My friend and her husband are really into cars. I didn’t know this about them until we started driving down the Autobahn and both of them were nearly salivating over all the Mercedes, Porsches, BMWs and assorted European sportscars whizzing past us. So we decided to go to the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. The Porsche Museum is right next to it, but we only had time for one.
I’m not a car person, but I’m game for anything. This wasn’t something I would have ever done on my own, so embraced the new experience and “went along for the ride.”
The museum itself is a very precise-looking chrome building. When you enter, you’re given an audio guide and take the elevator up to the 7th floor. That starts the journey of the German automotive industry — which seemed very similar to the alleged American automotive industry journey, or so I thought. We learned right away that Benz and Daimler designed the first automobile. I went along with it and then thought – wait a minute. Doesn’t Henry Ford make the same claim? So I asked the experts: my two friends. They conceded that Daimler was the first, but we had a nice long discussion on how interesting it was that three different men were working on the same idea at the same time in history.
We moved along, winding down the spiral floors as we traveled in time through Mercedes-Benz history. We looked at cars from the 1930’s, then ’40’s, etc. etc., hitting a different era on each floor. My friends were in heaven. They picked out which cars they wanted and took picture after picture of themselves with their dream cars. The cars meant nothing to me, but I enjoyed watching them ogle the machinery.
That’s what they are to me: machines. I can barely tell one car from another (don’t tell my dad!) and often don’t remember the make and model of my own car until I take a moment to think about it. So the cars meant little to me. There was no personal connection. UNTIL… we saw Princess Diana’s Mercedes. She was criticized for having too fine a car and so got rid of it. Her Mercedes now sits next to the Popemobile in the museum. I barely noticed that. I was too mesmerized by being inches away from Princess Diana’s Mercedes! She’d sat in it, lifted the handle, adjusted the mirrors… She’d touched it! NOW I was interested.
The Popemobile
We continued our journey, finishing our journey near the race cars that bear the Mercedes-Benz name. My friends continued taking pictures and dreaming of the cars they’d collect if they ever won the lottery. As we left, they wanted to make sure that I’d had a good time and hadn’t been too bored. Bored? No way! I saw Princess Di’s car!
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| This Mercedes-Benz belonged to Princess Diana. |
Is there a car/museum that interests you?
Browsing The Atlas 
Hands down – the best vehicle in the bunch is the pope mobile! There isn’t a bad view in that seat!! 🙂 What a cool museum!
~Andrea<3
Thanks, Andrea. It was pretty neat– and very recognizable.
I’m with you Julie and cars do nothing for me. But a physical or spiritual connection with someone from the past and you’ve got my full attention 🙂
To each his own, right? The men in my family love cars and would have loved this museum. I’m glad my co-worker suggested it or I never would have gone.
there is a very good collection of old cars, busses and trucks at Glasgow’s transport museum. It’s often true that many people are working on the same idea at the same time. Us Brits like to think tat we invented the jet engine, but the Germans were working on it at the same time as Sir Frank Whittle and had an operational fighter before the Gloucester Meteor took to the air. The French had an aircraft before the Wright Brothers, but their military didn’t think the cost worth developing.
That was a fascinating aspect to me. It happens with more than just cars. I guess whoever gets the patent first, wins.
I’m not a car person either but when I went to the transport museum in Glasgow, I surprised myself by liking it so much. I liked the cars that were like art pieces or museum pieces (either had that historical, human touch you’re talking about or were just beautiful in color or had a cute detail). Are you allowed to say cute when talking about a car detail?? Love your photos.
Wow. That’s two reco’s for Glasgow’s transport museum. Sounds like a must-see. Especially if there are cute cars (which is a perfectly acceptable term to me. 🙂 )
If there’s an all-Mustang museum somewhere, I’m in.
You know there has to be! There’s a Corvette Museum in Kentucky, so there’s got to be a Mustang Museum.
I’m not a car person either, but that was quite interesting … especially the personal angle re Princess Di. And I liked the sound of the pope mobile. Ha!
Yes. The cars meant more to me when there was a personal story attached. So, I guess I’m more into used cars. 🙂
I have to also agree with the majority of people here and say cars are definitely not my thing. But if they can be put into an interesting context (I would’ve been all over Princess Diana’s car too), then we can talk. I guess I’m more into hearing about people’s stories rather than just ogling shiny things. 😉
I guess this is why none of us write car blogs. 😉
I hadn’t heard that about Princess Di’s Mercedes. What did she replace it with??
I’m not into cars either, but I always enjoy watching someone reveal their passion. Well, up to a point, I guess – we all have our limits!
I agree completely. It was so much fun to watch my co-worker and her husband get excited about the cars. It didn’t matter to me that I didn’t share their enthusiasm. It just showed me another side to them.
I’m not sure what Diana drove after the Mercedes…if anything.
I hear ya. Newer cars definitely don’t do anything for me. But i would be interested in checking out the historical beauties, especially like you, if someone I was interested in had owned the car.