A roundup of notable motoring museums around the world

by Matthew Cottrell

From the sleek lines of a vintage Ferrari to the mighty roar of a muscle car, car museums around the world serve as temples to automotive history, showcasing a captivating blend of engineering, design, and cultural impact. These institutions range from sprawling national collections to specialized, privately-run havens, each offering a unique journey through the evolution of the automobile and its influence on modern society. A visit to these museums provides an immersive experience into the technology, artistry, and heritage that define the world's long-standing love affair with the automobile.

United States

The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Leeds, Alabama (barbermuseum.org), is the world's largest motorcycle museum, according to Guinness World Records. Situated on the 880-acre Barber Motorsports Park, it houses over 1,800 motorcycles, with more than 1,000 on display at any given time, alongside the world's most extensive collection of Lotus race cars and other vintage race cars.

The Brumos Collection in Jacksonville, Florida (thebrumoscollection.com) focuses on the evolution of the automobile through competition, with a significant emphasis on the legacy of Brumos Racing and Porsche, and on showcasing cars tested in iconic races like Daytona and Sebring. Visitors can explore a wide range of vehicles, including rare open-cockpit racers dating back to 1894, vintage Indianapolis 500 cars, Grand Prix machines, a vast selection of Brumos Porsches. Notable vehicles include Steve McQueen's Porsche 917K from the film Le Mans.

A national historic landmark, the 250-acre complex of The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan (thehenryford.org) offers five distinct attractions, including the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation (home to Rosa Parks' bus and JFK's limousine, among other exhibits), the Ford Rouge Factory Tour, and the Benson Ford Research Center.

The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan

Bubbletop Limo used by Truman Eisenhower and Kennedy / KMS Photography

Located inside the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum (imsmuseum.org) is fresh off a $60.5 million, 17-month renovation, its first significant renovation in 40 years. The addition of 40,000 square feet of made room for new immersive and dynamic experiences, including seven permanent and three rotating galleries, a new mezzanine dedicated to displaying non-vehicle artifacts, The "Starting Line Experience," an immersive video space showcasing the pageantry leading up to the start of the "500", state-of-the art racing, and a "pit stop challenge" for guests to learn the tools and equipment of the racing trade.

The Indianapolis Speedway Museum reopened in April 2025 after a $60.5 million renovation.

The Indianapolis Speedway Museum mezzanine.

Housed in a converted former bakery, the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, Tennessee (lanemotormuseum.org), offers a unique and extensive collection of over 500 predominantly European automobiles, with a special focus on unusual and innovative designs. Notably, it is one of the few working museums in the U.S. that strives to maintain nearly all its vehicles in running order. For a deeper dive, the museum offers weekend "Vault Tours" of the extensive reserve collection stored in the basement.

The LeMay-America's Car Museum in Tacoma, Washington (americascarmuseum.org), is a 165,000-square-foot, four-level facility that showcases the history and culture of the American automobile. The museum's collection, which includes over 300 cars, trucks, and motorcycles, is based around a core group of vehicles from the private collection of Tacoma businessman Harold LeMay.

Located across the street from the only GM assembly plant that builds Corvettes, the 115,000-square-foot National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky (corvettemuseum.org), provides a chronological journey through all eight generations of the Corvette, from the first 1953 models (C1) to the current mid-engine C8s. More than 80 cars are on display in nostalgic, periodic settings, such as a 1950s-style service station and soda shop.

With a striking façade composed of a red aluminum rain screen overlaid with a series of 308 undulating, "angel hair" stainless-steel ribbons, the Petersen Automotive Museum (petersen.org) is an architectural marvel on Los Angeles's famed Miracle Mile. Inside, the museum features over 300 vehicles across 25 galleries, with exhibits organized thematically across three floors. The collection spans the entire history of the automobile, from early horseless carriages and pre-war classics to modern hypercars and alternative-fuel vehicles.

Europe

Housed in the Audi's original factory in Zwickau, Germany, and named to honor the founder of the manufacturing giant that eventually became Audi, the August Horch Museum's permanent collection showcases roughly 160 large exhibits. Vehicles, including early Horch and Audi models, DKW, Wanderer, and the iconic Trabant, are displayed in recreated historical settings that contextualize their place in history.

August Horsch Museum located in Zwickau, Germany.

In the heart of Italy's "Motor Valley," the Automobili Lamborghini Museum in Sant'Agata Bolognese (lamborghini.com/en-en/museum#val-tab) is dedicated to the history, innovation, and iconic models of the brand. Visitors can see a rotating collection of classic and modern supercars, including historical models like the Miura and Countach, as well as recent and one-off vehicles like the Sesto Elemento, Veneno, and Sián. They can also tour the factory production lines and test their skills in a driving simulator.

The BMW Museum in Munich (bmw-welt.com/en) is one of the oldest car museums in Germany. The permanent exhibition is split into seven theme-based exhibitions housing nearly 125 original exhibits from over 100 years of BMW Group history. In the Rotunda, temporary exhibitions highlight the company's brands or notable contemporary themes. The BMW Junior Museum offers interactive tours and a selection of workshops on topics such as design, architecture, art, and sustainability.

The British Motor Museum in the small village of Gaydon, Warwickshire (britishmotormuseum.co.uk) brings the story of British motoring to life with the world's largest collection of historic British cars, featuring more than 400 vehicles from the classic, vintage, and veteran eras. Visitors can explore exhibits on the history of the British motor industry, see iconic movie cars like the FAB1 and the James Bond Land Rover.

British Motor Museum in Gaydon, Warwickshire.

With over 400 vehicles, the Cité de l'Automobile in Mulhouse, France (musee-automobile.fr/en/), is a national automobile museum renowned for housing the world's most extensive Bugatti collection. Beyond the exhibits, visitors can experience interactive road-safety simulations, a race-car demonstration area, and, for an extra fee, drive classic cars on a private track.

Assembled over two generations by the Louwman family, the Louwman Museum in The Hague (louwmanmuseum.nl/en/)owns the world's largest collection of cars built before 1910. It displays some of the earliest patented motorcars, including a Benz Patent-Motorwagen from 1886 and a De Dion Bouton & Trépardoux from 1887. Architect Michael Graves designed the purpose-built structure, which was opened in 2010 by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.

The unique double-helix structure with two spiral-like ramps guides visitors of the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany, through the nine floors. The museum's interior has no enclosed rooms or straight walls, creating a dynamic flow for the exhibits, which trace the history of the Mercedes-Benz brand and the automobile industry from its origins in 1886 to the present day.

Mark your calendars for May 2026, when the Musée des 24 Heures du Mans (lemans-musee24h.com/en), a motorsport museum located at the famous Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France, reopens as the M24 museum after undergoing a significant expansion.

The Museo Ferrari in Maranello, Italy (ferrari.com/en-EN/museums/ferrari-maranello) is dedicated to the history of Ferrari, located near the factory and focusing on iconic road and track cars, as well as the company's motorsport successes. In contrast, the Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari in Modena (ferrari.com/en-EN/museums/enzo-ferrari-modena) centers on the life of Enzo Ferrari, featuring his birthplace and a futuristic building for temporary exhibitions. While both are Ferrari museums, the Maranello location is the marque's official company museum, showcasing its modern and historic cars.

Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari in Modena, Italy

Founded in 1933, the Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile in Turin, Italy (museoauto.com/en/mauto/) is considered one of the world's best car museums. It houses a collection of nearly 200 cars from over 80 different brands, arranged chronologically and thematically over three floors, tracing the car's evolution from its earliest models to modern concepts.

Musée de l'Automobile, Mulhouse, France / photo by Alexis Toureau

Asia

The Motorcar Museum of Japan, located in Komatsu City (motorcar-museum.jp), is Japan's first and largest automobile museum, housing a vast collection of over 500 vehicles from the 1900s to the 1970s, including many early commercial vehicles that were crucial to Japan's post-war economic recovery.

The first dedicated automotive museum in China, the Shanghai Auto Museum, located in Jiading District (shautomuseum.com), features over 100 cars from around the world, including many rare and classic European models, as well as significant Chinese-made vehicles such as the Hongqi CA770 and the Shanghai SH760A. The museum, notable for the flowing curves of its exterior, sits adjacent to the Shanghai International F1 Circuit, China's first racing complex for Formula 1 cars.

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United States

Europe

Asia