Motor racing

This hall groups together cars from the collection which have raced. The first part is devoted to the "ancestors", and the second to the Grand Prix cars and cars taking part in the Le Mans 24-hour race.

The Forerunners

Two very different cars illustrate the start of the century, i.e. the Panhard on the one hand with its heavy engine so typical of the time, hard to drive but extremely fast, and the Delage on the other, a much lighter car. There is also the famous type-35 racing Bugatti, Mr. Schlumpf’s personal car, an aluminium wonder.

During the 30s and emerging from the period where light weight had been shown to be the most efficient, builders kept working to achieve faster and faster performances. Unbridled competition provided an opportunity for unknowns and foreigners to occupy centre-stage, the likes of Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Maserati and Mercedes. 
 

The Grand Prix MotorcarsRenowned racing cars, two Formula One:
- The type-33 Lotus of 1963 embodies all of its founder’s genius. It participated in 20 Grands Prix races.
- The 156b-type Ferrari, also of 1963.

It was at that moment that power and speed took flight.