History

Without a doubt, the automobile has profoundly changed our world. Its construction, design, and use over the years have been shaped by technology, aesthetics, and status. The car has become the symbol of modern life and is therefore one of the most important inventions of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

"Almost 90 years ago, for that reason, my family already came up with the idea of preserving the highlights of automotive history for future generations. The Louwman Museum therefore dates back to 1934, the year my father bought a 1914 Dodge to keep for the future. Since then, the collection has been expanded and refined in stages. Today, the collection comprises more than 275 antique and classic automobiles," Evert Louwman

1934 - The beginning of the collection

The foundation is laid in the Lekstraat in The Hague. Pieter Louwman buys a twenty year old Dodge Touring Car. At that time, the concept of an 'auto museum' was still virtually unknown.

1969 - The National Automobile Museum

The collection grows and moves to a specially constructed building in Leidschendam. The museum receives the official name 'National Automobile Museum'.

1981 - The Move to Raamsdonksveer

Due to the size of the collection, the museum moves to a larger location in Noord-Brabant. Here the museum opens its doors under the leadership of Evert Louwman, who further refines the collection with a focus on rarity and historical relevance. Louwmans Toyota World is a museum in Raamsdonksveer that, unlike the Louwman Museum, showcases Toyota and other brands that the company Louwman & Parqui has sold over the past 90 years.

2010 - The crowning glory of the collection in The Hague

In July 2010 the museum moved into its current spectacular home on Leidsestraatweg in The Hague. The building, designed by the world famous architect Michael Graves, with three floors and over 10,000 m2, finally offers the space the collection deserves. The museum was opened on 2 July 2010 by Her Majesty Queen Beatrix.

Evert Louwman: "I am proud to be able to present this extensive but above all very diverse collection in a museum built specifically for that purpose in The Hague, the city where my father started an import agency for Dodge and Chrysler automobiles."