they will be free. 

[Alexa]

1 minute ago, ang said:

And they will be free. 

Oh  I just got it from a speaker talk too 

[RaymondG]

The Schlumpf Museum has an interesting history...

 

The brothers Schlumpf had a textile factory and received government assistance to keep up the wages of the workers so they could remain competitive on world markets. This would have been through the fifties and sixties. They were cheating both, however.

 

Syphoning off cash they amassed an incredible collection of cars. Old cars and rare cars, expensive cars and exclusive cars as well as ordinary cars. But workers got wind of the growing collection and worked out what was happening. They revolted and took over, but they failed to keep the place afloat financially and the government stepped in. It's said that at one time there was talk of selling off the collection, but as a significant number of cars (130 or more?) were Bugattis they were warned that a number like that going onto the market would depreciate their value overnight.

 

So the Cité de l'Automobile, the National Automotive Museum was created and endures to this day. Road cars, prototype cars, racing cars of all types, sports cars, limousines and ordinary family cars dating from around 1890 to the seventies or eighties line up in row upon row of lavish and expensive display.

 

Row upon row, like these:

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are many from the 1890s...

 

 

These 1893 models are from Peugeot and Menier, with Menier being just one of a great number of names no longer known. But they survive here, like the Sandford and Amilcar:

 

 

The Sandford is also French, with a Ruby engine and sliding pillar front suspension. And look at that limo in the background, so much a contrast with these little machines. A bit more 'ordinary' are these pre-war Peugeots:

 

 

In some markets the 202s headlights were not tucked in behind the grille, this model survived until the late forties while the Citroen just seen beside the 201 survived through to the fifties. And while French marques are very well-represented, the brothers apparently loved the odd Mercedes, this one being one of a number of cars displayed with an engine from that model alongside of it. Note the supercharger on the front of the engine:

 

 

This spilled over into the competition cars, with these Grand Prix Mercedes from the late thirties...

 

 

...and this 300SLR from the factory's racing team of 1955:

 

 

If I remember the story from years ago correctly, the brothers had a Grand Prix Mercedes of a type the factory didn't have an example left, the Daimler-Benz people were prepared to swap the 300SLR for the Grand Prix car. What struck me is that there is an 'F' for France on the back of it, presumably because the Schlumpfs went touring in it!

 

Note also in the background of the above pic that there is a row of fifties Grand Prix cars. A fabulous collection by any standard, and the rarity of some cars is amazing. Here is the Bugatti Grand Prix car from 1954, it had this engine mounted transversely behind the driver, in front of it in the line-up is a Gordini:

 

 

Another Bugatti, this one a plain old 4-door sedan of enormous size dating from the early fifties...

 

 

...while this Arzens is, rather suprisingly, from another French maker of the late thirties. I suspect the bubble car beside it is a bit later, however:

 

 

Out of the same era is this Delahaye, also of 3.5-litres...

 

 

...and this Mercedes-Benz 770K Grosser. This model was built for high government officials and wealthy businessmen, so it's no surprise that the car seen here was owned by Dr Heinkel, the aircraft manufacturer:

 

 

From Italy and Alfa Romeo in those pre-war years came this sports and the fabulous 2900 coupe, of the type which won a couple of Mille Miglias in those dark years. The length of the wheelbase surprised me...

 

 

...while the lack of British cars was noticeable too. Here's one now, a Lotus 7 in among some pretty classy Italian exotica:

 

 

Apart from a few Grand Prix machines from the sixties and seventies, a Rolls Royce (or two?) were the only other representatives of the automotive industry of the British Isles.

 

And to delight anyone with a mechanical bent, this WW2-built engine and gearbox from Bugatti is a real gem. Its four cylinders each have four valves, that looks like a little supercharger up front and it comes with a gearbox. Engine capacity? 369cc!

 

 

There are pics of the Bugatti Royales dwelling in the Schlumpf museum in an earlier post, I spent about half a day there and was nicely absorbed by it all. Afterwards I drove to Strasbourg, crossed the border into Germany and headed for Stuttgart where the rather less-interesting Daimler-Benz museum was one of my 'bucket list' items. As was the Solitude Grand Prix circuit, another of the public road circuits which used to abound in Europe.

Edited September 27, 2016 by RaymondG

[Tortuga]

Wow!

Loved the pictures and thank you for the detailed information. 

[RaymondG]

Originally posted by Tortuga

Wow!

Loved the pictures and thank you for the detailed information.

 

Think practically nothing of it, Richard...

 

I'll see about putting up some more scenic stuff in the next few days.

 

[hatcheckgirl]

These are from my recent trip to Singapore:

 

Edited July 23, 2017 by hatcheckgirl

[hatcheckgirl]

[Alexa]

Thank you for the pictures sis hatcheckgirl Wow, last year Japan... and now singapore thats a very nice vacations