Museums in Portugal

A nice selection of classic cars, hosted by the main classic car club of the country.

At this museum the visitor is strolled through the evolution of automobile design throughout the 20th century with about 150 vehicles. As a must-stop place for classic cars, motorcycles, bicycles and prototypes, the Museum presents a dynamic exhibition, marked by the frequent changes of the vehicles on display.

Two brothers, Abel and João de Lacerda founded in the 1950's, a unusual museum in a small town called Caramulo, situated on a mountain in the center of Portugal with a luxuriant vegetation overlooking an 80 km valley: the vastest panoramic view of the country. Abel de Lacerda, lover of art, has constructed a building based on the most recent concepts of modern museums so as to exhibit an unusual collection of arte: 500 objects that range from sculptures, furniture, ceramics and tapestries from the roman era to Picasso.

The Elvas Military Museum emerged as a result of the Portuguese Army reorganization in 2006 and occupies the premises of the former Infantry Regiment Nº8 designated "Quartéis do Casarão" [Saint Domingos Convent (13th Century), King Ferdinand Wall (14th century) and part of the 17th century wall].

Clube Penafidelense de Automóveis Antigos, a local classic car club set up this museum in 2019

The Museum of Rally in Fafe was opened in 2022. It is focusing on rally cars, altogether there are 64 vehicles and lots of automobilia and historical information about rally.

The Museum intends to show and publicize the best collections of miniatures existing in Portugal. It was set up by Fernando Taborda, a local collector with help from the Municipial Government, the national automobile club and a local assocation. It has about 4000 scale models on display. Featured themes include the Historical Evolution of the Automobile, Rallies of the World, Presidential Vehicles, VIPs and Papamobiles.

The local museum of mechanical history has a permanent exhibition which examines the history of the automobile in "space and time".

"The Tramcar Museum unravels more than one hundred years of history that changed the life of Porto. Enter an interactive journey and discover the exhibition which tells the evolution of the tramcar network of Porto. Discover as well the new Machinery Hall of Massarelos Thermoelectric Power Plant and the collection of historical vehicles on rails" - . You can spot two electric Hansa-Lloyd trucks as well. Photo is from lesrails.com