5 Car Museums You Can Visit From Home!

The global coronavirus pandemic has an unlikely but welcomed environment upside. With global lockdowns already in place and set to continue for the forseeable future, air travel has plummeted, resulting in a significant and measurable reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

However, flight cancellations and lockdowns also mean that petrolheads are stuck at home, unable to, in some countries anyways, take their pride and joy for a quick spin. That being said, there are many ways that you can get your automotive itch scratched (for starters you can keep reading the stuff we’re putting out!), and we’ll gradually cover those in the coming weeks. But with the increased likelihood that our Circuit Breaker measures may possibly be extended, we thought we’d like to bring you some entertainment, in the form of 5 must-see car museums that you can now visit from the comfort of your own home!

Photo: Ferrari

Ferrari is a brand that needs no introduction. It is the most successful constructor in Formula One history (in sheer numbers anyways, by percentage the folks from Stuttgart/Brackley have them beat!), and their museum wears that heritage with pride. Some of the sports’ biggest names, think Lauda, Schumacher, Raikkonen, and more recently Vettel and Leclerc, have piloted machinery in the halls to race victories, and in the case of the former trio, championships as well.

Ferrari’s collection isn’t the most extensive, nor is the tour made by any professional organisation, but it covers enough, and you can have a really thorough virtual glance at some of the Italian marque’s iconic road and race cars! Click here for the factory tour!

Photo: Google/Porsche

If you’re a Porsche fanatic you’ll absolutely love their museum. Not only do you get to see your modern classics, there are cars on display that date back to the 1910s as well. Equally a feature are the results of the German automakers’ on-track exploits, which includes Alain Prost’s TAG Porsche-powered McLaren F1 car.

Other surprises to the collection include the original Porsche Boxster Concept, a military vehicle built by Porsche and even the Panamericana Concept, which gave the world at the time a sneak peek of the then-upcoming iteration of the iconic 911, the 993! Here's the factory but virtually!

Beyond their digital tour, automobile and racing fans can get up and close with their favourite racing drivers such as Stéphane Ortelli, Mark Webber and Kurt Ahrens in a Q&A session via thier Instagram page.

Check out their kid-friendly page, loaded games and activities, created for your young ones to stay occupied during this circuit breaker period. There are even colouring pages, featuring some iconic Porsches.

Photo: Google/Toyota

Toyota’s Nagakute Automotive Museum is home to the largest collection of classic Toyotas anywhere in the world. Most of the brand’s pioneering vehicles are on display, from the 1936 Toyoda Model AA, to cars sold under the Toyopet marque, and from modern alternative fuels and electric vehicle development mules, to concept vehicles. One such modern Toyota icon, the Lexus LS, is prominently on display, with a Toyota 2000GT in close company.

Toyota’s collection contains other equally iconic vehicles from other marques as well, with several large American saloons, and sports cars such as the Datsun 240Z and the Mercedes 300SL.

Photo: Honda

If you’re clicking this link expecting to see exhibition halls filled with all different variants of any mid-90s Civic, then do prepare for disappointment. Though we’re really not sure if the word ‘disappointment’ can really ever be used seriously to describe any part of this museum. It contains an extensive portfolio of Honda’s engineering efforts, both on the track, road and off it as well, with a wide array of motorbikes, from the basic but iconic monkey bike, to fully-kitted out MotoGP monsters, as well as the usual suspects like the NSX, Beat and different variants of the Civic. Honda even found room for its Asimo robot too!

But that’s not all. Honda was, and currently still is, an engine supplier in Formula One, and they have a long history in the sport, powering cars from other constructors, sometimes to championship victory. Expect to see the cars from other legendary names of the sport, such as Williams and Jordan, as part of Honda’s collection.

Photo: Mercedes Benz

You’d expect no less than what is frankly an epic collection of vehicles from the very company that created the motor car as we’ve come to know and love today. Throughout its 137 years in the business, they have accrued a motley collection of machinery, that can range from historically-significant buses to Le Mans challengers and anything in between.

Their museum is split up into 7 different exhibits, each celebrating a different era of the brand and the technological advancements and achievements they’ve achieved in that time period. The 7th exhibit, Legend 7, is reserved for vehicles used by Mercedes in motorsport competition, and includes an ever growing list of championship-winning race cars used in the DTM series and in Formula One, as well as race-worn overalls from some of the biggest names in the sport. Click here for the museum!

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Credits: Jek Ray Low