Riga Motor museum in Riga, Latvia
The Riga Motor Museum with over a hundred classic cars including limousines of Soviet leaders is one of the top sights to see in Latvia – a must-see
for car lovers visiting the Baltic States.
The Riga Motor Museum in Latvia is one of the world’s great automobile museums and one of the best sights to visit in the Baltics.
The museum has over a hundred cars on display with cars from the Soviet era probably the most interesting to foreign visitors.
The Kremlin Collection of cars used by Soviet leaders including an armor-plated limousine from Stalin’s fleet and a Rolls Royce crashed by Leonid
Brezhnev.
A fine collection of German limousines and sports cars from the 1930s is enhanced by a BMW 326 that survived five decades of Soviet abuse with only
the original badges intact.
An authentic copy of a 1938 Auto Union V16 Type racing car is at the heart of this motoring museum.
The Riga Motor Museum is a must-see for car lovers but even less enthusiastic partners will find the museum fun and easy to enjoy.
The Riga Motor Museum in the outskirts of the Latvian capital is a very modern museum with a fantastic collection of vintage and classic cars.
Although the façade of the modern museum building reminds of an imposing Rolls Royce radiator grill, the building was actually opened in 1989,
shortly before the end of communism.
The museum building and exhibition were extensively refurbished in 2016 and the museum thus has a wealth of modern aids and interactive displays.
The collection of the Riga Motor Museum is spread over three floors with the cars and automobilia divided into twelve main themes:
1. The Long Road to the Car – a short but interesting introduction to the history of transportation.
2. The origins of the automotive industry – the early years of the automobile and the surprising role of a Latvian.
3. The 1920s with beauties from the first decade of the Latvian Republic.
4. The 1930s with some fine German luxury cars
5. The Kremlin Collection – large official cars from the Soviet era
6. The Soviet Car Industry
7. Motorsport with a magnificent copy of the famous Auto Union, as well as a few rare Soviet-era racers.
8. Cult Cars – some of the most popular and iconic cars from the second half of the 20th century
9. An Ancient Workshop and a collection of radios produced in Latvia in the interwar years
10. Manufacture of Cars, Motorcycles and Bicycles in Latvia
11. Trucks and Special-Purpose Vehicles (mostly from the Soviet Era)
12. Exhibition Hall with temporary exhibitions.
The displays and presentations are interesting with almost all descriptions and audio in the museum available in Latvian, Russian and English.
Even visitors not particularly interested in cars will find it easy to enjoy the at least two hours the museum recommends for visits.
Car lovers will easily stay longer.
A few of the highlights on display in the Riga Motor Museum include:
1903 Krastin
A star exhibit in the museum is the role of a Latvian motorcar pioneer in the US motor industry.
The Latvian-born Augusts Krastins (1861-1942) immigrated to the US in 1892.
In his spare time, he designed his first car in 1896.
In 1901, investors put $200,000 in the Krastin Automobile Company – more than was invested in Ford founded two year later.
However, Krastin went bust when the factory burnt down in 1904.
Only around ten Krastin cars were ever produced: they were innovative including the first self-cleaning spark plugs,
a steering-assisted gear shifter and a special carburetor.
The Riga Motor Museum has the only surviving Krastin car in the world.
This 1903 Krastin has a tonneau body with rear-entry doors.
It followed the American standard of front engine, rear-wheel drive by shaft rather than chain, matched to a three-speed gearbox.
However, it has an unusual counter-clockwise rotation engine (3120 cc, 10 HP, R2) that was good for 35 km/h.
It also features a convenient folding steering wheel to make entry easier.
Soviet BMW in 1930s
The Riga Motor Museum has several superb cars from the 1920s and 1930s, including many luxury cars left behind by the Germans after the re-occupation
of Latvia by the USSR.
Arguably the most interesting car on display here is a 1930s BMW 326 that was modified and adapted during more than four decades of use in the Soviet
Union.
BMW spare parts were of course not available in the USSR and every repair needed some ingenuity for replacements to keep the car on the road.
The two BMW emblems are considered about the only visual elements on the car to be the originals.
This Soviet BMW is on display next to an original BMW 326 to show the differences.
A video explains in some detail what Soviet components were added to keep the car on the road.
The Latvian rich preferred German cars during the interwar years but the official car of the Latvian President and Prime Minister Karlis Ulmanis was
a 1930 Cadillac Fleetwood All Weather Phaeton.
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