I was a kid when my great uncle first took me to Southwards. SIr Len himself came down to chat with me after I had asked reception about the green split screen VW. We sat in Marlenes Caddy and had a chat. Never forgotten his kindness
Old Len was a character for sure.. I remember visiting the museum many years ago and being befriended by an old gentleman who gave us an impromptu re tour and seemed to know very detail of every car in the place..... turns out it was old Len himself. Just a lovely bloke ho loved cars bikes and boats.
overall it does not get many visitors it's quite out of the main centres though some tourist buses do stop there, there are a couple of other car museums as well Motat in Auckland and WowCars in Nelson
Just another motor car museum ? No sir this is automotive heaven ! I could spend the rest of my life happily just sitting in those beauties and dreaming of wild motoring adventures. Such a diverse and quirky collection - a car for every mood. From the every day to the absolutely insane . Brilliant.
My dad worked on Lens cars when he first started his small scale museum in Seaview Gracefield, Len was a real gentleman very interesting chap to talk to. The new bigger museum is truly world class.
The new museum was his 'little retirement project'. He put a lot of effort into making it a real legacy. I had the pleasure of being shown around by him twice (as part of a group) - once in Seaview and once in the new place. Yes, a real gentleman and full of knowledge about the vehicles on display. With some of the vehicles, he knew them from new - he proudly showed off an early '20s ABC flat twin motorcycle, and told us that he had uncrated it at the original dealer and set it up.... His first product when he started his engineering business - during WW2 there was a shortage of mirrors for tucks, so he made the tubing by improvising a set of rollers to form it from strip, and then seam welded it. Very clever, no nonsense down-to-earth man. . When Len Southward was young, he had a very very red head of hair. The race boat was an emphatic statement 'red and proud'. He had a lot to be proud of.
@@paulstandeven8572 Len made special roller presses for my father's business which allowed him to manufacture guards for the trucks he built in return dad would do the metal finishing on his vintage collection we watch them hoist the old plane up into the roof of the old museum. Len was probably the last genuine kiwi industrialist.
My Dad restored the Stanley Steamer at about 8.30, the change of ownership papers used to be on display in reception (not sure if they are still there), and feature Dad and Sir Lens signatures from I think 1968. He knew Sir Len as they were both in the automotive trades. Sir Len took the time to show me around when I first visited in 1990, a very pleasant chap and he's left a great monument to his achievements.
That has to be one of the best motoring museums that I've ever seen, some really rare cars in there, was really surprised to see the Davis, apprently there was only ever 12 made, flathead V8 in a 3 wheeler....scary!!
The Davis was fitted with flathead fours, Hercules and another. These were forklift type power units. According to Jay Leno's friend about 16-20 were built. A survivor is in the Pertersen collection in Los Angeles too.
@@tomfrazier1103 Having looked into it you are of course correct. I got my info from watching an episode of Chasing Classic Cars with Wayne Carini from years ago. I've just found this 4 minute video - ruclips.net/video/e9mUok7adIM/видео.html and it explains why I thought they were all flathead V8's. Apparently the one he had was the only one with that engine. Thats what I love about cars, always learning, thanks for putting me right on this one.
The Davis @ the Petersen was restored with a crowd funding program and during the restoration the vehicle was found to have several different colors on various parts. One hypothesis was that, much like Tucker had done, the car had been repainted various times for advertising purposes as well as the appearance of more vehicles then actually existed. Just as interesting is the display of advertising ephemera for the Davis. Diminutive models, both male & female, were used in promotion photos sitting 3 across on the bench seat. This offered the illusion that 3 full sized adults could ride comfortably in the Davis, which decidedly they could not.
@@graemew7001 The Petersen car had been mounted on a post as advertising. They actually claimed 4 abreast seating. Leno got that, with some joking among the acquaintances. Extreme homophobes need not go more than 3 in a Davis. There is one in a New Zealand collection too. As far as wierd car sculptures, a good one in Nevada is a giant spider made of a VW Bug & long "Legs" for a Dayton junkyard.
@@tomfrazier1103 I doubt you would be able to get 4 people my size sitting next to each other in a Davis 😂. I've seen some of those sculptures on the internet and some of them look really sinister!!
I recognised Marlene Dietrich's Cadillac from David Niven's autobiography, The Moon's a Balloon. As a bit-part actor trying to make it in Hollywood, he didn't know Marlene Dietrich herself - but he was mates with her chauffeur.
A very nice video Ian, so thank you. I am always super impressed by your knowledge and ability to communicate this in a very down to earth and matter of fact manner. You glance at a car and say "oh yes that's a Desoto Fireball XL5 .....". I look at the same car and say "it is green". Keep up the good work and take care of yourself.
22.11 In the motorbike section, you walked past a red Suzuki RE-5. recognisable by it's flip top cylindrical intstrument binnacle mounted above the headlight (and deleted on the later example which is helpfully parked alongside) Rotary powered and released by Suzuki to instantly coincide with the '70's fuel crisis thus dooming the project to failure after only two years. Note the air intakes underneath the radiator. They supply air to the exhaust internals in an effort to cool the notoriously hot breath of the rotary engine. Not particularly appreciated in period but very collectable now. In fact, it was the reason that I first visited the museum many, many moons ago because a friend and fellow rotorhead spotted a lone RE-5 on a revolving display stand and said I should visit immediately to see it .... because Rotary. Unbelievable now to see two in the same collection!! I'm really pleased that you managed to make it to Southwards.
I,m a NZer and have been to the Southward car museum several yimes over the yeats,an amazing collection of classic cars including the Cord which has now been fully restored,always worth a visit💎
I went there back in 1996, and it looks a fair bit different now. The cars were excellently kept back then, but the actual building looks much improved.
Another great collection and museum. Superb to see a nice collection of Reliants on display so far from the UK. NZ really is a place that keeps on giving when it comes to the museums and collections.
Mini clutch magic is all in the freely rotating primary gear on the end of the crankshaft, the clutch disc is splined to this gear and the flywheel is a taper fit onto the end if the crank.
The Tillings Stevens Fire engine was made by a company which started out building Vulcan trucks. They branched into cars in the 1910's. I helped Restore a 1913 Vulcan and because the chap I was working for at the time had no idea of what a vulcan was,I spent a bit of time researching them (the car was barely finished when we entered it in the Melbourne motorclassica where it won a first prize. ) Anyway Tillings Stevens carried on to keep building vehicles when the Vulcan brand was discontinued. Eventually becoming part of the Rootes Group. So if you ever hear a commer truck running with the distinctive two stroke sound of the commer knocker engine, you will know that it is powered with a TS 3 engine, a Tillings stevens 3 cylinder,,six piston diesel. When i was last at that museum, the Cord was a quickly painted wreck,having been burnt in the distant past and my then Wife ,when she stood next to the Merc 770 ,her head was just above the top of the headlight.... 😂
Great video bud.. It's been a while since I'd been to Southward museum in Kapiti so it's fantastic to get an updated tour. Love your car knowledge and love your videos..
This was worth every minute. What I enjoyed more is that they took the time to display everything with pride. I wish we had as much automotive pride in Australia.
Excellent museum tour as always, including the obligatory rover p6 in almond. Which apart from the one you spotted out on the road, you seem to always miss them, when you find them in museums.
I will have to go back through this entire series now and compile a list of places to visit when I get to NZ. Ian has single handed saved the NZ tourism department from bankruptcy.
As a New Zealander I can tell you right now that then New Zealand Tourism industry is FAR from Bankruptcy! You will see that when you get here. Good luck. Make sure you book way in advance.
@@sambaker3233 Cool, I'm over the ditch in Australia, I have been to Auckland for just a couple of days working, it certainly looks like a great place to tour around. Ians videos would have done no harm to NZ reputation at all, the place will be full of white kneed Britishers now :-)
Smashing! I know you glossed over some American vehicles, but the one you missed was that gorgeous two-tone Nash Rambler; I happened to have spotted one locally, restored in excellent condition this fall, although it was red white two-tone. And that Imperial LeBaron next to the 1970 Pontiac Catalina, very rare! Loved all of the classics, from all over the world, so thank you for sharing!
It’s amazing really when you think of how many variations of cars and bikes etc etc that there are out there. When they all do the same thing. It’s always a pleasure listening to you with knowing what you do. Thankyou.
Ian, when you were passing through the motorbikes, you failed to notice the Blue Suzuki RE5 (which had the speedo/tacho that looks like a long cylinder) Suzuki's attempt at a Wankel Rotary powered bike 1974-76
Spellbindingly brilliant. Enchanting from start to finish. Just how you managed to cover so much ground in the time, I don't know. I especially liked the back story on the re-built Mercedes. Those are expensive head lamps!!
Great review of the cars in there. This is my grandfathers museum and I found your walk around when showing the Redhead boat to my daughter with footage of my father driving one of the support boats. As a young kid I was always amazed at the pile of rusty old junk cars that he kept on purchasing, then when he put them in a museum in 79 it all made sense. He even purchased a steam engine(KA945) that he wanted to use to bring people from Wellington up to the museum but think it got all too hard working with Railways etc... so he donated it to the local train enthusiasts. My father started his own collection of cars and now that he has passed away I have those in my shed. I have the old Panhard with hot tube ignition, there is a video of it running in my channel, supposedly one of the first cars with the engine at the front driving through the gearbox onto the rear driven wheels, Systeme Panhard as it was called. This was car 4 in 1891, not sure what car 3 had but 1 and 2 had rear engine rear drive.
What a superbly diverse collection. I'm always fascinated by the Cord.........maybe I owned one in a previous life....Great tour, thank you for sharing.
I learnt so much from your comments, Ian. I am amazed at your knowledge. So glad you didn’t dwell on the bikes. Leave them to somebody else! Another big thank you.
Wow! What an amazing museum. On the Standard V8, there is very little information available on them, but apparently they are only 2.7 litres, and were notorious for overheating. One wonders why they bothered. A chap I know in Melbourne is restoring one of the remaining 4 known to exist. On Willys, the Americans pronounce it Willis, and the rest of the world pronounces it Willies, just in case you ever find yourself in yankland. The 1937 model shown has the American body, whilst Australian ones had a locally made body (by Holden, who were body builders at that time) which looks considerably better in my view. If you have an idle moment, google a photo of the 1939 Willys, which has an even more wacky 'face'. The Riley Pathfinder was the last car using Riley's twin cam (in the block) 2.5 litre 4 cyl engine. The body and chassis were shared with the Wolseley 6/90 which used the C series engine in 2.6 form, and the Riley engine was 10 bhp more powerful. On the Prince Skyline, I've never seen one before, but the styling similarity to the Checker Cab is quite remarkable. Cheers.
Thanks again for another museum tour. You are giving us all a chance to "visit" brilliant museums most of us wont ever get the chance to. Nice nod to Robert at Aging Wheels.
the mini transmission......... when you depress the clutch pedal the release arm pushes on the release bearing which pushes the clutch cover -which is part of a sprung sandwhich of that, the friction plate and the flywheel...so when the clutch cover is pushed sandwich is basically opened so the friction plate does not take drive from the flywheel onto the primary idler gear which is the one you seen on the crank...The friction plate is splined to fit on the splines on the primary gear... hope that makes some sense..................when you release the clutch pedal the clutch cover clamps the friction plate to the flywheel face so you get drive.....................................Wonderful museum!
Excellent viewing of a car museum that really is stuffed full of some truly beautiful vehicles, the car people of NZ you are very lucky to have such a selection, Would watch again 👍
Mini transmission. The helical gear left drives the transmission, it is hollow over the drive shaft and includes the base of the clutch. The engine drive shaft which goes through the former base and helical gear has attached the front pressure plate of the clutch and flywheel. So declutching releases the base plate and freewheels the driveshaft
I love this adventure Ian! You are going to all these museums! Places that I would love to go to, but never will because of my severe disability and other things. It's 'kind of' like you are going for me, by watching all these movies! It's so fantastic!
I live in Wellington and have been along a few times, every time I got there are new and interesting cars. The curators are hard at work. My girlfriend really enjoyed the micro cars and motorcycles. 🙂
I am restoring a 1965 Moulton F at the moment....the one pictured is probably a 1963-build (first year of manufacture) highly desirable in Kingfisher "Billiard Cue" livery...the proprietor of this museum has exquisite taste, like me!!
@@HubNut Yeah, MOTAT is more a general transport and 'back-in-the-day' type museum rather than a automobile museum. Southward's is a top-notch museum, especially for a small country like New Zealand.
My first thought at 23:26 (to the right of the screen heading down the stairs) was: ''why is there a cat squatting having a crap?'' Well, that's what it initially looked like!! - Anyhoo - I'm sorry to dismiss all the fancy Americana and early Cartwheel Contraptions, but, if there was a hypothetical fire, and I could save just _one_ car, it would be the green Toyota Landcruiser at 18:18. And as the Land Rover is right beside it, I just _might_ have time to rescue that as well. I hate to admit, that despite being a bike guy, I'd not save _any_ bikes, as it'd take too long to decide which one to throw down the stairs first.
What a fantastic museum. Must be up there with the best. Great variety of vehicles! One thing I did notice was that it bucked the trend of other NZ museums, no typewriter section.
Wow what a museum- best I’ve seen. Not as big as Beaulieu but just as impressive, especially with the rarities there. The old outboard motors were really cool too! Wonderful tour Ian - thank you.
Moulton bicycles are still made in the stables at Alex Moulton's house in Wiltshire. They are his second design having a spaceframe of small tubes. Pashley Cycles also make them and I think they may own the Moulton Bicycle Company. Very popular in Japan.
The Trojan's engine is a split single. It is a 2 stroke with one of the pistons handling intake, the other the exhaust. It is explained at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-single_engine#Trojan. The advantage is that you can have a normal wet sump bottom end, and avoid built up crankshafts.
First impression is of a 1960s Soviet Tourist Hotel! Seriously though, an amazing place. As for the Davis, Wayne Carine featured one of those on his TV show, which he bought some years back.
28:20...the riley pathfinder used to belong to my father..he restored it in the mid 90s . Was quick for it's time...would do 100mph which was quick for the 1950s being a smaller 2.4 litre 4 cylinder. He sold it to southwards in around 2001.
The Argyll was built in the West Side of Scotland at the start of the 1900's in Argyll and bute region of Scotland. The old factory is now a part museum and shopping mall.
Mega, amazing, jaw dropping......you have done your homework prior to walking us around Ian. Thanks for the experience. How could you put a value on that lot? Priceless.
A little background on American Bantam. They began as American Austin in Butler, Pennsylvania, in the late 1920s building the Austin Seven under license. In the thirties, there was a need to make the Austin more suitable for the American market, and it was rebodied with new styling (From Raymond Loewy, if I remember correctly) and rebranded as the American Bantam. Their successor is slightly better remember. In 1940, American Bantam won the concession to create a quarter--ton general purpose four-wheel-drive vehicle for military use. Bantam did the engineering, but did not have adequate manufacturing capacity to make the vehicle. Ford and Willys were contracted to build the first Jeep. Cheers from Costa Rica!
Brilliant video Ian! I enjoyed that so much! And, like you, I fail to see how a Mini clutch works/worked, so I'll have a look later! Take care matey! :-)
I know how a Land Crab clutch works (and that it doesn't if you put the driven plate in backwards :-( ). The land crab had a Hy-Vo chain to take the power from engine to transmission, rather than gears.
The motorcycle collection is amazing, he skipped half and only skimmed the rest! well worth a visit just for that :) can spend an hour or two just on the bikes
Great video and museum, loved seeing the BMW bubble car and AC 2 liter almost next to each other, my dad has the very same vehicles in a little museum in North Wales 😁
Really fine tour of the museum. Ian your a natural at narration. The secret of your RUclips success. Love interesting cars from around the globe. Bravo ! RICH&2 carnivorous kitties LA california USA
A great place to visit. Was there about 15yrs ago and enjoyed it immensely. In the past have owned a couple of the models shown. The gangster car was owned by Lana Turner at some stage I believe.
I was a kid when my great uncle first took me to Southwards. SIr Len himself came down to chat with me after I had asked reception about the green split screen VW. We sat in Marlenes Caddy and had a chat. Never forgotten his kindness
Old Len was a character for sure.. I remember visiting the museum many years ago and being befriended by an old gentleman who gave us an impromptu re tour and seemed to know very detail of every car in the place..... turns out it was old Len himself. Just a lovely bloke ho loved cars bikes and boats.
NZ must have one of the best motor museums in the world I hope they get plenty of visitors !
overall it does not get many visitors it's quite out of the main centres though some tourist buses do stop there, there are a couple of other car museums as well Motat in Auckland and WowCars in Nelson
Just another motor car museum ? No sir this is automotive heaven ! I could spend the rest of my life happily just sitting in those beauties and dreaming of wild motoring adventures. Such a diverse and quirky collection - a car for every mood. From the every day to the absolutely insane . Brilliant.
My dad worked on Lens cars when he first started his small scale museum in Seaview Gracefield, Len was a real gentleman very interesting chap to talk to. The new bigger museum is truly world class.
The new museum was his 'little retirement project'. He put a lot of effort into making it a real legacy. I had the pleasure of being shown around by him twice (as part of a group) - once in Seaview and once in the new place. Yes, a real gentleman and full of knowledge about the vehicles on display.
With some of the vehicles, he knew them from new - he proudly showed off an early '20s ABC flat twin motorcycle, and told us that he had uncrated it at the original dealer and set it up....
His first product when he started his engineering business - during WW2 there was a shortage of mirrors for tucks, so he made the tubing by improvising a set of rollers to form it from strip, and then seam welded it. Very clever, no nonsense down-to-earth man. .
When Len Southward was young, he had a very very red head of hair. The race boat was an emphatic statement 'red and proud'. He had a lot to be proud of.
@@paulstandeven8572 Len made special roller presses for my father's business which allowed him to manufacture guards for the trucks he built in return dad would do the metal finishing on his vintage collection we watch them hoist the old plane up into the roof of the old museum. Len was probably the last genuine kiwi industrialist.
@@mahulad7298 A shame his son was not interested in it the business or the museum
My Dad restored the Stanley Steamer at about 8.30, the change of ownership papers used to be on display in reception (not sure if they are still there), and feature Dad and Sir Lens signatures from I think 1968. He knew Sir Len as they were both in the automotive trades. Sir Len took the time to show me around when I first visited in 1990, a very pleasant chap and he's left a great monument to his achievements.
That has to be one of the best motoring museums that I've ever seen, some really rare cars in there, was really surprised to see the Davis, apprently there was only ever 12 made, flathead V8 in a 3 wheeler....scary!!
The Davis was fitted with flathead fours, Hercules and another. These were forklift type power units. According to Jay Leno's friend about 16-20 were built. A survivor is in the Pertersen collection in Los Angeles too.
@@tomfrazier1103 Having looked into it you are of course correct. I got my info from watching an episode of Chasing Classic Cars with Wayne Carini from years ago. I've just found this 4 minute video - ruclips.net/video/e9mUok7adIM/видео.html
and it explains why I thought they were all flathead V8's. Apparently the one he had was the only one with that engine. Thats what I love about cars, always learning, thanks for putting me right on this one.
The Davis @ the Petersen was restored with a crowd funding program and during the restoration the vehicle was found to have several different colors on various parts. One hypothesis was that, much like Tucker had done, the car had been repainted various times for advertising purposes as well as the appearance of more vehicles then actually existed. Just as interesting is the display of advertising ephemera for the Davis. Diminutive models, both male & female, were used in promotion photos sitting 3 across on the bench seat. This offered the illusion that 3 full sized adults could ride comfortably in the Davis, which decidedly they could not.
@@graemew7001 The Petersen car had been mounted on a post as advertising. They actually claimed 4 abreast seating. Leno got that, with some joking among the acquaintances. Extreme homophobes need not go more than 3 in a Davis. There is one in a New Zealand collection too. As far as wierd car sculptures, a good one in Nevada is a giant spider made of a VW Bug & long "Legs" for a Dayton junkyard.
@@tomfrazier1103 I doubt you would be able to get 4 people my size sitting next to each other in a Davis 😂. I've seen some of those sculptures on the internet and some of them look really sinister!!
I recognised Marlene Dietrich's Cadillac from David Niven's autobiography, The Moon's a Balloon. As a bit-part actor trying to make it in Hollywood, he didn't know Marlene Dietrich herself - but he was mates with her chauffeur.
I think David Niven was mates with every one.
IIRC he had very affable way...?
A very nice video Ian, so thank you. I am always super impressed by your knowledge and ability to communicate this in a very down to earth and matter of fact manner. You glance at a car and say "oh yes that's a Desoto Fireball XL5 .....". I look at the same car and say "it is green". Keep up the good work and take care of yourself.
Two reasons to visit New Zealand: nature and the very special car museums. Thanks again Ian for showing.
22.11 In the motorbike section, you walked past a red Suzuki RE-5. recognisable by it's flip top cylindrical intstrument binnacle mounted above the headlight (and deleted on the later example which is helpfully parked alongside)
Rotary powered and released by Suzuki to instantly coincide with the '70's fuel crisis thus dooming the project to failure after only two years.
Note the air intakes underneath the radiator. They supply air to the exhaust internals in an effort to cool the notoriously hot breath of the rotary engine.
Not particularly appreciated in period but very collectable now. In fact, it was the reason that I first visited the museum many, many moons ago because a friend and fellow rotorhead spotted a lone RE-5 on a revolving display stand and said I should visit immediately to see it .... because Rotary. Unbelievable now to see two in the same collection!!
I'm really pleased that you managed to make it to Southwards.
I,m a NZer and have been to the Southward car museum several yimes over the yeats,an amazing collection of classic cars including the Cord which has now been fully restored,always worth a visit💎
Great museum.
The Cord was worth a look for its front wheel drive and pre-selector gearbox. Pretty innovative for mid 1930's.
I went there back in 1996, and it looks a fair bit different now. The cars were excellently kept back then, but the actual building looks much improved.
The Stanley looks as if it's being powered with a tea urn. Surely, a HubNut dream come true?
Another great collection and museum.
Superb to see a nice collection of Reliants on display so far from the UK.
NZ really is a place that keeps on giving when it comes to the museums and collections.
The only word that rhymes with New Zealand is museum ;)
Mini clutch magic is all in the freely rotating primary gear on the end of the crankshaft, the clutch disc is splined to this gear and the flywheel is a taper fit onto the end if the crank.
Thanks Ciff G, I was scrolling down the comments to see if anyone explained how the clutch works, you saved me the job. :)
The Tillings Stevens Fire engine was made by a company which started out building Vulcan trucks. They branched into cars in the 1910's. I helped Restore a 1913 Vulcan and because the chap I was working for at the time had no idea of what a vulcan was,I spent a bit of time researching them (the car was barely finished when we entered it in the Melbourne motorclassica where it won a first prize. ) Anyway Tillings Stevens carried on to keep building vehicles when the Vulcan brand was discontinued. Eventually becoming part of the Rootes Group. So if you ever hear a commer truck running with the distinctive two stroke sound of the commer knocker engine, you will know that it is powered with a TS 3 engine, a Tillings stevens 3 cylinder,,six piston diesel.
When i was last at that museum, the Cord was a quickly painted wreck,having been burnt in the distant past and my then Wife ,when she stood next to the Merc 770 ,her head was just above the top of the headlight.... 😂
We very much enjoyed your tour. You did a great job. Thank you.
Those Cords are absolutely beautiful. I would give my left gentleman's organ to own one.
Diseasel .... i’d give all four of mine !
Lovely collection.
A place where I could spend an entire day.
Wow the Davis Divan at 16:03 now thats a rare one to find in NZ. Jay Leno did a video on one from the Peterson Museum in LA.
Great video bud.. It's been a while since I'd been to Southward museum in Kapiti so it's fantastic to get an updated tour. Love your car knowledge and love your videos..
This was worth every minute. What I enjoyed more is that they took the time to display everything with pride. I wish we had as much automotive pride in Australia.
Yes, makes our museums look like farm collections
Vehicles are more disposable in Australia, but then you lose the history
Excellent museum tour as always, including the obligatory rover p6 in almond. Which apart from the one you spotted out on the road, you seem to always miss them, when you find them in museums.
I will have to go back through this entire series now and compile a list of places to visit when I get to NZ.
Ian has single handed saved the NZ tourism department from bankruptcy.
As a New Zealander I can tell you right now that then New Zealand Tourism industry is FAR from Bankruptcy! You will see that when you get here. Good luck. Make sure you book way in advance.
@@sambaker3233 Cool, I'm over the ditch in Australia, I have been to Auckland for just a couple of days working, it certainly looks like a great place to tour around. Ians videos would have done no harm to NZ reputation at all, the place will be full of white kneed Britishers now :-)
Sam Baker Ah - what a difference a couple of weeks make.
Sweet.. I'll have to go next time I'm in Wellington 👍
59 Caddys - my favourite! Fantastic walkaround Mr. HubNut, despite the lack of actual wiper action!
Smashing! I know you glossed over some American vehicles, but the one you missed was that gorgeous two-tone Nash Rambler; I happened to have spotted one locally, restored in excellent condition this fall, although it was red white two-tone. And that Imperial LeBaron next to the 1970 Pontiac Catalina, very rare! Loved all of the classics, from all over the world, so thank you for sharing!
Oh, and the Dodge Viper V-10 was also used in Dodge Ram trucks.
It’s amazing really when you think of how many variations of cars and bikes etc etc that there are out there. When they all do the same thing. It’s always a pleasure listening to you with knowing what you do. Thankyou.
What a fantastic collection, another big thank you for the vid. I believe Status Quo had their own small car museum, it only contained 3 Cords..
Ian, when you were passing through the motorbikes, you failed to notice the Blue Suzuki RE5 (which had the speedo/tacho that looks like a long cylinder) Suzuki's attempt at a Wankel Rotary powered bike 1974-76
Spellbindingly brilliant. Enchanting from start to finish. Just how you managed to cover so much ground in the time, I don't know. I especially liked the back story on the re-built Mercedes. Those are expensive head lamps!!
Wonderful museum and a terrific tour guide - thanks very much Ian.
I could happily have walked around with you (so to speak) for another hour.
Great review of the cars in there.
This is my grandfathers museum and I found your walk around when showing the Redhead boat to my daughter with footage of my father driving one of the support boats. As a young kid I was always amazed at the pile of rusty old junk cars that he kept on purchasing, then when he put them in a museum in 79 it all made sense. He even purchased a steam engine(KA945) that he wanted to use to bring people from Wellington up to the museum but think it got all too hard working with Railways etc... so he donated it to the local train enthusiasts.
My father started his own collection of cars and now that he has passed away I have those in my shed. I have the old Panhard with hot tube ignition, there is a video of it running in my channel, supposedly one of the first cars with the engine at the front driving through the gearbox onto the rear driven wheels, Systeme Panhard as it was called. This was car 4 in 1891, not sure what car 3 had but 1 and 2 had rear engine rear drive.
That's a Davis Divan (on the thumbnail), by chance I watched Jay Leno's review/ breakdown yesterday
What a superbly diverse collection. I'm always fascinated by the Cord.........maybe I owned one in a previous life....Great tour, thank you for sharing.
21.00 : That was a Douglas Dragonfly, made a stone's throw from where I live, here in Bristol, UK.
I learnt so much from your comments, Ian. I am amazed at your knowledge. So glad you didn’t dwell on the bikes. Leave them to somebody else! Another big thank you.
Glad you like our car museum. It's a few years since I last went, it's changed quite a bit.
What a great collection!! All famous cars from history under one roof!
A Davis! I remember Wayne Carini restored one, and brought it to a Cars & Coffee event. Amazing vehicle.
For such a small country, New Zealand certainly has the pick of car museums. A real feast. Cheers.
Wow! What an amazing museum. On the Standard V8, there is very little information available on them, but apparently they are only 2.7 litres, and were notorious for overheating. One wonders why they bothered. A chap I know in Melbourne is restoring one of the remaining 4 known to exist. On Willys, the Americans pronounce it Willis, and the rest of the world pronounces it Willies, just in case you ever find yourself in yankland. The 1937 model shown has the American body, whilst Australian ones had a locally made body (by Holden, who were body builders at that time) which looks considerably better in my view. If you have an idle moment, google a photo of the 1939 Willys, which has an even more wacky 'face'. The Riley Pathfinder was the last car using Riley's twin cam (in the block) 2.5 litre 4 cyl engine. The body and chassis were shared with the Wolseley 6/90 which used the C series engine in 2.6 form, and the Riley engine was 10 bhp more powerful. On the Prince Skyline, I've never seen one before, but the styling similarity to the Checker Cab is quite remarkable. Cheers.
It really is a great place, we visited it on our trip around the north island, definitely recommended.
Thanks again for another museum tour. You are giving us all a chance to "visit" brilliant museums most of us wont ever get the chance to. Nice nod to Robert at Aging Wheels.
Well, there we go. My mind is boggled, and I’m ruined for the day. What a magnificent collection!
The Honda C50 and 90 were pretty cool,and did I spot a kettle and a fizzy.
the mini transmission......... when you depress the clutch pedal the release arm pushes on the release bearing which pushes the clutch cover -which is part of a sprung sandwhich of that, the friction plate and the flywheel...so when the clutch cover is pushed sandwich is basically opened so the friction plate does not take drive from the flywheel onto the primary idler gear which is the one you seen on the crank...The friction plate is splined to fit on the splines on the primary gear... hope that makes some sense..................when you release the clutch pedal the clutch cover clamps the friction plate to the flywheel face so you get drive.....................................Wonderful museum!
Thanks again Ian for a look at another fantastic and very comprehensive museum.
Excellent viewing of a car museum that really is stuffed full of some truly beautiful vehicles, the car people of NZ you are very lucky to have such a selection,
Would watch again 👍
Mini transmission. The helical gear left drives the transmission, it is hollow over the drive shaft and includes the base of the clutch. The engine drive shaft which goes through the former base and helical gear has attached the front pressure plate of the clutch and flywheel. So declutching releases the base plate and freewheels the driveshaft
What an absolutely cracking video Mr Seabrook, a feast for the eyes. Although sometimes I can shut my eyes and just listen. Great times.
Thank you for the great tour. What a great collection of stuff I do & do not recognize. Rocco in New York City
The crashed Porsche was driven by the father of Mitch Evans who races Formula E for Jaguar.
That place is just superb ! I'm having yet another "Blimey" moment. I'm in Blimey overload with your recent videos...Well done !
Magnificent collection I'm sure even Jay Leno would be impressed
Thanks, nice tour of the museum. It would take me some time to go through the museum, so much eye candy.
Thank you for a great video. It's nice during these days of lockdown, to be able to go to a motor museum for a day out! Cheers!
What a fab museum, I'm ashamed to admit I've always wondered how the gearbox on an a series in the sump worked.
I see lots of potential hopefuls for the London to Brighton veteran’s car adventure
I love this adventure Ian! You are going to all these museums! Places that I would love to go to, but never will because of my severe disability and other things. It's 'kind of' like you are going for me, by watching all these movies! It's so fantastic!
Wow, what an insightful vlog. Please keep up the good work that you do. Most interesting.
I live in Wellington and have been along a few times, every time I got there are new and interesting cars. The curators are hard at work. My girlfriend really enjoyed the micro cars and motorcycles. 🙂
Brilliant museum with superb cars and liked the automated sectioned models too.
Thanks Ian, great stuff.
I have to say you have shared some fantastic museum visits with us so far. Love it.
Great video, brought back many memories, visited the place a few times. staggering to think of the value of all those cars all under one roof.
That is quite a collection, thanks for taking us round.
I am restoring a 1965 Moulton F at the moment....the one pictured is probably a 1963-build (first year of manufacture) highly desirable in Kingfisher "Billiard Cue" livery...the proprietor of this museum has exquisite taste, like me!!
Even more old cars can be seen in the National Transport & Toy Museum in Wanaka, NZ. Most of them in the state they came off the street.
Deffo on a binge of this channel. Thanks for this amazing content buddy
In addition to the vehicles on display,an equal number used to be in storage or under maintenance .This might not be the case today.
That was an amazing tour of this museum much appreciated and one on my to do list is this museum and motat up in Auckland.
I went to Motat. I couldn't recommend it really. Car side of things is very disappointing, aero is ok.
@@HubNut oh ok cheers for that.
@@HubNut Yeah, MOTAT is more a general transport and 'back-in-the-day' type museum rather than a automobile museum.
Southward's is a top-notch museum, especially for a small country like New Zealand.
WowCars in Nelson is very interesting.
My first thought at 23:26 (to the right of the screen heading down the stairs) was: ''why is there a cat squatting having a crap?'' Well, that's what it initially looked like!! - Anyhoo - I'm sorry to dismiss all the fancy Americana and early Cartwheel Contraptions, but, if there was a hypothetical fire, and I could save just _one_ car, it would be the green Toyota Landcruiser at 18:18. And as the Land Rover is right beside it, I just _might_ have time to rescue that as well. I hate to admit, that despite being a bike guy, I'd not save _any_ bikes, as it'd take too long to decide which one to throw down the stairs first.
That is a huge collection. Thanks for the motorcycle coverage!
The motorcycle collection is amazing, shame he skipped half and only skimmed the rest :)
I visited on a road trip around the North Island. Great collection of cars.
At last RUclips recommends an outstanding video! Thank you for making this available to us. :o)
What a fantastic museum. Must be up there with the best. Great variety of vehicles! One thing I did notice was that it bucked the trend of other NZ museums, no typewriter section.
Wow what a museum- best I’ve seen. Not as big as Beaulieu but just as impressive, especially with the rarities there. The old outboard motors were really cool too! Wonderful tour Ian - thank you.
You skipped past the 2.2 Porsche 911 but showed the AC 2 litre ( like mine).
That museum looks like a hole day's visit.
Moulton bicycles are still made in the stables at Alex Moulton's house in Wiltshire. They are his second design having a spaceframe of small tubes. Pashley Cycles also make them and I think they may own the Moulton Bicycle Company. Very popular in Japan.
Hi Ian,what a awesome and interesting video,so many cars to look at,I remember the Ariel motor bikes,a friend had one, British plates on that taxi.
The Trojan's engine is a split single. It is a 2 stroke with one of the pistons handling intake, the other the exhaust. It is explained at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-single_engine#Trojan. The advantage is that you can have a normal wet sump bottom end, and avoid built up crankshafts.
It never fails to amaze me how encyclopedic your knowledge is Ian!
Also...quite surprised that the fastest youve ever been was "only" 130mph 😉
First impression is of a 1960s Soviet Tourist Hotel! Seriously though, an amazing place. As for the Davis, Wayne Carine featured one of those on his TV show, which he bought some years back.
28:20...the riley pathfinder used to belong to my father..he restored it in the mid 90s .
Was quick for it's time...would do 100mph which was quick for the 1950s being a smaller 2.4 litre 4 cylinder.
He sold it to southwards in around 2001.
last time i went, a few years ago, you were met at the entrance by a stunning gullwing Merc, where the open wheeler now resides
Some real gems there! From the big Mercs to Sinclair C5 via Tillings Stevens hybrid. Well done HubNut Bach!
I've got a DeLorean for sale,great condition,low mileage,only driven from time to time....
But the service book is a nightmare it has sudden jumps of 30 years between services, and all the order is wrong
Mileage not verified as it looks like the clock has been tampered with!
The Argyll was built in the West Side of Scotland at the start of the 1900's in Argyll and bute region of Scotland. The old factory is now a part museum and shopping mall.
Like your very own NEC Classic Car Show! Fantastic collection.
Mega, amazing, jaw dropping......you have done your homework prior to walking us around Ian. Thanks for the experience. How could you put a value on that lot? Priceless.
Went there in 1988 as a 17 year old. Loved it. That gangster car is awesome.
A little background on American Bantam. They began as American Austin in Butler, Pennsylvania, in the late 1920s building the Austin Seven under license.
In the thirties, there was a need to make the Austin more suitable for the American market, and it was rebodied with new styling (From Raymond Loewy, if I remember correctly) and rebranded as the American Bantam.
Their successor is slightly better remember. In 1940, American Bantam won the concession to create a quarter--ton general purpose four-wheel-drive vehicle for military use. Bantam did the engineering, but did not have adequate manufacturing capacity to make the vehicle. Ford and Willys were contracted to build the first Jeep.
Cheers from Costa Rica!
Brilliant video Ian! I enjoyed that so much!
And, like you, I fail to see how a Mini clutch works/worked, so I'll have a look later!
Take care matey! :-)
Thank you@@Kevin75668! I understand it now! :-)
I know how a Land Crab clutch works (and that it doesn't if you put the driven plate in backwards :-( ). The land crab had a Hy-Vo chain to take the power from engine to transmission, rather than gears.
Great video and very many thanks for indulging those of us that love motorcycles as much as cars . 😁😁😁
The motorcycle collection is amazing, he skipped half and only skimmed the rest! well worth a visit just for that :) can spend an hour or two just on the bikes
Great video and museum, loved seeing the BMW bubble car and AC 2 liter almost next to each other, my dad has the very same vehicles in a little museum in North Wales 😁
Really fine tour of the museum. Ian your a natural at narration.
The secret of your RUclips success.
Love interesting cars from around the globe.
Bravo !
RICH&2 carnivorous kitties LA california USA
A great place to visit. Was there about 15yrs ago and enjoyed it immensely. In the past have owned a couple of the models shown. The gangster car was owned by Lana Turner at some stage I believe.
I love this place. It is absolutely freezing there in the middle of winter though!
Are you that mythical....snowflake?