Driving into (or out of) Wellington and getting tired of playing eye spy
with a car load of bored children? Or are you just a car nut who likes
nothing more than drooling over some of the worlds rarest cars? Well
next time you're driving along the Kapiti coast don't just grit your
teeth and drive on in determination – do yourself a favour and take a
pit stop at the Southward Museum!
It's
just over the railway lines from State Highway 1 at Otaihanga (next
stop past Waikanae heading south or Paraparaumu heading north) and has a
mind boggling collection of cars, bikes, motorbikes and memorabilia.
The collection includes New Zealands oldest car, an 1897 Benz, Marlene
Dietrich's 1934 Cadillac, an original Indy Stutz (see above), bubble
cars, electric cars, armoured cars, dragsters, a gullwing, an Ed 'Big
Daddy' Roth creation, a Philippino 'Jeepney', and my favourite - an air
cooled 30's Tatra V8 - what a beast!That's the 1915 Stutz that Norwegian Gil Andersen won the Astor Cup with in 1915 above. He also claimed a 3rd at Indianapolis 1915 and a 2nd in 1919. The car was then imported to New Zealand and won the NZ Motor cup 3 years in a row with R.B. Wilson.