The Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum (FBQ Museum) recently opened its new, specially designated Car Museum. 

Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Faisal Al Thani and Sheikh Khalid Bin Faisal Al Thani, together with VIP guests and members of the country’s diplomatic community, attended the opening event, which also featured a guided tour of the new Car Museum collection.

The new Car Museum has 300 stunning classic cars and a treasure trove of 30,000 exhibits of Islamic art, Qatar heritage, international artefacts, carpets, jewellery and textiles.

Multi-faceted journey

When visiting the Car Museum, visitors can experience a multi-faceted journey through the history of over 120 years of motorised development, revealing and reflecting the need to advance technology to shorten distances and connect people across Qatar and the Arabian Peninsula.

The new Car Museum exhibition includes exquisite classic car models from the 1900s onwards, from the legendary 1908 Studebaker and the 1924 Ford T Roadster models to the 1958 Cadillac and the 1968 Ford Mustang. Classic models of cars and trucks, sports cars, convertibles and limousines, make up the unique collection, and take visitors back in time, evoking memories of a bygone motoring era.

During the opening event, Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani shared that he always had a passion for cars, collecting truly iconic models over the years. This interest quickly turned into a hobby, which has now produced this significant collection of different classic cars.

As it attracted the attention of the public and generated more and more interest, this prompted me to open an exhibition of my own collection of cars.

He said he is particularly proud that the opening of this year’s exhibition coincided with the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, which gives them a greater opportunity to showcase the distinctive pieces to Qatar’s guests from all over the world. Opening the car museum also meant recognizing the importance of an industry, which has historically formed a life-changing link between people and places around the world.

The new museum reflects his journey as he acquired the classic motors and as the automotive industry evolved and tells its history at the same time. Some of the cars in the collection are his own cars, those of his father, Sheikh Qassim Al Thani, bless him, and those of other Qatari families and international celebrities.

Eight zones promoting Qatar’s culture and heritage

The Car Museum is divided into eight zones, from 1900 up to the 1980s, each zone exhibiting some of the most famous and sought-after models of the era, such as a 1951 Chrysler and Buick, a 1955 Pontiac, a 1937 Peugeot, Roadster and a 1940 army tank. The Car Museum is offered as part of the museum tour, with entry at QAR50 for adults and free for kids under 12.

According to Mona El Helbawi, Group General Manager at Al Rayyan Investment in Education and Sports Cluster, the new FBQ Car Museum is continuing the heritage that Sheikh Faisal established, and is the first of its kind in the Middle East. She said they take pride in being part of the legacy, which is being kept and sustained by Sheikh Faisal’s sons and daughters for generations to come.

The FBQ Museum was established 25 years ago and the Car Museum is one of its many new developments.  There are over 1,000 cars in the collection, but only 300 cars are being displayed for the opening.

One of Qatar’s leading entrepreneurs, Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani is regarded as a key player in promoting the heritage and culture of Qatar. He pioneered the establishment of the museum as a heritage venue to revive public interest and appreciation of local culture and reveal Qatar’s past and the history of the Islamic World to visitors from all over the world.

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