Riga Motor Museum

The Riga Motor Museum holds the largest collection of historic cars in the Baltic states. It was founded in 1989 at the initiative of the Latvia Antique (Historic) Automobile Club (AAK) and now displays more than 100 vehicles. Riga was one of the principal industrial cities of the Russian Empire in the years before the First World War, with important companies involved in mechanical engineering, chemicals, rubber manufacturing and electrical engineering. The Russo-Baltic factory in the city was the first in the Empire to produce motor vehicles on a significant scale in 1908, and one of the two Russo-Baltic cars that survive is displayed in the museum. There are examples of cars imported during the 1920s & 30s from the United States including a Packard Super 8 of 1937, as well as Ford-Vairog cars made in Latvia. In the Soviet period the Riga Bus Factory (RAF) produced minibuses for the whole of Eastern Europe and the museum holds several examples. The collection also includes many racing cars including a 1938 Auto Union Type D.