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.
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6 cylinder, north/south mounted, 4 cylinder east/west and 6 cylinder east/west. They're all here. |
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A closer view of the replacement for the Farina styled Westminster, I always thought looked ugly, but apparently a fine car. |
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Farina Westminster. |
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An even earlier Westminster. |
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Morris Minors are in rows.... |
..
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...and rows.... |
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...and rows... |
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....and more rows. |
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The Austin A55 Cambridge was a popular model in NZ... |
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...as was the Morris equivalent, but not quite so common in Traveller form. |
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The second series of the A40 Farina was the world's first hatchback? |
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Standard Flying Nine appears to be in good condition. |
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Dennis fire trucks were popular in NZ and other Commonwealth countries. |
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Plenty of the commercial versions of the Minor. |
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Vauxhalls are plentiful. |
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Model cars and car books are also everywhere. |
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Vauxhall 14 is another tidy one. |
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Viva la Viva ! |
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Spitfire needs some work. |
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Nice Mk VII. |
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1950 Sunbeam Talbot 90 Mk 1. |
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Series IIIa Sunbeam Rapier is the same as my very first car. Why did I ever sell it? |
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I don't ever remember seeing a Sunbeam of this era. |
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Mk VI Bentley. |
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Aunty Rovers in a row. |
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Some things are so crammed in it's difficult to photograph them. |
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Little Austin and bigger Vanguard pickup. |
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I remember quite a few of these Vanguards on the road.... |
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....and this model too. |
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The London Taxi was never used in NZ, but a few have been privately imported. |
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I had forgotten this model Vanguard existed. |
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Two Singers that high must be sopranos. |
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Tidy little Lanchester. |
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Reliant Scimitar SS1 is fairly unique in NZ. |
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1937 Austin Big 7. |
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1938 Austin Conway Cabriolet. Note the domed on canvas top. |
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Interior of the above. |
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Vanden Plas, Riley, Wolseley, Morris, Austin, MG.... |
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Rootes row. |
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Hillman Imp with wide front molding. I'm not sure if this denotes a late model or an upmarket version. |
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I'm familiar with the Jowett Javelin. but I don't ever remember seeing earlier Jowetts like the '39 and '37 models. |
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6 cylinder Vauxhalls were a common big car in NZ.... |
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... as were the earlier models. |
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PA heaven. |
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I have a scale model PA in this exact colour. |
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When I was a youngster, a friends father had a company car of this model and colour. |
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My dad had one of these. |
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Singer Gazelle and Sunbeam Rapier from Rootes. |
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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. |
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One of the nicest of the BMC grilles. The Vanden Plas. |
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Jensen Healeys were a worthwhile attempt at another British sports car. |
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CA and CF Bedfords. Both based mechanically on the Vauxhall Victors of the time. |
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Morris. |
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Commers based on the Hillman Minx mechanicals and a Leyland based on the Standard Vanguard. |
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Thames Traders were a good middle-weight truck before the much better Ford D series. |
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My dad had a Morris similar to this to deliver milk. |
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Shiny Bradford. |
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Bedford and Commer. |
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Austin Gypsy and Land Rover. |
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Vanguard Estate. |
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Morris and Standard commercials. |
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Piles of manuals and other car books. |
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It's not all cars. |
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Large scale model of a Convair B-36. |
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I've never seen so many Morris Minors in one shed. |
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Austin pedal cars are worth as much as the real thing now. |
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Another cool old pedal car. |
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Wood restoration on the Morris is superb. |
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Mini Mokes are rare now. |
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Once common. |
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eee. |
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This type of petrol pump is a bit before my time. |
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Wolseley world. |
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Big Sunbeam. I would think rare. |
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Range Rover out the front is a tidy machine. |
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The beginning of what plagued many a British car. |