The AutoPavilion, Place of Cars and Legends, first opened doors in 2004, the result of a need for a modern, state-of-the art heritage centre to replace the existing museum that housed the company’s old vehicles.
The multi-million rand attraction is unique as it is the only automobile discovery centre on the continent and only the fifth worldwide.
The AutoPavilion has three galleries:
The AutoPavilion's primary function remains to introduce visitors and scholars to the history of Volkswagen of South Africa and its brands, and establish brand awareness amongst the youth. It is also aimed at educating school children about modern and future technologies. The centre’s many new interactive exhibits assist in this education through the medium of edutainment.
The AutoPavilion features a vast car collection, including unique vehicles, prototypes and record breaking cars. Highlights include a cut-through collapsible new Beetle, as well as a VW Nardo W12, a world record beating super-car.
Other highlights include 27 static and graphic displays and over 20 interactive exhibits.
Examples of exhibits include brain teasers, knowledge quizzes about cars, a hydrogen manufacturing demonstration in the "Future Technology" section and much more - most of them custom built to world standards. Other imported exhibits are some of the first seen in South Africa.
Life, movement and sound are brought to the AutoPavilion through monitors, video screens with continuous visual loops and moving features. Fragrance machines, ambient lighting and atmospheric sound add to the specific ambience of certain exhibits. All one's senses are therefore addressed.
The centre lends itself to “edutainment, education, brand awareness, nostalgia and a sense of the warmth of belonging to the 'Volkswagen family’,” said AutoPavilion manager Johan Wagner.
“From a design perspective, these features are really important because people in South Africa are generally used to the concept of an old fashioned motor museum which is usually indistinguishable from a used car showroom. Our concept is ultra modern and based on the Autostadt - the Volkswagen Group's motoring theme park in Wolfsburg, Germany.”
More than 70,000 visitors (around 2,000 per month) have visited the centre since its opening. These figures have contributed to making AutoPavilion the most important tourist attraction in Uitenhage.
The interior design and exhibits have been carefully planned and orchestrated with exhibition designers Seipone Exhibits from Cape Town.
“A strong bond and creative camaraderie developed between us and the director of Seipone, Dirk Durnez – including his team. We shared the same vision,” said Wagner. “They have visited the Autostadt with us and ideas have been discussed over a long period of time. They have wide international experience, including work on such famous theme parks as the Epcot Centre at Disneyworld in the United States, Ratanga Junction in Cape Town, exhibits in Dubai and EuroDisney, and many more. The ‘flow’ is therefore not accidental.”
