In Silesia private collectors, car clubs and railway enthusiasts' associations have assembled collections that are hard to find in large state museums: from the Maluch that was made in Bielsko-Biała, through prewar motorcycles, to tanks and steam locomotives. Many of these places are small and run on a voluntary basis, so it is worth checking visiting hours before you set out.

Cars and motorcycles

In 1971 the Small-Displacement Car Factory (Fabryka Samochodów Małolitrażowych) was established in Bielsko-Biała, where the Polski Fiat 126p, popularly known as the Maluch, was produced under an Italian licence. Its memory is kept alive by the Fiat 126p Museum, run since 2013 by a private collector and since 2016 as a registered museum. The patron of the institution is Ryszard Dziopak, the first director of the factory. In the same city is the Motoring Museum of the Beskid Automobile Club, founded on 11 November 2006 in the halls of a former fruit-processing plant. The collection is small: it comprises nine vehicles, among them a Citroën 2CV from 1982, two Mercedes-Benz 170V from 1938, a Syrena 105 and a Volvo P210 Duett.

A much larger collection is shown by the Motoring Museum in Tarnowskie Góry, run by the EnMovigo Foundation. It has three exhibitions: more than 350 motorcycles (including a Böhmerland from 1936 and a Vincent Comet from 1952), more than 360 bicycles and mopeds from 1869 to the present day, and 30 cars, among them a Jaguar E-Type and the Polish roadsters Gepard and Leopard. The museum describes its bicycle collection as the largest of its kind in the world, and this is a claim by the institution itself. It is visited with a guide.

In Zabrze, on the grounds of the Queen Louise Mining Open-Air Museum, in a former compressor house, is the Historic Vehicles Museum of the Silesian Automobile Club. The exhibits listed include a Franklin from 1919, a BMW 309 from 1934 and an Opel P4 from 1931 that appeared on the set of the film “Vabank”. The set of vehicles changes, because some of them are deposits. The “Jazda Historyczna” Museum in Ochaby Wielkie has a completely different atmosphere: a private collection of cars and farm tractors, most of which are in working order and can take to the road. The museum's website divides the collection into four sections, one of which is a recreated room from the 1960s.

Motorcycle enthusiasts will find two more small places. In Ustroń, on Kościelna Street, is the “Rdzawe Diamenty” (Rusty Diamonds) collection, information about which is kept on a blog showing, among other things, a Benelli 500 SV from 1940 and a Jawa 350 SV from 1934. In Korbielów, next to the Dominican monastery, is the Motór Museum, a community museum of motorcycles and equipment from the communist era, with a Komar, a Romet, a Jawa, a WSK and an SHL.

Military equipment and tanks

The Military Technology Museum in Zabrze grew out of the “Mała Armia Grupa Śląsk” association, active since 1995, and was established as a museum in November 2011. Its collection includes T-34/85 and T-72 tanks, BTR-152 and MT-LB carriers, Star trucks, and also MiG-21, Su-20 and An-2 aircraft. In 2016 about 90 per cent of the vehicles were in working order. The museum's website uses the name Military Technology Park.

A second collection of military equipment is shown by the Military Technology Museum in Zbrosławice, which refers to Tarnowskie Góry in its name. In its present form it has operated since 27 August 2022, on the initiative of the Garnizon Górnośląski foundation. Among the items here are a T-55A tank, a 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer, a BWP-1 infantry fighting vehicle, a BRDM-2 amphibious scout car, an Autosan H6 bus and an An-2 aircraft.

Machines, electricity and railways

Technology also means smaller objects. The “Typewriter” Office Machines Museum is a private collection of typewriters and calculating machines, the oldest of which, by the American company Odell, dates from 1882. The numbers in the sources differ: the museum's website speaks of more than 550 exhibits, while another source lists 326 typewriters, 34 calculating machines and 10 other devices, that is 370 in total. The Energy Museum in Łaziska Górne, in turn, is housed in the old switchgear building of a power station, and the new premises were opened there on 9 December 2003. It shows an Edison light bulb that shone in Rhodesia until 1970, and an interactive “Wibrarium” with old transformers and electric bells.

Two places are intended for railway enthusiasts. The Railway Open-Air Museum in Pyskowice operates on the grounds of a disused locomotive shed and collects more than 60 rail vehicles: steam locomotives of the Ol49, TKt48 and Ty2 classes, diesel locomotives, wagons and an EW90 electric multiple unit. The steam locomotive Ty42-24 is in working order. The Railway History Museum in Częstochowa is housed in the Stradom station building and was founded on 23 March 2001. The society that runs it also looks after the steam locomotives TKt48-151 and Ol49-20. The energy museum and the railway museum in Częstochowa were included in the Industrial Monuments Route of the Silesian Voivodeship in 2006, which makes it easier to put together a trip around several technical sites.