BMW Museum shows car art

Interestingly, research shows that they're not all "petrol heads."

While many are privately owned the run, the world's major car companies - people like Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Toyota, Skoda and BMW - all have museums that showcase their history and technology and the great concept and production cars that have carried their badges over the years.

In BMW's case, its museum sits alongside the company's striking Munich headquarters building and like the head office, the equally striking museum was designed by architect Professor Dr. Karl Schwanzer. In its original guise, the museum opened in 1973 and between 2004 and 2008 it was renovated and presented in its current form and if you walk the whole museum, it's about a kilometer.

BMW's history dates back to 1916 when it began producing aircraft engines. It branched into motorcycles in 1923 and its first car, based on the Austin 7, was produced in 1928.

The museum is now home to an ever-changing collection of the aero engines, motorcycles, concept and production cars and racing cars that have made BMW the iconic brand it is today.

The structure is divided into 25 exhibition theme areas that in total cover 5000 square metres and there are seven sections. BMW calls them "houses" and they cover the company itself, design, motorcycles, technology, motor sport, model lines and the brand.

There is also a restaurant/caf#aace/bar and a shop that carried a wide range of books, model cars, postcards and souvenirs.

While most people today think of BMW as a producer of cars and motorcycles, the company's history in aircraft engines is also impressive. Some of the engines it produced for flying machines are on display and one of the most remarkable is a V12 monster, two of which powered the Dornier Whale flying boat. The engine produced 402kW at just 1530rpm.

Also on display is a Second World War jet engine that could propel a fighter to 900km/h even then.

Among the cars, the favourite for many museum visitors is the Giugiaro-designed M1 - BMW's first supercar. Powered by a mid-mounted twin-cam 3.5litre straight-six engine, just 456 were built and the cars were used in the spectacular one-make Pro Car racing series that was won by Niki Lauda in 1979 and Nelson Piquet the following year. Australia's F1 world champion Alan Jones also raced in the series.

While the naturally aspirated road versions were good for 204kW, by adding turbo-charging, BMW engineers were able to boost this to a deadly serious 634kW in racing versions.

Speaking of Nelson Piquet, his 1983 F1 world-championship winning BT52 with its remarkable 1.5litre turbocharged engine is one of the highlights of museum.

Another crowd favourite is the gorgeous V8-powered BMW 507 roadster that was built between 1956 and 1959 and many BMW aficionados believe it to be the most beautiful soft-top the company has ever produced.

Only 254 507s were built, driven by a "who's who" that includes Aly Khan and Elvis Presley. One of its most famous owners is John Surtees, the only man to win both the world motorcycle and F1 titles.

BMW has always been renowned for its engines and one of the museum's highlights is an area that displays some 10 great car engines. Hanging from the ceiling are earphones via which you can listen to how they sound when being driven hard. It's a great aural experience.

BMW's so-called "art cars" are always represented at the museum by at least one car. The collection began in 1972 and famous artists including Australia's Ken Done, Andy Warhol, David Hockney and Frank Stella cars have been commissioned to use a BMW car as their "canvas." Currently there are 16 cars in the collection but BMW plans to expand this.

If concept cars are your passion, the museum always has on show several "dream" cars that have been seen over the years at the world's motor shows.

With around 400,000 visitors a year, the BMW museum is Munich's third most popular museum and it is open daily from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.