National Transport and Toy Museum

Cars! Cars! Cars! Trucks! Aircraft!

None of my family wants to come with me to this museum, so I’m on my own. I have been before, years ago, but the collection keeps growing: a while ago, it hit the news for being the recipient of the Farmers’ Santa from Auckland, and I see more items arrive as I walk around (by way of a special treat for you, there’s a video of something interesting arriving as I leave at the end of the post). It’s the biggest private collection in the Southern Hemisphere, with over 600 vehicles, 100,000+ items in total. There’s even a huge toy shop - mainly model vehicles. The dry climate in Wanaka made it a logical place to house the museum. Despite the name, it is a private collection, opened in 1995 by a fellow who had a wrecker’s business in Christchurch. Founder Gerald Rhodes died in 2015 but his family are carrying it on.

I don’t pay much attention to the toy shop or toy collection. As I walk through the cars, I start to appreciate that there seems to be a theme. There aren’t many flash or expensive vehicles here - it’s mainly the sort of cars, trucks etc that would have been used by ordinary people and they’re in original, rather than showroom, condition. There are a few exceptions - the cars in the first building are polished, and there’s a Roller. I like this wee Hillman Imp - I’m sure I could still have fun hooning around in one.

This photo shows the width of the collection - aircraft (including the below Air Chathams Convair CV-580) and commercial vehicles are included.

I had always hoped to catch a flight on this plane - not necessarily to the Chathams, as it flew around New Zealand as well. Convairs were built in San Diego - the CV-580’s came onstream in the 1950s. This particular one was flown down here on 21 May 2022, when it was 69 years old. This was apparently the last take off in the world of a passenger CV-580, although there are probably some carrying freight around.

The Air New Zealand plane below is a Dutch Fokker F27 Friendship, which started production in 1955 and didn’t stop until the 1980’s. I flew on one of these only once, as far as I remember, about 50 years ago - it was one of three NAC planes I flew on from Auckland to Invercargill. The plane outside is a Brazilian Embraer EMB-110P1 Banderiante - these were built for 22 odd years from 1972. Air New Zealand’s Eagle Air subsidiary flew these, with just 15 passengers. I would have been on several flights on one of theme when I lived in Palmerston North.

Back to the cars, here’s a Vauxhall Cresta (like the one my parents bought back in the very late 1960’s - ours was red, bought brand new). You can see how ordinary the cars are - the MG is the only one with any claim to being exceptional.

This is a Mazda B1600 - from back when utes were more about carrying things than showing off, so had only two doors and a long tray of some sort. I don’t know anything about Tui Coachlines (they seem to have been in Tauranga) or what breed of bus this is, but I like its shape.

Going outside, there are several lines of trucks, tractors and other machinery of various types.

There are some vintage cars, but it’s not the main focus.

This is an early version of a mobility scooter! Here are some more cars - apart from the Ladas, all were in common use here.

I really wanted a Rover SD1 for such a long time, after having a P6 like the one beside it, but with the newest of them being 40 years old, that’s not going to happen. The same goes for the Leyland P76, although I did own a Hillman Hunter and a couple of Triumph 2.5s.

I’m on my way out when I see a low loader pull onto the museum site, turn around and prepare to unload. I plan to film from start up, but the fellow leaps into the cab, cranks her up and lifts the blade under my watchful eye before I get filming. The beast is a Terex 82-50, in continuous production in Ohio from August 1973 until early 1986, and weighing in at around 50 tonne. Enjoy!

It’s hot work, and Wanaka Beerworks is on the same site, so my next move is obvious. The pilsner is very welcome, but it’s way too hot to sit outside with it, and the inside isn’t very welcoming, so I don’t linger. When I finally catch up with the family, I find that they have come out to check out the bar, but don’t stop.

Cheers!