Theodore Charagionis’ collection of 300 cars fuels the greatest car museum you’ve probably never heard of!
Located between the National Archaeological Museum and the Victoria subway station, between the two most commercial streets (Andrianou and Pandrosou) in the Plaka area of Athens, is Theodore Charagionis’ spectacular 32,000-square-foot Hellenic Motor Museum. The project began in 1999 and was completed in 2009. Charagionis started collecting cars in 1977, selecting cars that were part of his childhood dreams. His first cars were a Maserati Mistral, Rolls-Royce Wraith, two Jaguar E-Types, two Lancia Zagato Appias, two Austin-Healey 3,000s, two Fiat Dinos and one Ferrari Dino.
By the early 1990s he had accumulated 25 cars and then purchased a 20-car collection. At this point the idea of a Motor Museum surfaced. In researching the museum concept, Charagionis realized that most car museums are typically small to medium in size except for the incredible museums created by carmakers, especially those in Germany, to store and share their corporate collections. And they are almost always located in the suburbs or out in the country, far away from downtown and cultural areas of major cities.
Charagionis believes that “thematic cultural” real estate, combined with commerce and leisure, can become an active cell for tourism as well as for commercial real estate. He felt that his concept of a car museum belonged in the bustling hub of an important city and at some point could actually become a “destination.”
The four-story Hellenic Motor Museum features an auditorium with a modern showroom, driving and racing simulators, above, and special education programs for children in road safety and for young people in racing. There’s also a café and a memorabilia/gift shop. A 72-exhibit display of wheels tracing the history of the automobile, below, is located on the spiral ramp, from the ground floor to the fourth floor.
For more information about the Hellenic Motor Museum in Athens, Greece, please visit,
http://www.hellenicmotormuseum.gr/products2.php?wh=1&lang=2&the1id=1&the2id=27&the3id=29&theid=29&open1=1&open2=27&open3=29
http://www.facebook.com/HellenicMotorMuseum?sk=info
Special thanks to Van Der Geld, a member of the Iso-Bizzarrini Club (IBOC), http://www.isobizclub.com/home, for letting us know about the Hellenic Museum.