I had a meeting in Brussels this past Friday so when I learned one of my peeps working in London and a colleague were planning on spending a weekend in Brussels, it wasn't a difficult decision to decided to stay a bit longer (on my own dime, of course). They didn't arrive until around noon on Saturday, so I wandered about a bit on Saturday morning, including one of my favorite places from previous visits - Cinquantenaire Park. The last time I was in the park, I had kind of stumbled across it, I believe. Didn't know much about it and most assuredly did not have an "app" for the city. So as I was wandering about, I decided to see if there was anything about the park that I should know.
Well, there was a very significant change from the last time I had visited - Autoworld. Oh, now just stop!! And stop indeed I did, particularly since I was quite certain that my chick friends would not be interested in automobile goodness.
The museum itself is in a building that looks a bit like a rounded hangar but with a glass and iron structure overhead, giving it the feel of a greenhouse. There is amusing signage out front (though I suppose it is not meant to be amusing) indicating parking for "Oldtimers" (I can only assume that they mean the cars, not their drivers.) Inside, there was a ticket counter, albeit not with great controls to prevent people from entering or for validating their tickets and/or counting the number of visitors. There were no audio guides.
Inside, there were two levels. The first was relatively well marked, both in terms of flow and of the models of the vehicles. This level generally contained cars up until around the time of World War II. There was also a small separate section with carriages and other horse-drawn means of transport. I would say that the general focus was on European-produced vehicles and I learned quite a bit about brands that have faded or disappeared through the years. I also learned a few new tidbits that perhaps if I were a better automotive enthusiast I would have known, including:
- Vespa produced not only scooters but also a vehicle targeted toward women that included Brigitte Bardot in the marketing of the vehicles.
- Rolls Royce vehicles were initially produced just as an engine and chassis and then individuals would hire coachmakers to "pimp them out" (pretty sure they didn't use that term back then) with the driver/passenger cabin.
- The museum included an old 1920s Ford that was, in the manner described above, pimped out as a camper by a Belgian coachmaker. I guess this was the beginning of the european mobile home camping phenomena?
- Ferdinand Porsche (yes, THAT Porsche) designed the Volkswagen Beetle.
- The British monarchy relied on Daimler, not Rolls Royce, for its vehicles until the early 50s.
- Apparently the Swiss were involved in cars, given the 1935 Hispano-Suiza on display. Who knew?
The second floor was just a bit odd and erased some of the positive thoughts I had had of the first floor - essentially either a new or underfunded museum but moving in the right direction. Because this was a giant open space with two levels, one could see signs indicating the decades from 1960-2000. The other side was a bit of a mystery. When I got up to the second floor, it took on the character of a large garage where car afficionados liked to keep cars or where a bunch of guys (sorry ladies) who love cars decided they should open a museum. Many more private collection cars, fewer signs regarding progeny or significance of the vehicles.
Live plants significantly in need of watering. Empty spaces. And a sort of cafe in the making. Generally disappointing, other than the surprise appearance among high-end or sporty vehicles of the lowly AMC Pacer. My grandfather had one of these "fishbowls-on-wheels" and, of course, it was immortalized in the movie, "Wayne's World."Overall, for €6, I would go again. And then demand more Audi vehicles. ;-)
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