British Car Museum

The British Car Museum at Te Awanga in Hawkes Bay is one man's collection of as many British cars as one can possibly cram into a huge shed. Not all are in pristine condition, but being under cover will hopefully keep them from deteriorating further. Ian, the owner, is quite elderly now and uses a mobility scooter to get about. The mind boggles as to how this lot is going to be handled when he is no longer with us.

6 cylinder, north/south mounted, 4 cylinder east/west and 6 cylinder east/west.
They're all here.

A closer view of the replacement for the Farina styled Westminster, I always thought looked ugly, but apparently a fine car.

Farina Westminster.

An even earlier Westminster.

Morris Minors are in rows....

..

...and rows....

...and rows...

....and more rows.

The Austin A55 Cambridge was a popular model in NZ...

...as was the Morris equivalent, but not quite so common in Traveller form.

The second series of the A40 Farina was the world's first hatchback?

Standard Flying Nine appears to be in good condition.

Dennis fire trucks were popular in NZ and other Commonwealth countries.

Plenty of the commercial versions of the Minor.

Vauxhalls are plentiful.

Model cars and car books are also everywhere.

Vauxhall 14 is another tidy one.

Viva la Viva !

Spitfire needs some work.

Nice Mk VII.

1950 Sunbeam Talbot 90 Mk 1.

Series IIIa Sunbeam Rapier is the same as my very first car.
Why did I ever sell it?

I don't ever remember seeing a Sunbeam of this era.

Mk VI Bentley.

Aunty Rovers in a row.

Some things are so crammed in it's difficult to photograph them.

Little Austin and bigger Vanguard pickup.

I remember quite a few of these Vanguards on the road....

....and this model too.

The London Taxi was never used in NZ, but a few have been privately imported.

I had forgotten this model Vanguard existed.

Two Singers that high must be sopranos.

Tidy little Lanchester.

Reliant Scimitar SS1 is fairly unique in NZ.

1937 Austin Big 7.

1938 Austin Conway Cabriolet.
Note the domed on canvas top.

Interior of the above.

Vanden Plas, Riley, Wolseley, Morris, Austin, MG....

Rootes row.

Hillman Imp with wide front molding. I'm not sure if this denotes a late model or an upmarket version.

I'm familiar with the Jowett Javelin. but I don't ever remember seeing earlier Jowetts like the '39 and '37 models.

6 cylinder Vauxhalls were a common big car in NZ....

... as were the earlier models.

PA heaven.

I have a scale model PA in this exact colour.

When I was a youngster, a friends father had a company car of this model and colour.

My dad had one of these.

Singer Gazelle and Sunbeam Rapier from Rootes.

I'm not sure of the relevance of this Skoda, but I remember as an apprentice driving new ones of these down from Auckland after an overnight trip by train.

One of the nicest of the BMC grilles.
The Vanden Plas.

Jensen Healeys were a worthwhile attempt at another British sports car.

CA and CF Bedfords.
Both based mechanically on the Vauxhall Victors of the time.

Morris.

Commers based on the Hillman Minx mechanicals and a Leyland based on the Standard Vanguard.

Thames Traders were a good middle-weight truck before the much better Ford D series.

My dad had a Morris similar to this to deliver milk.

Shiny Bradford.

Bedford and Commer.

Austin Gypsy and Land Rover.

Vanguard Estate.

Morris and Standard commercials.

Piles of manuals and other car books.

It's not all cars.

Large scale model of a Convair B-36.

I've never seen so many Morris Minors in one shed.

Austin pedal cars are worth as much as the real thing now.

Another cool old pedal car.

Wood restoration on the Morris is superb.

Mini Mokes are rare now.

Once common.

eee.

This type of petrol pump is a bit before my time.

Wolseley world.

Big Sunbeam. I would think rare.

Range Rover out the front is a tidy machine.

The beginning of what plagued many a British car.