My Sunday afternoon was spent among a lot of vehicles! And believe me when I say that there were a lot of them. 173 bicycles, cars and motorcycles, according to the list I have found on the official website of the museum we have visited this afternoon.
It is a museum of ancient (antique) vehicles which is situated in the valley of Guadalest (Spain). We had early lunch and tried to sleep a short siesta. But there were some tourists having a loud party in the pool of our building, and you guess, the nap was ruined. Also, it is so warm so we are inside with the air conditioner on but I just don't like to spend a whole day in that way. I wanted to go to the valley and breath some fresh air and at the same time visit that museum. We have visited it once, many years ago, but why not do it again. The ticket is 4 euros per person, so it is not that much.
It was indeed refreshing when we arrived. A breeze, mountains all around and this small museum and one restaurant. Also, stands selling honey, vine, almonds, fruits and artisanal objects. But this time, our target was the interior of the museum, travel back in time with these old vehicles.
The owner of the museum has been recollecting these vehicles for 38 years already. His love for motorcycles and cars started when he was still a child. Ricardo (the owner) grew up observing in the smithy how bicycles, motorcycles, and other objects used in the homes were repaired and the broken parts replaced.
The economy of his family could not allow him to have all the motorcycles he wanted to have. However, when he got married and started the business (the restaurant) with his wife, he was able to buy himself a Montesa Enduro 360 H6. Slowly he started to search for abandoned and broken bikes, to repair them. First just in the zone and later travelling through Spain. The collection was growing... And in 2003 he opened the museum.
It is almost unbelievable the quantity of the vehicles he was able to recollect. And their condition is impeccable.
When we walk among all those vehicles, we could be already lost, not knowing what we are looking at. But there are labelled sections, for national vehicles (Spanish), German, Italian, English, and French vehicles, and also a collection of vehicles from the USA. The majority of the vehicles are motorcycles, but there are also cars and bicycles. Even toy vehicles, for the smallest ones.
This car actually looks like a toy, but it is not! This is a microcar that was very popular, because of its very unusual shape. It looks like a helicopter. One of the peculiarities is its front door, to facilitate the entrance to the cabin, which had three seats. Its manufactory started in 1953 in Italy, but later it the licence had other countries too, like Germany (BMW). This one what we see in the photo was made in Spain, the brand ISO, and the model was ISETTA (the licence was obtained from Italy).
The next one is also very weird and cute. It has three wheels and for me, it looks like a vehicle from space XD
The brand of this "space vehicle" is Messerschmitt, and the model KR 200. It was fabricated from 1955 until 1964. Actually, this is a scooter with a cabin, it has just two seats and three wheels. The roof is transparent !! So cool, isn't it? And the steering wheel is so peculiar too.
So, this is the steering wheel. Maybe the feeling to drive it was similar to flying a plane? We should try it to know.
We have seen more of those interesting cars, some were really old, but also there were those more "modern" ones, produced around or after the second World War.
These are some older vehicles:
Lacroix de Laville, model: La Nef.
A vehicle from France, made between 1902 and 1909! It had a single-cylinder motor, with one gear.
Although it is called La Nef (a boat) the designer of it made a prototype of it already in 1898, the appearance of this vehicle resembles a horse-drawn carriage. In total, there were just around 200 of this model produced. How lucky was the owner of the museum to obtain one of these!
This blue one is brand Morgan, model Aero. It was made in 1927, in England. They were very popular due to the success they had in car races. They also had three wheels, but in 1935 Morgan presented the first four wheels version.
We moved to the Italian section, and of course, we saw the famous Vespa motorcycles but also a Vespa micro car.
What is curious, is that this Model 400 was made in France, but with the Italian Piaggio licence.
It could run at the speed of 90 km/h while having 4 passengers inside.
I saw also a cute Fiat, very popular in other countries of Europe, as several of them had the licence to produce it. Many of them can be still seen well maintained among the collectors.
The red car is a Renault, model Alpine A-108 and it was produced in Spain (with the Renault licence). Only 338 units are made between 1963 and 1966.
Guys, are you already tired of all these vehicles? Well, I am getting lost too, but the motorcycles are just starting now :D
And there were a lot more of them than cars... I would completely understand if you could not continue reading this post, but, maybe some nice gems still can be seen. So, let's try to continue the adventure.
Some examples of Harley-Davidson, made in the thirties and forties of the last century.
Peugeot:
BMW, models R 4 and R 27:
Henderson, model K de luxe. Made in the USA in 1922:
Cleveland, model Cleveland 20, made between 1920 and 1923 in the USA.
Indian Scout:
Triumph, model P 500, from 1924:
Bultaco motorbikes:
.. and a bunch of others that I have no clue about anymore :D
There were some of those motorcycles that had an extra seat by side, like a small open cabin. I saw several of those:
The details on some of them were interesting to catch. Those older ones, especially. I liked the headlights, horns, speedometers...
I have to congratulate you if you made until here without getting too lost among all these old vehicles. There is a lot more to see, and who knows, many also to ride, as if the owner keeps them in good condition maybe they still work. We didn't ask, as we had our car parked outside, and I highly doubt we would be allowed to touch or ride any of these. The "ride" in this museum was made on foot! Pretty enough for a Sunday afternoon!
