Saturday, June 29, 2013

Buggati - a celebration of excellence.

Although I am a `bike / mofa Mensch`myself,  ( to the non-German speaking readers, that is to say I am into bicycles and Mopeds), but I do admit a recent trip to the Schlumpf Museum in Mulhouse France a short time ago did.... well .....impress.  And no, the Schlumps are NOT the Schmurfs´ German cousins!

Now for those of you reading this who think a Buggati is variation of a French Baguette,  you would be about 1/8 right:  The Buggati in question is Italian, he was a designer and producer of cars.  But I suggest the use of the noun ´car´ may be a misnomer.  Each car, which was lovingly designed and manufactured, was nothing short of a creation of technical genius and artistic beauty - and here´s me the mofa mensch talking!

So the ´1/8  right ´bit. Well the cars were made in what was then Germany, but after World War I became part of France.

And how did I become a born again Buggati fan I know you all ask in astonishment?   Well on holidays recently in the Markgräflerland region of S.W. Germany, we were very near Muhouse in France. On a very wet day we were in need of  a `plan B` which that day was a visit to the Schlumpf Museum in Mulhouse.

The creation of the Schlumpf Museum is a great story in itself.   The museum was built around the the private collection of cars of excellence lovingly AND SECRETLY collected by the brothers Schlumpf.   

Should you be into gossip, or cars,  you could well enjoy reading up on how the museum came into being in the first place.

Wikipedia states ..A team of up to 40 carpenters, saddlers, and master mechanics were assembled to carry out the restoration work, who under a confidentiality agreement kept their work and the scale of the collection a secret -  Many, including members of Bugatti clubs around the world, knew of the collection. The scale of the enterprise surprised almost everybody.` To read more of this intrigue go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cit%C3%A9_de_l%27Automobile





 THIS ... is what I am talking about!



 The Royale  a Bugatti that was designed with the royal customers in mind.  One of these beauties sold in the U.S. in 1991 for $8,000,000 give or take.  If you are confused on the naughts, that´s 8 million!




Other cars that tickled my fancy included ...















And fair dues,  either Mr. Bugatti or one of  the brothers Schlumpf at least, was clearly a supporter of the Kilkenny hurlers - what when they finished four different models that I saw in the Kilkenny colurs!

This one was my favorite for the drive to Croak Park for  the All-Ireland hurling final next September.









Up the Kilkenny Cats!








Not a Bugatti, rather a Mercedes Benz.  It was the one car both Romeo H and I both agreed we would bring home.






This was a favorite of Romeo H´s.  Can´t say it excited me.
It was one of the very few cars that did not. 

Something to do with movies on T.V. as a child... Mmm won´t have that parked outside my home any time soon.  And of course it is NOT a Bugatti!
Under way á deux ....    
But my very favorite Bugatti....







  It this just amazing or what!









Or just for days that one feels that one  just wants to fly solo -  how about this Bugatti  beauty...



Nothing sloppy about this gem of genius or wha!









On a reality check Romeo H pointed out the world might be a safer place if I drove - the Oeuf!  :(
   -  Built in 1948 by an architect, it was still driving on the streets of Paris in 1992!

And I kid you not, this guy´s second car was this!    Serious.  He designed and built this car too.  All this on the side, in his day job he worked as an architect. 



And on the other extreme: the car or `no choice´in the former DDR.





Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Sunset on the Bodensee.

The sun set tonight.  These pictures were taken less than an hour ago.









Not too much that I can add to improve those images.   So I won´t.