THE HISTORY
The Auto Museum originated as a private collection of Bratislav Petković, the owner of a collection of historical automobiles. Although, alongside Petković, the City of Belgrade was a co-founder of the Museum, until February 8th, 2024, when the Museum was forcibly evicted, the city authorities had not found suitable premises for its relocation. Instead, all museum exhibits were moved to private garages across the city.
The headquarters of the Museum was located in a building called 'Modern Garage,' which represented a characteristic monument of industrial architecture. It was built in 1929 as the first public garage in the city center, according to the plans of the Russian architect Valery Stashevsky.
Nekadašnja zgrada Muzeja automobila u ulici Majke Jevrosime 30
THE COLLECTION
The museum's collection consists of vintage cars, classic automobiles, motorcycles, and other means of transportation that have marked different eras. The museum provides a unique opportunity to explore the history of the automotive industry and allows visitors to familiarize themselves with various items that were part of this industry.
The museum also housed cars that participated in the first Belgrade International Automobile and Motorcycle Race, held on September 3, 1939. This race was organized shortly after Hitler's attack on Poland, so the atmosphere of the impending war was felt in Belgrade. Although drivers from Great Britain and France were supposed to participate, they canceled their participation, and world champions from Italy and Germany appeared instead. Yugoslav drivers in this race were Boško Milenković and Pavle Melamed.
Plakat prve beogradske međunarodne automobilske i motociklističke trke, održane 3. septembra 1939. godine.
The collection comprises fifty vehicles, with the oldest being the Marot-Gardon from 1897. It is a tricycle with a motor of one and a half horsepower, manufactured in the small French town of Corbie. This vehicle featured three wheels, a wooden body, and seating for two people. It participated in races of that era, but at the beginning of the 20th century, the factory went bankrupt, and vehicles of this type ceased production. Besides the Belgrade example, only one other museum in England has this motorized tricycle.
Motorni tricikl Maro Gardon, 1897.
A special place in the collection is reserved for the 1925 Ford Model T, the first car purchased by Bratislav Petković. The Ford Model T was a car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company from 1908 to 1927. It represented a milestone in the development of the automotive industry as it marked the beginning of mass production of automobiles. It was also the first car to be produced simultaneously worldwide in various countries, including Canada, England, Germany, Argentina, and others.
Among the original and restored automobiles, notable ones include the 1902 Ford Pilot, the 1925 Lancia Lambda, the 1926 Citroen B10, the 1929 Buick 28-58, the Skoda R6, and the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300C, which was once used by former President of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito. Additionally, there's the 1961 Fiat Gia Jolly, which served President Tito for visiting fairs
Fiat gia džoli,1961
The museum also possesses accompanying equipment such as wheels, horns, lanterns, radios, tools, driver's licenses, posters, trade advertisements, license plates, early traffic regulations and laws. The museum houses a collection of photographs, documents, old tools and equipment, as well as a library with thousands of titles, display cases with personal items of Sreten Kostić, the first chauffeur in Serbia, old gas pumps, among which the "At the Blind Chauffeur's" by Božo Tvrdišić stands out.
Fotografija stare benzinske pumpe “Kod slepog šofera” Bože Tvrdišića, 1932.
