PRAGUE

Outlook PROMO
An amazing journey
into the history of cars
at the Riga
Motor Museum
S. Eizenšteina iela 6, Riga
Tel. (+371) 67025888;
(+371) 27885202
info@motormuzejs.lv
motormuzejs.lv
Open:
Mon.-Sun. 10:00-18:00
Ticket prices:
Adults: EUR 10
Children from 7 years
of age, school children,
students and senior
citizens: EUR 5
Family and group tickets
are also available.
A few kilometres from the
centre of the Latvian capital,
a treasure trove of unique
automobiles awaits antique
car lovers. Some of these
vehicles are extremely
valuable, and many of
them are associated with
captivating stories that will
surprise those who visit the
museum.
This year marks a new phase
in the life of Riga’s legendary
Motor Museum, which recently
reopened its doors after years
of reconstruction. The establishment is
rightly considered to be one of the most
captivating museums in the Baltics,
combining education with entertainment,
as well as the antique and the modern.
Among the newest features are dozens
of interactive activities, which are equally
popular among parents and children.
The Riga Motor Museum came into
being nearly 30 years ago, thanks to the
enthusiasm of the members of the Antique
Automobile Club of Latvia. More than
100 antique vehicles are on display, each
with its own story. The cars’ interesting
history is displayed on all three floors of the
museum, with a variety of multi-media and
interactive experiences complementing the
exhibit pieces themselves.
The museum’s permanent exposition
provides an insight into the history of
car-making, both in Latvia and around
the world. Among the unique exhibits is
the only known exemplar of the Krastin
automobile. It turns out that a Latvian
named Augusts Krastiņš founded the
Krastin Automobile Company in the early
1900s in the USA. The car on display
was built before the ascension of the
Ford Motor Company in America, but
sadly, Krastiņš’ factory in Cleveland was
destroyed by fire in 1904.
One can also see the most complex
restoration project to date at the
Riga Motor Museum – a 1930 Cadillac
Fleetwood All-Weather Phaeton, or the
twin brother of the car in which Latvia’s
fourth president, Kārlis Ulmanis, once
drove around.
Photos by Gatis Gierts
(Picture Agency)
“The most expensive car exhibited
at the museum is a world treasure
and worth more than 2 million
euros. It’s a German mountain racing
car – the Auto Union CD V16 or Silver
Arrow, which had great success
in car races in the 1930s. By some
miracle, this car was saved about
40 years ago, just before it was to be
disassembled for scrap metal.”
“The saving of that automobile
eventually led to the birth of the
Riga Motor Museum, and therefore
that car has been given a place of
honour in the exhibition hall on
the second floor,” says museum
director Aivars Aksenoks.
Other vehicles have also been
saved from the scrap metal heap.
On the museum’s first floor is an
early 20 th -century fire engine built
in Riga at the Russo-Balt coach
factory. It was found dismantled
in a shed in a remote part of
Latvia. Of the more than 600 cars
of this make which were once
manufactured in Riga, only two
remain, and one of them can now
be seen at the Riga Motor Museum.
“Another rare museum exhibit
is the 1934 Magirus fire engine.
Its 30-metre-high ladder was
made in Germany specifically for
Riga’s fire fighters. The car was
saved from being transported to
Germany during the Second World
War and continued to be used
afterwards. It was later acquired
by the Riga Motion Pictures Studio
and has now been professionally
restored, to the great pleasure of
the museum’s visitors,” says Agris
Šmits, the president of the Antique
Automobile Club of Latvia.
The exhibit of cars once used
by former Soviet leaders is also
a popular attraction. One is an
armoured limousine that served
the security needs of Joseph Stalin,
while the other is a Rolls-Royce that
Leonid Brezhnev himself damaged
while driving it.
Then there is the “time machine”
that visitors can climb into and
discover what it was like to be a VIP
in a ZIS automobile during an army
parade. This unusual situation can
also be captured in a photo.
Nowadays, the term “museum”
no longer has to be associated
with boredom, and the Riga Motor
Museum is a shining example of
this fact. Visitors can find out more
about Soviet-era vehicles and be
entertained while doing so. They
can experience what it was like to
drive to a country wedding in a PAZ
bus, take a look inside a running
engine, provide a television report
of a car race and even paint a
genuine RAF electric vehicle.
“Different generations,
including grandparents, parents
and children, can easily find
something that will interest
them at the museum and then
discuss what they have seen,”
says Aksenoks.
An immense amount of effort
has been put in to make the Riga
Motor Museum a captivating
experience for every visitor and
a place to gain new knowledge.
Children and young adults can
learn about the rules of the road,
the history of car and bicycle
construction and more about how
cars are made. Adults, including
car experts, will value the changing
exhibits in the exhibition halls, the
modern and spacious conference
rooms that are available for private
hire, and the proximity of the
Biķernieki Sports Track, where all
sorts of high-level vehicle sports
events are held regularly. BO
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BALTIC OUTLOOK | SEPTEMBER 2016 | 85