Auto & Technik Museum Sinsheim – Motorsport Wanderlust

This place was not even on my radar when planning a trip to Europe.

I would like to thank my friend Florian from the bottom of my heart for the warm hospitality he offered me on my visit to Stuttgart and the surprise he gifted me including this visit to Sinsheim and Hockenheimring where he was volunteering for ADAC GT that weekend. I just got a sneak peak into both venues but they were truly experiences of a lifetime. Thank you Florian!

So it’s not often that I get fan mail, but it’s usually very pleasant when it happens. Florian saw my post about planning a trip to Stuttgart and wanted to meet up when I’m in Germany. Of course! That would be great… I love meeting people when I travel and it was a great opportunity to chit chat over some local cuisine talking about our common hobby: Motorsport. Little did I know Florian was planning to take me to Sinsheim the next day after our delicious dinner as well as a quick visit to Hockenheimring while he set up his tent for the weekend of working there. Sinsheim blew my mind!

I guess best I can describe it, it’s a roadside attraction on the A6 motorway. Sort of a general purpose museum featuring everything from cars to airplanes and everything in between. Except it’s so much more. It’s not just a bunch of stuff randomly slapped together to get your admission Euro’s. Nope, it’s high quality displays organized in a very thoughtful manner placing things in context. For cars there are sections devoted to American classic cars. There’s a racing section featuring both IndyCar and NASCAR.

There’s a World War exhibit featuring all sorts of tanks, airplanes, motorcycles and manikins all very realistic looking/period correct and representing all sides of the conflict. Germans, Brits, French, Americans, the Soviets, etc. There are tons of classic European cars organized by countries. Lots of Mercedes, Maybach, Porsche’s and BMW’s from Germany. Fiat’s, Ferrari’s and Alfa’s from Italy. Rolls Royce from the UK. French cars too with a whole row of priceless Bugatti’s. Motorcycles. Trains. Race Cars… a whole section devoted to Formula 1.

The place was so big we didn’t even get a chance to browse the whole floor. And new exhibits were still being added with work in progress going on for an Alfa Romeo hall. And then we went upstairs to look at all the Airplanes. My favorites were side by side of the Concorde and the USSR version of the supersonic plane nicknamed Concordsky. You can climb into both planes and walk up all the way to the cockpit. Literally this place blew my mind!

To say I recommend it would be an understatement. It is a MUST for adults and kids of all ages and I definitely see myself returning to Sinsheim in the future. (This time with a much better camera!) Located about an hour out of Stuttgart in the direction of Hockenheim and probably another hour or so south of Frankfurt. Must go, must see!

Sorry for the crappy pix, I probably could have hand drawn my selfies better. But the memories I made here are priceless.

There are several cafe’s and restaurants on site. There’s a huge IMAX theater too. And a massive shop to buy stuff: books, toys and general souvenirs.