A visit to the Caramulo Museum

Caramulo is a quiet city on top of a hill in the heart of Portugal. Our friend, Tibor Ács visited its most famous attraction, the local automobile and art museum.
The motoring museums displays 65 cars and 27 motorcycles - but there are bicycles and toys as well. Another wing is devoted to 500 paintings and other artifacts.

There are two separate halls, with plenty to see. The Caramulo Museum houses six Bugatti cars and four Rolls-Royces! The oldest car is a 1899 Peugeot - not taking a replica of the 1886 Benz into account. The museum was set up by Abel de Lacerda and the backbone of the collection was created through generous donations. The tradition is alive and well, there's a Ferrari F40 and a Mercedes-Benz DTM racer which were recently given to the Museum. It is a live collection, meaning that many of the cars participate in rallies, shows and other events.

There's a special section for 2nd World War machinery and a room is devoted exclusively to Bugatti. In addition to the famous Bugatti 35B, 57 and others there are two of the ultra-rare kid-sized Bugatti electric cars from the 1920s.

From Italian exotics to vintage classics the museum displays a very special overview of automotive history. While daddy walks among old cars, the kids can enjoy scale models.

<li>More photos are available in our <A HREF="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pnegyesi/sets/72157625458268811/detail/">f… gallery</A>

<li><A HREF="http://www.automuseums.info/portugal/caramulo-museum">Directory entry of the museum</A>