00:00 Spectacular race cars, one-off specials, gleaming classics.
00:08 The National Auto Museum Dietholztal, north of Frankfurt, exhibits some 150 choice vehicles.
00:15 "The cars are all authentic, technically all in good condition and all generally roadworthy.
00:23 Now of course they're in the museum, so visitors can view them.
00:26 But we maintain them and keep them all in running condition."
00:33 Executive Director Florian Urbitsch has plenty of specialized knowledge and stories to tell
00:38 about each car.
00:40 This Ferrari F1 2000 is legendary.
00:43 It's what Michael Schumacher drove to his third Formula One championship title in 2000.
00:49 "Of course, Formula One's the highest class of auto racing, and the Ferrari name and Michael
00:56 Schumacher, the all-time greatest racing driver, have a very special place in it.
01:01 What's brought together here is quite exceptional."
01:05 The museum's also known as the Lowe Collection, the one-time private collection of multi-billionaire
01:11 Friedhelm Lowe.
01:13 For 35 years, he tracked down some very special wheels.
01:16 An exceptional rarity is this Benz Victoria from 1896, one of the oldest vehicles on display
01:22 here and with all original parts.
01:26 "It's no accident that cars like the Victoria and Michael Schumacher's World Championship
01:33 Racer are standing here, rather than just any old car or just any Formula One racer.
01:38 It was Lowe's love of detail that made the museum what it is today."
01:45 A glance at the museum's own app is all it takes to get a good overview of the vehicles
01:54 on display.
01:57 It's one automotive dream after another.
02:01 "It really is a dream."
02:04 "She just pinched me.
02:08 I told her, 'Pinch me.
02:09 Back there is a Bugatti.'"
02:11 This 2005 Maybach Accelero is the only one ever built and set a record of 351 km/h, though
02:19 it's not the fastest street-legal machine in the museum.
02:25 "Here we have the Bugatti Veyron Supersport, one of only 48 ever built.
02:33 And in 2012, this car was the fastest on earth.
02:36 It made the Guinness World Records with a top speed of 431 km/h."
02:42 And there's a special exhibit in honor of the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans, with 21
02:48 racecars chronicling the endurance event's history.
02:51 Every machine stands for a milestone in technological development.
02:56 "Our museum may be exhibiting internal combustion technology for the most part, but as a museum,
03:05 we're not closing ourselves off to electric vehicles."
03:09 The National Auto Museum has opened one of Europe's largest private car collections to
03:13 the public and invited everybody on a journey back through the history of the automobile.
03:18 [MUSIC PLAYING]
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