Denmark was a great trip, but soon after returning home I already left again and this time to the south of Germany. I had the privilege of being the only press at the grand opening of Martin and Inge Waltz’s Museum Volante in Kirchzarten near Freiburg. This time I was with my dad, which is always great, because together we always experience some weird and great adventures. I was happy to turn back to the German motorway race circuit, but our journey was CRAP! Literally everywhere roadworks, redirections and Stau (traffic jam in German)… After some SLOW 700 kms we arrived at the hotel, which was as I call it a Pinocchio kind of mountain house, the way my dad likes it! When watching out of the window of our room we saw a clattering stream with waterfall, very relaxing!

Enough about that, you are reading this because of the Museum! First of all, Volante is located in such a great pre-Alpine area! If you ever visit this place, please bring your own classic car with you! It is worth combining your visit with a nice road trip on those lovely mountain roads with lots of fine hairpins! Which was a good exercise for me as I had never driven before in the mountains with hairpins and altitudes…

The Museum used to be a tennis hall and it is a tuff looking building made of container material, giving a bit of an urban feeling. The owner, Martin Waltz and his wife Inge, have put so much work into it, you can really tell. The atmosphere of the museum is relaxing and very spacious with beautiful art on the walls. This makes that all the focus can go to the cars on display as you can see in the pics. 

The collection of the museum is quite versatile, prewar as well as postwar. Martin’s impressive and unique collection of Vanvooren cars is the centerpiece of the exhibition. A Bugatti 1938 T57 cabriolet was the highlight for me, but the other 7 Vanvooren bodied cars were almost equally enviable (1911 Panhard et Levassor X14 tourer – with possibly the oldest surviving Vanvooren body – 1928 Avions Voisin C11 saloon, 1935 Alvis SD20 drophead coupe, 1939 Rolls–Royce Wraith faux cabriolet, 1937 Hispano-Suiza K6 berline, 1938 Bentley 4 1/4 liter coupe – simply gorgeous! – and not shown, but coming soon is a 1950 Delahaye 135M coupe – with the very last body built by Vanvooren!) This eclectic collection must really be seen by all enthusiasts of fine coachwork. Congratulations Martin with such fine taste. 

Also strongly represented are postwar Italian supercars. This part of the collection represents certain themes, so the Italians will change in time. Unlike the Vanvoorens, which are all owned by Martin and are permanent dispays (unless taken to a concours of course). Changing and special themes is a nice feature they have incorporated in their museum and takes place in cooperation with other enthusiastic petrol heads who will be allowed to display their cars in this lovely museum! That is what we call a WIN WIN situation! At the time of the opening there were nine different themes.

Some other cars I really enjoyed were a ‘museum find’ Bugatti T35A (features engine n°1 of the series!), a Lincoln KA coupe, a 1963 Jaguar E-Type coupe and a Delahaye racer (even if it was a later reconstruction on a postwar Delahaye 135MS chassis). Of the Italian supercars my favorite was for sure the orange MIURA! : )

Another nice fact I can share with you is that the Ferrari Daytona Spider was first owned by Carlo Ponti and Sophia Loren and later on by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd! An iconic Ferrari it is!

When one gets hungry after walking around thru this great automobile hall of fame, there is the fine restaurant with the name Mangusta as well as a bar, all in the same building with a very nice view on the gorgeous collection!

To sum things up, it was a great evening with many highly interesting people! The place was crowded with invitees from all over Europe. Thanks again to Martin and Inge Waltz for inviting us and CHB to their Grand Opening! For more information and the location, click here!

Something else I can tell you is about my search for a decent little racemoster. I am looking for my first own classic car and it will probably be an Amilcar or other cyclecar, or perhaps a Riley special; just to name a few examples. I will definitely share the stories of my search on CHB!

Next up a report of the weekend at the Zandvoort Vintage Revival at the Zandvoort Circuitpark, VROOOOOM!

Written by Rosemarijn Atalante Veenenbos and corrected by Martin Waltz himself! : )

To get you in the mood of making a road trip in the great pre-Alpine area, a nice little impression…