I drove up to Stuttgart to see an old buddy from Oz, who was visiting relatives up there. The only bits of Stuttgart I saw were the interiors of the Mercedes-Benz and Porsche Museums. (Curiously, Stuttgart's other giant, Robert Bosch, doesn't appear to have one).
The Merky-Benz Museum is world-famous:
http://www.mercedes-benz-classic.com...eum.flash.html
and it is gorgeous. It takes you from the very beginning, with the pioneering work of Daimler and Maybach on the one hand, and Benz on the other. The two firms sprung up only about 50 miles apart and their founders apparently never met (the companies amalgamated in 1926). Like BMW's museum, you go to the top and then walk down a ramp, to the side of which are exhibition areas, which cover not only beautiful classic models but also buses, vans and trucks. Given Mercedes's enormous technical contributions to the automobile, I was surprised to see that these weren't given greater precedence - and not a single picture of Mercedes Jellinek, the face that launched a million cars!
Ohne mich? Wie kann das sein?
On the other hand, the relatively new Porsche museum has technology in spades:
http://www.porsche.com/international...porschemuseum/
It devotes much space to explaining the many innovations of Prof. Porsche and family. It describes some of his pre-Porsche Company work (but nothing about designing ever more complicated tanks for the Wehrmacht, which eventually got him clapped in irons by the French). There are lots of interactive displays explaining the technology - and a 956/962 sports racer stuck to the ceiling, because, at full speed, the downforce would enable it to be driven upside-down). Because it's the 911's 50th birthday, the exhibition is dominated by 911s of all vintages. And, at the end, there's a nice little cafe, with a glass wall looking on to the restoration workshop.
Definitely worth a visit, if you're ever in the area.
The Merky-Benz Museum is world-famous:
http://www.mercedes-benz-classic.com...eum.flash.html
and it is gorgeous. It takes you from the very beginning, with the pioneering work of Daimler and Maybach on the one hand, and Benz on the other. The two firms sprung up only about 50 miles apart and their founders apparently never met (the companies amalgamated in 1926). Like BMW's museum, you go to the top and then walk down a ramp, to the side of which are exhibition areas, which cover not only beautiful classic models but also buses, vans and trucks. Given Mercedes's enormous technical contributions to the automobile, I was surprised to see that these weren't given greater precedence - and not a single picture of Mercedes Jellinek, the face that launched a million cars!
Ohne mich? Wie kann das sein?
On the other hand, the relatively new Porsche museum has technology in spades:
http://www.porsche.com/international...porschemuseum/
It devotes much space to explaining the many innovations of Prof. Porsche and family. It describes some of his pre-Porsche Company work (but nothing about designing ever more complicated tanks for the Wehrmacht, which eventually got him clapped in irons by the French). There are lots of interactive displays explaining the technology - and a 956/962 sports racer stuck to the ceiling, because, at full speed, the downforce would enable it to be driven upside-down). Because it's the 911's 50th birthday, the exhibition is dominated by 911s of all vintages. And, at the end, there's a nice little cafe, with a glass wall looking on to the restoration workshop.
Definitely worth a visit, if you're ever in the area.
