javier romagosa
Thanks to Google we can visit the museums reviewed without leaving home. Its Street View technology makes it possible, if we are not lucky enough to travel to Motegi, Hiroshima or Sant'Agata Bolognese, we can dive a little in these sanctuaries. The truth is that, as in his art project, Dedicated to the art world, that's nice.
Let's start with the last one on the list, the one with the horn mark. Opened in 2001, it has two floors and includes both large production models and prototypes. Below are the older cars, specifically a 350 and a 400 GT, two Miuras, S and SV; Islero, Espada, Jarama, LM 002 and the Countach prototype! And above we have the most modern, among which are the Miura Concept, the successors proposed by Gandini and Zagato for the Diablo, a Reventón, two F1 cars with a house engine -Lola-Larousse and Minardi M. 191/L-, an Aventador and the latest Countach and Diablo, 25 Anniversary and 6.0 SE, respectively.
Navigating through the museum can be a bit chaotic at first. Think that basically you can do two things: scroll and enlarge what you want to see more closely. We can move either by clicking any point on the stage or by clicking on the arrows, and we can turn in the same way or using the compass above. If you get out of Street View or get stuck when zooming in, remember that you can get back in by zooming in and you can zoom out with the +/- signs in the upper left margin or with the mouse wheel. Finally, keep in mind that to go up to the top floor you have to click on the first step of the stairs and that we can ride, pointing inside, in some of the sports cars: for me, for example, it has been a pleasure to get on the green proto of the Countach.
Not bad at all right? It's a pity we can't access the assembly line yet...
honda museum
We go with the Honda Museum; if you are a biker, you will probably love it. It is made up of three floors, the first being the technology and environment area, focused on robotics and ecological vehicles. In the second, the march begins: on the one hand we can access the brand's "street" automobile line, from tiny trucks and utility vehicles to current models, passing through the roadsters of the sixties in imitation of the English of the same era and by the affordable sports coupes of the 750s, such as the Prelude. On the other hand, we have the biker chronological line, with a lot of units on display that include aces such as the XNUMX CB Four or the Africa Twin, to give just two examples.
The third floor is reserved for the competition, again divided between four and two wheels and with a profusion of vintage vehicles. Lotus John Player Special, McLaren Honda, the quintessential red cross country champions or various Montesa-Hondas occupy this space for contemplation.
Regarding the navigation of the Motegi collection, I have to say that it seems a little more confusing to me than that of Sant'Agata Bolognese. I don't know why it has been more cumbersome, imprecise, almost always having to click on the scroll arrows to move. In addition, by not being able to read the multiple explanation signs, no matter how enlarged, I think that a large amount of information is lost that, if it was not very important at Lamborghini, is here frankly necessary. In short, put to ask that it is not missing! Of course, the mechanism to change floors is much better: just select the one you want in the upper left margin of the screen (1,2,3) to go up or down in the same position.
mazda museum
And finally we come to the Mazda Museum. It's smaller, it only has one floor -yes, it's true, there are two, but there's nothing worth looking at on the bottom one- and on this one there's a nice timeline on the entrance wall and, above all, really strange things like a huge blue motorcycle -the T2000- or rotary engines. The truth is that the latter are the automotive heritage of the Hiroshima brand, which has made them work as they should, although with enormous oil consumption, in sports models such as the RX-7 on display. They are the pride of the company and a special room is dedicated to them, just before the space for possibly the king of the collection: the Le Mans-winning 787B.
There are other big name cars as well, such as the pioneering Cosmo and the MX-5 which, in my opinion, will soon be a classic. Later on there are other rooms dedicated to the brand's modern manufacturing methods and renewable energy research, something that is beyond the scope of this short article.
I had a VERY difficult time finding the Mazda collection, there was no way to get into the part upstairs where it is! Anyway, I'll leave you directly at the door, so you don't have to go through walls like I did. Until another time!
