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BMW MUSEUM

What began as an airplane engine factory in 1916 is now a tourist attraction in its own right: Not only has BMW's "four cylinder" head office become a Munich landmark, this summer the company reopened its brand pavilion - at five times the original size. The new space incorporates a "carburetor" bowl design from 1973. But then it builds on it with cutting-edge technology: There's bituminous flooring that suggests a road surface, a 360-degree projection, shifting LED lighting and a subtle acoustic soundtrack. And yes, there are also plenty of legendary cars and motorcycles on display. If those don't live up to visitors' imaginations, however, they can create their own Beemers at computer graphic stations.

The BMW Museum is located at Am Olympiapark 2 in Munich. Admission is $20. For more information, visit http://www.bmw-museum.com.

MERCEDES-BENZ MUSEUM

A visit to Stuttgart is a pilgrimage to the origin of the automobile. In 1886, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach fashioned their internal combustion engine onto a horse carriage in this town - and the greenhouse where the inventors secretly toiled has been kept as it was, with the workbench and tools on display in a small museum. But to see where the automobile has come since then, head for the sleek, aluminum-clad Mercedes-Benz building. The first thing you'll see is a stuffed horse, as if to say "move over chum, your days are done." From there, though, the museum focuses on striking displays of horsepower: racing cars, concept cars, even a "Pope-mobile," as well as a timeline of world events that influenced the progress of the automobile. The museum also pays homage to quirky items. Among them, a Canadian invention - the Magic Tree air freshener.

The Mercedes-Benz Museum is at 100 Mercedestrasse in Stuttgart. Admission is $12. For more information, visit http://www.museum-mercedes-benz.com

AUTOSTADT

Opened in 2000, Volkswagen's automobile theme park kick-started the car-meets-culture trend. True, it serves as a delivery centre for new vehicles. A stay at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on-site can be built into the sticker price for Germans making a weekend break out of picking up their new car. But even if you're not in the market for a new set of wheels, there's lots to keep car nuts of all ages busy: You can ogle VWs, Lamborghinis and Skodas at various brand pavilions, there's a driving program for kids, and bus tours snake through a car factory the size of Gibraltar. Or check out the latest attraction - a ride up one of the 20-storey auto silos, where robotic flatbeds normally whisk cars straight from the assembly line to these large holding tanks with a speed and precision that make it look like they're moving toys around. It's a strange sensation to climb aboard and be treated like a new car being put into a high-rise storage space. Still, the views from the top of the vast VW complex are terrific.

Admission to the Autostadt complex in Wolfsburg is $24. For more information, visit http://www.autostadt.de.

AUDI FORUM

Reopened in March, this expanded exhibit space at the Audi headquarters includes a permanent collection of vehicles, as well as interactive displays on all stages of auto design and production. There are also new rotating exhibits. For example, Power and Splendour: Carriages for State Occasions - which brings together 11 vehicles used by political elites and royalty such as the Lincoln Continental once used by John F. Kennedy, the Rolls-Royce Phantom VI that squired Queen Elizabeth II and Nikita Khrushchev's heavily armoured ZIL 111 G. With illustrations of carriages, chariots and the Sun Wagon of Trundholm from the Bronze Age, the exhibit also makes the point that using vehicles as a means to elevate an owner's status and induce a sense of envy in others is nothing new.

A guided tour of Audi Forum Ingolstadt is $6, or explore on your own for $3. For more information, visit http://www.audi.com.

PORSCHE MUSEUM

It's already more than a year behind schedule, but the ambitious new Porsche Museum in the Stuttgart suburb of Zuffenhausen promises to quadruple the number of vehicles on show - and rotate a collection of legendary models that even when standing still can quicken a car enthusiast's heartbeat. Also on the drawing board: Self-guided tours that cover the history of the world's smallest independent car company, started in 1900 by Ferdinand Porsche; theme islands that explore the development of models such as the 911 Series; and workshops on the restoration of historic sports cars. The main attraction, though, will probably be the building itself, a dramatic cantilevered structure that gives the illusion of hovering in midair over the ground floor.

The Porsche Museum opens in Stuttgart this December. For information, call 49 711 911 256 85 or visit http://www.porsche.com.