Sinsheim, Germany

Auto & Technik Museum Sinsheim

It has an American Dream Car exhibit, Europe's largest Formula One collection, and many, many mannequins.

While driving around southwestern Germany, near the town of Sinsheim, be on the lookout for a building with two gigantic supersonic jets shooting upward off its roof. The planes are just one of the many vehicular wonders found at the Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum.

The museum is a haven for any and all car and motor vehicle enthusiasts. Not only does it hold Europe’s largest Formula One collection, it also contains the biggest permanent collection of American Dream Cars outside the United States.

It’s one of Europe’s largest privately owned museums, yet it’s still somehow widely overlooked. Walking inside is like entering a magnificent garage packed with over 3,000 world-class vehicles. It’s full of sports cars, vintage cars, race cars, motorcycles, tractors, and even a few aircraft, as well as numerous mannequins staged throughout.

The Formula One collection is sprawling and is located mere miles from the Hockenheimring racing circuit. The American Dream Cars Collection showcases the iconic vehicles from pop culture and beautiful sports cars from the 1950s and ’60s. There’s an entire room dedicated to Porsche 911s, as well as other high-class cars like Ferrari and Lamborghini. The museum even contains the famous Blue Flame, the rocket-powered car that once shattered a world speed record on Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats.

In addition to the cars, one of the crown jewels of the museum is its “flight deck.” Two supersonic jets are perched atop the museum’s roof, one from France and the other from Russia. The planes are angled upward to mirror takeoff, and a sets of stairs allow visitors to enter and explore the steeply inclined aircraft.