Cité de l'Automobile

The Cité de l'Automobile houses the Schlumpf Collection, the largest and most significant collection of historic automobiles in the world. The centrepiece is the Bugatti holdings — over 120 examples covering nearly every model the marque produced, including two of the three surviving Type 41 Royales, the most expensive cars Bugatti ever made. The collection also includes Rolls-Royces, Ferraris, Hispano-Suizas, and racing cars from across the history of the sport.

The display space covers 17,000 square metres in a former textile mill. Cars are arranged thematically and chronologically, with good explanatory panels in French and English. Interactive simulators, period film footage, and reconstructed racing scenes add context without being gimmicky. Allow at least two to three hours, more if you have any interest in automotive history.

The museum is located in the Doller neighbourhood north of the city centre, easily reached by tram from Mulhouse-Ville station.

things to do museum
A story
The Schlumpf Collection began as a secret obsession. Fritz and Hans Schlumpf ran a wool-spinning company in Mulhouse and spent decades buying cars — hundreds of them — storing them in a disused factory. When workers discovered the hoard in 1977 during a labour dispute and broke in, they found over 400 cars, many still in their shipping crates, never driven. The French state seized the collection and opened it to the public.