A small group of motor heads left Australia in late July for a trip through motoring history that started in Munich and wound its way to Ingolstadt, Stuttgart, Heidelberg and Frankfurt.
Along the way we delved into the history of some ancient famous cities, castles and architecture that Australians continually found hard to believe.
RallySport Magazine has been hosting overseas tours for more than 20 years and has gained an enviable reputation for VIP service. From World Rally Championship rallies to the Otago Rally and United Kingdom and German motoring tours, there is an option for everyone. Contact us for more information.
BMWs, beers and castles
Meeting in Munich, our first port of call was the lavish museum of the Bavarian Motor Works – or BMW as you and I know it.
From motorcycles to Gull Wings, from Formula 1 cars and LeMans racers, right through to a BMW once owned by Elvis Presley, BMW offered something for everyone. My favourite was a bright red 1989 M3 Sport Evolution which took me back to the spectacular driving of Patrick Snijers in his ‘Bastos’ liveried car on the Manx Rally.
Not surprisingly, the museum offered a wealth of knowledge about the history of the famed manufacturer, and for those willing to spend the time and read up, you could easily have spent half a day or more enthralled in the marque.
The adjoining BMW Welt showcased a wide range of the other cars in the company’s stable, including Minis and Rolls Royces!
With our appetites whet after a couple of hours, we moved on to the centre of Munich’s old town where our local guide took us on a three-hour adventure of the city that ended up being four hours!
The walking tour included a visit to the Hofbrauhaus, a pub made famous by the annual Octoberfest and, in the 1940s, by visits from a famous dictator who would give speeches to large crowds.
Of course, we went back to the Hofbrauhaus for a pub meal that night, with some tour members enjoying a litre (!) of their famous ale. Each October, six million litres of the amber fluid flows out of the kegs here…
The following morning it was onto our tour bus early for the 90 minute drive to the magnificent Neuschwanstein Castle, south of Munich. Perched high on a hill, the castle was built in the 1800s by King Ludwig II and is now one of the country’s premier tourist attractions.
With our guided tour of the castle complete, we took the obligatory photos from the adjacent bridge before heading back down to the car park on the free Formula 1 car … I mean, bus. Seriously, it was like our bus driver was on a qualifying lap as he pushed his steed down the hill at a great rate of knots. It was no trip for the queasy.
We then drove more sedately into the nearby town of Fussen for lunch and a walk through the ancient, cobbled streets. This was the real Germany we’d come to see.
That night, looking for somewhere for dinner, we discovered a real gem. Motor World provided some dinner options as well as the most incredible collection of privately owned supercars you’ll see just about anywhere.
There were more McLarens and Lamborghinis than you could poke a stick at, while dozens of glass containers were being used to store cars for private owners. Ferraris, Porsches, Michael Schumacher Formula 1 cars, LeMans cars – you name it, they had it!
It was quite extraordinary.
In Ingolstadt it started
I don’t know about our guests, but for me, this was the day I’d been waiting for, visiting the Audi museum and seeing real Group B Quattros in the flesh.
It’s fair to say I wasn’t disappointed, although the Audi Forum was the smallest of the car museums we visited in Germany.
The signature piece in the museum is a rotating carousel that goes from floor to ceiling over several floors and features many of the marque’s most famous rally and race cars.
Included were works versions of the A2 and Sport Quattros, alongside the Group B S1 that Walter Rohrl used on the Pikes Hillclimb in the USA. There were also road versions of the Quattros elsewhere to drool over.
Audi’s motoring history was clearly on display throughout the museum, but most of our group seemed intent on simply standing and watching the carousel turn around and salivating over the works Quattros. And why not?
We watched an informative documentary on the production of Audis in Ingolstadt, with 40,000 of the city’s 100,000 inhabitants working at the factory.
Many Euros were spent in the Audi shop before it was time to move on to Stuttgart, the home of two other German icons.
A day like no other – Stuttgart’s finest
On arrival in Stuttgart that afternoon we embarked on our three-hour walking tour of the city. Far less interesting than our similar tour in Munich, it was, nevertheless, a worthwhile inclusion.
The city was in the middle of hosting a music festival as we were there, so while there were people everywhere and a real vibe to the place, it did mean we couldn’t get access to some of the regular tourist hotspots.
Another Motor World was situated just three kilometres from our hotel, and while this one wasn’t as impressive as in Munich, it provided great restaurants and another incredible range of privately owned cars. The racing simulators were also a hit with many of the tour group.
The next morning it was off to visit the big two. Porsche was first on the list and provided us with another two hours of motoring bliss.
It’s hard to describe how well-presented these museums are, and how many amazing cars each manufacturer has produced over the years. If you’re a fan of the 911 (and who isn’t?), this is literally heaven on earth as every iteration of the classic machine is right there before your eyes.
Porsche’s extensive racing history is well laid out with cars from every discipline of the sport, but rally fans were left a little disappointed when only a road-going version of the 959 Dakar car was on display. The original Rothmans-liveried car must have been on duty somewhere else.
For those keen enough there were Porsches on the concourse out the front of the museum that you could rent for the day, but our guests found prices a little more to their liking in the accompanying cafe and gift shop!
From Porsche, it was a short drive to begin our journey through the history of the car at Mercedes. This was easily the most lavish and well-presented museum that we visited as guests spiralled their way down several floors. It’s a place that wouldn’t be hard to spend a full day in.
Mercedes’ motorsport history was a key feature of the museum with Formula 1 cars, touring cars, LeMans cars and everything in between. There were even rally cars on show: a 500 SLC driven by Bjorn Waldegard in the Ivory Coast Rally, and Andrew Cowan’s 280E from the 1977 London to Sydney Rally.
Photos from the Mercedes Museum tell more of a story of the place than any of my superlatives ever could, other than to say it was a ‘must do’ experience. Having said that though, all the museums we visited are in that category.
But wait, it gets better
We thought we’d seen it all, but the next day things got even better when we visited the Technik Museum at Sinsheim, about an hour further north.
I’d been told good things about Sinsheim, but nothing prepared us for what we were about to experience – except maybe the two Concordes we could see in the distance, and the World War 2 U-Boat that was blocking the road into the museum!
That’s right, the whole of Sinsheim was in festival mode as the streets were closed and they readied themselves for the arrival of the museum’s latest exhibit. Marching bands played, food vendors plied their trade, freebies were given out to everyone, and thousands of people packed the streets.
Back to the museum though. It didn’t matter if your interest was in aeroplanes, helicopters, army tanks, cycling, trains, tractors or even music organs, this was the place for you.
And cars. Oh my goodness, there were some cars!
Over three massive halls, there were versions of just about every road car you could think of, and the most incredible array of motorsport cars you could see.
Try at least 15 original Formula 1 cars, a Lancia Stratos, a Lancia 037, Renault R5 Turbo, Mercedes 450 SLC, a DeLorean, Porsche 911 Dakar, and Porsche Cup cars.
The big surprise, however, was the special LeMans display that took up a whole hall on its own. There was a huge range of LeMans cars from all eras, and a detailed history of the race that was brilliantly presented. It’s just a shame we didn’t have more time!
After a hearty lunch, and just as the U-Boat was arriving, we headed for our next destination in Heidelberg. The afternoon was spent with another three-hour walking tour around this historic city that was perhaps the highlight of our sightseeing.
A funicular ride up to the 12th century castle provided much history and great views of the city and the Neckar River before we walked down and into the old town to explore its beauty.
After dinner, we found an ice cream parlour for our daily dose, before bedding down so that we could go again the following day.
To the moon and back
Today’s visit was to Sinsheim’s sister museum at Speyer, about 30 minutes drive from Heidelberg. We knew we were getting close when we could see the Boeing 747 coming in for landing …
The same, but different, is probably the best way to describe the Technik Museum at Speyer. Brilliantly presented, there was ample opportunity to view some of the icons of the transportation world.
Boeing 747s, Antonovs, space shuttles, rockets, submarines, cars, trucks, boats, trains, planes, and just about everything in between, this was another must-do.
Like at Sinsheim, there was also an iMax theatre on-site and our group ventured in to watch the Apollo 11 moon landing on the big screen.
All too soon we were heading out the doors and off for the next location – a visit to the Hockenheim motoring racing circuit, that previously hosted the German Formula 1 Grand Prix.
There used to be a museum at Hockenheim but this has now closed down, so all we got to see was the gift shop and the view of the track from the adjoining grandstand. The only on-track action was a bunch of BMWs doing driver training, but as many readers will appreciate, there’s a certain aura about standing at a motoring racing circuit and taking in all that has happened on the squiggly tarmac in front of you.
It was then back into Heidelberg for more sightseeing and another stunning German meal.
The end is nigh
Our final full day saw us take a leisurely drive north to Frankfurt where we enjoyed a final walking tour of the city. The weather was now warming up with temperatures in the low 30s as we wandered through the streets of the city.
Like much of Germany, around 60% of Frankfurt had been destroyed during World War 2 and many of the old buildings are no longer there. This didn’t detract from the tour though, and seeing how it’s been rebuilt over the past 80 years is quite something.
Our final task for the day was a group dinner at our hotel, before some of our group left for home the following day, while others were getting ready for a flight to Finland to the jewel in rallying’s crown – Rally Finland.
But that’s another story.
RallySport Magazine has been hosting overseas tours for more than 20 years and has gained an enviable reputation for VIP service. From World Rally Championship rallies to the Otago Rally and United Kingdom and German motoring tours, there is an option for everyone. Contact us for more information.
