Autostadt

'automobile city') is a visitor attraction adjacent to the Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg, Germany, with a prime focus on automobiles.

The idea for Autostadt was started in 1994[anachronism] when the concept of documenting the stages of production of Volkswagen vehicles and how the company's operations were showcased at Expo 2000 in Hanover, Germany.

In 1998, Autostadt broke ground on the former site of a fuel company bordering Volkswagen's Wolfsburg production plant.

The main pavilion opened in May 2000 (24 years ago) (2000-05), providing an opportunity to present famous cars hitherto locked in crates to be shown to the public.

Extensive use is made of water and vegetation between the pavilions and mounds of earth covered in grass are located in the grounds.

When purchasing a car from Volkswagen (the main brand only, not the sub-brands) in select European countries, the customer gets to decide whether they want it delivered to the dealership where they bought it or travel to Autostadt to pick it up there.

Behind them there are small models of the previous cars in the history of the marque with the oldest displayed with the smallest and the generation just before the current one the biggest in scale.

Next to the cars on display, there is a black couch fitted with iPads running an app which shows the history of Porsche with pictures and videos on the former generations.

The pavilion visit began with an escalator with a film either side documenting cars produced by Bentley since the creation of the company.

[6] The displays include a Bugatti Veyron with a special chrome finish and separately an engine from the same car model.

The building is completely black and a show with an orange Lamborghini Aventador attached to the wall greets visitors.

[8] During the show, the lights dim and dry ice floods the room before finally diminishing, revealing that the car has disappeared from the wall.

[9] Each visitor gets a small plastic sphere which they first have to activate by giving their name and taking a photo with the help of wall-mounted touchscreens at the entrance.

At the end of the tour visitors can send their photo made at the entrance in e-mail or post it to social networking sites after dropping the sphere in the collecting pit.

A staircase leads up to a mezzanine level with numerous computer screens and iPads with playable racing games.