Riga Motor Museum () is the biggest antique vehicle museum in the

Baltic countries The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

, located in Riga, Latvia. The museum is a state agency operating under the Republic of Latvia Ministry of Transport. Since 1992, the museum is a member of International Association of Transport and Communication Museums (IATM–ICOM), since 1994 a member of

Latvian Museum Association Latvian may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Latvia **Latvians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to what is modern-day Latvia and the immediate geographical region **Latvian language, also referred to as Lettish **Latvian cuisine **Latvi ...

, since 2002 – a member of Latvian Transport Development and Education Association. The museum is located at 6 Sergeja Eizenšteina Street in the Mežciems neighbourhood of Riga. The museum also features a café and a sports club. The museum was founded in 1989 on an initiative from Latvia Antique Automobile Club (AA

The building was designed by the Latgyprogorstroy architect

Viktors Valgums Viktors is a Latvian masculine given name. It is a cognate of the English given name Victor and may refer to: *Viktors Arājs (1910–1988), Latvian collaborator and Nazi SS officer * Viktors Alksnis (born 1950), Russian-born Latvian politician ...

. Since 1992 it is a state museum. In 2013, the museum closed for reconstruction works and all vehicles were moved to a temporary museum location in Rāmava. On 2 July 2016, the museum reopened.

Exhibits

The museum consists of three floors, each with a different theme. The ground floor starts with the history of the automobile, before progressing through the history of cars in the early twentieth century and the manufacture of cars in Latvia. The first floor focuses on motorsports, cars of cultural significance and the soviet car industry, including a collection of soviet state cars that were used to transport soviet leaders safely and luxuriously. The basement contains a range of trucks and special purposes vehicles, including firetrucks, ambulances and other early special vehicles. One of the most significant exhibits in the museum is a replica of the 1938

Auto Union racing car The Auto Union Grand Prix racing cars types A to D were developed and built by a specialist racing department of Auto Union's Horch works in Zwickau, Germany, between 1933 and 1939, after the company bought a design by Dr. Ferdinand Porsche in 1 ...

Type C/D. The original car was saved from cutting into scrap by Viktors Kulbergs, president of Antique Automobile Club of Latvia but then exchanged for a replica from Crostwaite & Gardiner and Roach Manufacturing after negotiations with Audi AG in 1995. The original 1938 car can now be admired in Audi's museum mobile in Ingolstadt.

Gallery

File:Auto-Union-V16.jpg, 1938

Type C/D, replica File:Ford-Köln-Y.jpg, Ford Köln Y (1933) in Riga Motor museum File:Ford-Vairogs-V8-front.jpg, Latvian built

Ford-Vairogs Ford-Vairogs ("Vairogs" meaning "Shield") (earlier called "Fenikss") was the name of a car factory in Riga, Latvia, that produced license-built Ford Motor Company, Ford cars between September 1937 and 1940 when it was expropriated as the proper ...

V8 "De Luxe" (1938)in Riga Motor museum File:Horch-830BL.jpg,

Horch Horch () was a German car manufacturer, which traced its roots to several companies founded in the late 19th and early 20th century by August Horch. It is one of the predecessors of the present day Audi company, which itself resulted from the ...

830BL (1935) in Riga Motor museum File:Harley-Davidson-WL.jpg,

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression along with i ...

mod. WL (1947) in Riga motor museum File:Moskvich 400-420 (Москвич-400-420).JPG, Moskvich 400-420 in Riga motor museum File:Moskvich-401-424E 1949.jpg, Moskvich 401-424E in Riga Motor museum File:Packard-Super-Eight-1502.jpg,

Packard Super Eight The Packard Super Eight was the larger of the two Straight-eight engine, eight-cylinder Luxury vehicle, luxury automobiles produced by the Packard, Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan. It shared frames and some body types with the top m ...

1502 (1937) in Riga Motor museum File:RAF-2907 (2203) for Moscow 1980.JPG, Latvian built RAF-2907, based on RAF-2203 "Latvija" in Riga Motor museum. File:Hansa-G12-36.jpg, Hansa G 12/36 Renntorpedo (1914) in Riga Motor museum File:ZIL-112S-front.jpg, ZIL-112 Sports (1961) in Riga Motor museum

References

External links

* {{Authority control Automotive museums Museums in Riga Transport museums in Latvia 1989 establishments in Latvia