Detour Pit Stop #51: Cité de L'Automobile, Mulhouse, France
Bugatti
The world’s biggest collection of Bugattis is not at the brand’s home in Molsheim, but 60 miles south in Mulhouse.
It was here that that textile millionaire Fritz Schlumpf lived, raced and collected the most fancy of French cars. Schlumpf bought his first Bugatti at the age of 22 in 1928, but it wasn’t until 1961 that his passion led to him beginning to amass the largest collection on the planet.
Schlumpf chased owners all over the globe to gather his collection, obtaining 30 cars from a single owner – John W Shakespeare of Hoffmain, Illinois. Bought for $85,000 including shipping this was an absolute steal. Schlumpf didn’t stop with Bugatti, however. During the next few years he and his brother Hans gathered no less than 436 different cars for their collection.
Housed in one of the Schlumpf company warehouses the cars were restored and the space gradually transformed into a museum. Scheduled to open to the public in 1976, the extraordinary cost of the collection had by now taken its toll and the Schlumpfs filed for bankruptcy. The site and all the cars were sealed off pending the court’s decision.
Meanwhile the unions representing Schlumpf workers occupied the museum and allowed entry for free to promote their side of the case. One sign read “I earned 1,400 francs a month, and this is where the rest went”.
In 1979 the Shlumpfs were ordered to liquidate their assets and in 1981 The Association du Musée National de L’Automobile bought the entire Shlumpf Collection for 44 million francs. A year later it was open to the public.
Extended and enhanced in 2000 the museum is now known as Cité de L’Automobile and may well be the most exceptional car museum in the world. Alongside its static exhibits there’s a small test track where for as little as 40 Euros you can drive a classic car from the collection. You’ll find MGs. Citroëns, Jaguars, Ferraris, Porsches and Lamborghinis on the list of dreams – but not Bugattis.
Photography Lone Nedegard / Bugatti
