National Automobile Museum Foundation

The Louwman Museum is a museum for historic cars and carriages. The museum was previously known as the National Automobile Museum and the Louwman Collection. The foundation aims, with a view to its cultural value, to exhibit classic automobiles, motorcycles, bicycles and other means of transport, as well as everything related to them or that may help to promote them. The foundation is a non profit organization.

About the National Automobile Museum

The Louwman Museum houses the worlds oldest private collection of automobiles, brought together by two generations of the Louwman family. The foundation was laid as early as 1934 and the collection now comprises more than two hundred and fifty antique and classic automobiles. Experts regard the collection as one of the finest in the world. The museum exudes passion. Each automobile tells its own story and thus makes its own contribution to history.

From National Car Museum to the Louwman Museum

The current owner of the collection is Evert Louwman, the Dutch importer of Lexus, Toyota and Suzuki. He moved the collection in 1969 to Leidschendam, where he opened the National Automobile Museum. In 1981 the collection moved to a new location on the grounds of the importer Louwman & Parqui in Raamsdonksveer. On 18 April 2003 the name Louwman Collection was adopted.

On 3 July 2010, the new building of the Louwman Museum in The Hague was opened by Queen Beatrix.

The collection at the Louwman Museum

The foundation was laid back in 1934 and the collection now includes more than two hundred and fifty antique and classic automobiles. Experts regard the collection as one of the finest in the world.You can find an overview of the complete collection here.

The Louwman Museum was designed by the American architect Michael Graves. It has three floors and over 10,000 m2 of exhibition space. The hall is spacious and tall, with the emphasis placed more on the architecture than on the cars.