Museum Classics: A Tour of the EFA Museum of German Automotive History

During a May holiday in southeast Bavaria, my 86 year old host and I cycled 50 km from Ruhpolding to the EFA Museum of German Automotive History in Amerang, he on an E-bike, I on a heavy touring bike. But the 100 km roundtrip is another story… When the CEO of one of Germany’s largest ice cream manufacturers retired in 1988, his wife gifted him a pre-war Mercedes-Benz 540 Cabrio B. The next two years he gathered significant and rare examples of cars from all eras, then opened the museum in 1990. After extensive renovation 2018, it now holds more than 250 vehicles (translated from museum website).

Let’s start the tour with a brand everyone recognizes: BMW. You may not be so familiar with pre war models like this beautiful 1935-37 315, powered by a small 1490 cc inline six producing 34 hp.

Much better known is the 1936-1940 BMW 328, powered by a 1971 cc inline 6. It was raced very successfully, a streamlined enclosed version winning the 1940 Mille Miglia … which was missing English and French competitors. The engine survived to power post war Bristol and AC cars, as well as BMW’s large 501 sedan.

Next up is the BMW 600, a stretch of the better known Isetta. Paul covered it HERE.

BMW’s early post war cars did not sell well, and the company was in serious trouble by 1960. The car that saved it from the brink was the 700 above. For a great capsule history leading up to this point, see TATRA87’s post on the subject. 

Walking up to the museum’s 700 Cabriolet, I noticed the driver’s door slightly ajar. Quick look around, no “Polizei” in sight, I slipped behind the wheel, Jϋrgen took quick photo. This is a fantasy car, albeit restomodded with a modern BMW motorcycle engine. It’s been done.

“Deadly Sins” as reviewed by TATRA87 from top to bottom: BMW 502/507/503/3200 CS. BMW lost money on all of these. The Isetta/600/700, and motorcycles earned enough cash flow until the Neue Klasse/1600/2000/2002 cemented long term financial success.

In its profitable era, BMW produced three of the well known 3.0CS coupes with stainless steel bodies for research purposes.


Let’s take a break to show you the landscape between Ruhpolding and the museum in Amerang. On a separate trip, climb the steep approach road to the Steinberg Alm, end of the road for motorized vehicles. Cycle or climb the gravely pathway to the Brϋndling Alm for refreshing drinks and lunch. Park your bike, hike up to Hochfelln Peak at 1641 meters for panoramic views of the Alps to the south, or ride the tramway up. Just beyond lake Chiemsee on left side of above photo you’ll find Amerang. After touring the museum for several delightful hours, we cycled home … net uphill. The next day, I exchanged the heavy touring bike for an E-bike. The shop owner remarked, “Ha, saw you heading back towards town about 8 pm, you looked pretty tired”. Understatement! Returning to the cars, let’s examine predecessors to Audi.

First up, this 1964 DKW F12’s face looks like it could have starred in Disney’s animated Cars movies. The sedan version started life as the DKW Junior, but in 1963 all versions were renamed F12. Contrast it with the rather pretty Auto Union 1000 SP (1958-1963), which earned the moniker “baby Thunderbird”. 3 cylinder 2 stroke engines powered all Auto Union/DKW models of this era, very comprehensively described by TATRA87’s post. The red “mini-Corvair” is an NSU Prinz 4, included in Tatra’s chronicle. The low slung silver Thurner RS utilizes the chassis of the NSU 1200, and the NSU TT’s air cooled transverse inline four. 121 gull-winged examples were built between 1969 and 1974, utilizing the same windshield as the Porsche 904. Several stages of tune were available, from 65 hp up to a fuel injected race version producing 135 hp !


Concluding this part of the museum tour with one of my favorite automotive shapes, behold the well-documented NSU Ro80. The following NSU/VW K70 is not beautiful, but I admire its clean lines. Leaving the museum on a Wednesday, the cashier lady remarked that we were the only patrons who had cycled in. She told us that on Thursdays only, the museum opens an additional large room with dozens more cars, for an additional fee with docents. In a surprising twist, she charged us only that fee to return the next day. We did, by car. The museum closes in December, and reopens in March. We’ll continue the tour next year, featuring more cars not well known in North America.

 

For further reading:

Cohort Classic: NSU TT/TTS – A Legendary Giant-Killer

Automotive History: German Deadly Sins (The Neckarsulm Chronicles, Part 3) – The NSU Ro 80, Todsunde Durch Technik