Gallery: A morning at Volkswagen’s Autostadt
Earlier this year, a friend and I spent a weekend in Germany visiting the Mercedes-Benz and Porsche museums in Stuttgart followed by a nice long drive up to Wolfsburg to visit Volkswagen’s Autostadt. Some of you may have already seen the pictures from the Porsche and Mercedes museums. If you haven’t, though, you can see them here and here. I’ll let you figure out which one’s which.
Until now, I hadn’t been able to publish the pictures from the Autostadt because, honestly, I had no idea where they were. The memory card containing the photos was lost soon after I got home from Germany. Much to my delight, though, I found said memory card today so here they are!
These photos are actually from the ZeitHaus museum which is located within the Autostadt so not all of the cars are actually Volkswagens.
That’s some of the highlights, there are some incredible exhibits in there. These are the ones that really caught my eye, though.
3. Chrome Bugatti Veyron
As if the Veyron wasn’t eccentric enough already, this one has been wrapped in chrome just to make it a bit more mental. I’ve never really been much of a fan of the Veyron in terms of its appearance and I have a tendency to despise anything wrapped in chrome. Having said that, seeing this in the flesh left me amazed. I almost felt bad for liking it! The quad-turbo W16 engine that powers the Veyron was out on display as well. That really was something to admire but I couldn’t get a decent picture of it as a result of the crowd it attracted.
2. Volkswagen Golf W12-650
What a machine this is. You’re probably wondering where the numbers in the car’s name come from, aren’t you? Well, the ‘W12’ comes from the enormous twin-turbo W12 engine, normally found under the bonnet of a Bentley Continental, that sits where you’d normally find your back seats. The ‘650’ resembles the monstrous 650PS (641bhp) that it sends to the rear wheels. Yes, you read that correctly – it’s rear-wheel drive! I’d give an arm and a leg for one of these and I’m sure there are many out there that want it just as much as I do. It’s just a shame it never made it to production.
!. Mk1 Volkswagen Golf GTI
After seeing the last two of my top three this one might come as a bit of a surprise to you. However, anyone who knows me would have seen this coming from a mile off. 40 years old this year, the Mk1 Golf GTI has been my dream car for a long, long time. I don’t care how I get one. Whether I buy one in mint condition or pick up a rust-bucket and restore it to full health, I just want one. It’s such an iconic car. The Golf GTI is still, to this day, the ultimate hot-hatch and this is where it began.
Powered by a 1.6-litre 16-valve four-cylinder engine, the Mk1 Golf GTI had an output of 106bhp and would reach a top speed of 113mph. By today’s standards, that’s not exactly the quickest but it’s still no slouch. It’s come a long way in 40 years with the latest edition of the GTI, the Clubsport S, putting out 306bhp from a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine. Whilst that is very impressive, I’d still take the Mk1 over it any day.
To anyone contemplating visiting the Autostadt, I’d highly recommend it. It’s only €12 to get in and it’s an amazing place to be. If you’re lucky, you’ll get better weather than we did!
Let us know what you thought of the pictures and what your favourite exhibits are in the comments section below or via our Twitter and Facebook pages.