Monday 27 August 2012

Autostadt Wolfsburg

Following on from visiting the Volkswagen Auto Museum in Wolfsburg we went to the Autostadt situated next to the Volkswagen factory.
The Autostadt is a cross between a theme park and a car showroom, showcasing all of the vehicles that are produced by the Volkswagen Audi Group (VAG) with a different building housing each of the  marques, Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Seat, Porsche, Lamborghini and Bugatti, as well as a building housing one of each of the cars that Volkswagen feel are milestones in automotive history including the 1,000,000th Beetle and Mini, Model T Ford, E Type Jaguar to name but a few.
The buildings and surrounding landscaping are like a something out of a Sci-fi movie with futuristic architecture and manicured lawns.
As cars are completed in the factory they are moved through underground tunnels to one of the two storage towers where a robotic car lift will place it in to a slot waiting for you to collect it. If you wish you can have the robot take you for a ride in a glass box and place you in one of the slots where you get a fantastic view of the entire park and factory!
Another attraction is solar powered boats and pedalos that you can take out into the lake with the Autostadt one one side and the iconic VW factory on the other.
There is much more to the Autostadt with factory tours, bars, restaurants, child care, even a hotel! I highly recommend a visit, if you can't afford to stay in the hotel you can always stay at the nearby camp site Campingplatz am Allersee with your bug or bus.
 



























































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Saturday 25 August 2012

Volkswagen Auto Museum

I am very lucky to have some close friends and a family who are nuts about Volkswagens, so lucky in fact that I have just returned from a trip to Germany with my wife and two kids as well as my best mate and his wife and two kids.
We didn't just go to anywhere in Germany though, we went to Wolfsburg, home of the first and largest Volkswagen factory at a staggering six square kilometers! The town was originally built around the factory  and has a population of 120,000. An amazing 54,000 people work for Volkswagen in Wolfsburg.
Around the factory is some beautiful parkland with a lake in the middle as well as sporting facilities including a water park, ice rink and a football stadium ( home of Wolfsburg Vfl ).
Also there is the Volkswagen Auto Museum and the Autostadt.
The Museum has some of the rarest VW's in the world including the prototype Type 34 Razor Edge Ghia and a four wheel drive KDF-Wagen., Art works like the wrought iron beetle and a full scale bug carved out of wood, rally and racing cars as well as some coach builts like the four door taxi.
I'll be posting some pictures of the Autostadt another time so please check back later.
  
 




























 


















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