Carl Schlumpf worked as an accountant in the Becker horticultural company. He did, in fact, marry one of Becker’s daughters, Jeanne. Hans born in 1904 and Fritz in 1906. Carl Schlumpf died in August 1918. Hans was sent to a private school in Switzerland and graduated in business studies. Fritz attended the secondary school in Mulhouse. After working in various textile companies, he started his own wool brokering business in 1928.

The two brothers founded the SAIL (the Société Anonyme pour l'Industrie Lainière, a public limited company in the wool industry), bought their first shares in the Malmerspach spinning mill, and took control of various companies in 1940, and subsequently in Erstein and Roubaix in 1956.

To make these purchases, he established contact with ‘buyers’ in France, Switzerland, England, Italy, Germany, and the United States. The rich industrialist relentlessly acquired classic European cars, while shunning American models.

All the partition walls in the large warehouse building were removed. The new open exhibition area of 17,000 m² was subdivided into 23 ‘areas’, each comprising ten to twenty cars and surrounded by three kilometres of wide, tiled walkways.

At the same time, the pace of the restoration work on the cars increased. This required the participation of seven assistant mechanics, two upholsterers, two bodywork specialists, an assistant bodywork specialist, and five painters. To acquire and exhibit the cars in his collection, Fritz Schlumpf spent around 12 million francs in ten years. 

The warehouses were occupied by the unions. The ‘Musée Schlumpf’ was renamed and became the ‘Musée des Travailleurs’ (Workers’ Museum). Placed under the management of the CFDT trade union, admission to the Museum was free. ‘I earned 1,400 francs a month, and this is where the rest went’, declared one of the many signs placed on the grille of a racing car.

On 25 March 2000, after extensive work, Culturespaces opened the doors of the world’s largest automobile museum—which had been partly renovated and modernised—to the general public. The choices relating to the Museum’s renovation were based on three objectives: the preservation of its identity, showcasing the collection, and the conception of a modern and dynamic project. 

In July 2006, Culturespaces inaugurated new venues and the Musée National de l'Automobile became the Cité de l'Automobile. In the autumn of that year, visitors discovered a series of suspended cars. This curious display of cars and animals was complemented by alternating sound effects that included natural, atmospheric, and mechanical sounds.

The main aim of this project was to shift from a showcase collection to a museum that opened out onto the exterior, where visitors could explore the entirety of the former plant that extended over four hectares; the idea was to highlight the former factory’s exceptional architectural heritage. 

In July 2011, wishing to break away from the static image of an exhibited collection, Culturespaces created a racing track called the ‘Autodrome’. The cars were being driven once again, to the delight of the visitors and collectors. The racing track could accommodate 4,500 people in its stands. It extended the Cité de l’Automobile from four to eight hectares and added an open-air theatre to the museum complex.