Southward Car Museum facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Southward Car Museum

Established	1979; 46 years ago (1979)
Type	Car museum
Founder	Len Southward

The entrance to Southward Car Museum from Otaihanga Road.

The Southward Car Museum is a super cool place to see lots of old cars and even some planes! It's also a big event center. You can find it in Otaihanga, New Zealand.

A man named Len Southward started this amazing museum in the 1970s. He wanted a home for his huge collection of over 450 vehicles. Today, a special group called a charitable trust runs the museum. It's just north of Paraparaumu on the Kāpiti Coast. This is about an hour's drive from Wellington. The museum is right next to the main railway line and State Highway 1, on Otaihanga Road.

The museum building was built just for this purpose. It has a massive exhibition hall, which is about 6000 square meters! There's also a workshop where they fix cars, a gift shop, and a small cafe. All of this is set in beautiful park-like grounds. Inside the building, you'll also find the Southward Theatre. This theatre has 474 seats and a special 1929 Wurlitzer Unit Orchestra theatre organ. This organ was first used in the Civic Theatre in Auckland.

How the Museum Started

The amazing car collection at the museum began with Sir Len Southward and his wife, Vera. They loved collecting cars! Their journey started in 1956 when they bought their very first car, a Ford Model T.

Len and Vera built the largest private car collection in Australia and New Zealand. In 1976, Len bought a big piece of land, about 6 hectares (which is like 15 acres). He wanted to build a museum there so everyone could see his cars. Work on the museum site began in 1971. However, it took until 1977 to get permission from the local council to build. Finally, the museum officially opened its doors on December 22, 1979.

The Len and Vera Southward Legacy exhibit.

In 2020, a brand new exhibit opened at the museum. It tells the story of Len and Vera's lives and all the cool things they achieved. This exhibit includes new digital displays and other interesting items.

Exploring the Amazing Car Collection

The main display hall at Southward Car Museum, New Zealand, 2023.

The Southward Car Museum has about 450 vehicles! That's a lot of cars! Here are just a few of the special ones you can see:

• A 1895 Benz Velo: This car was brought to New Zealand way back in 1900.
• A 1915 Stutz Indianapolis race car: Imagine how fast this car was in its day!
• A Gull-winged Mercedes-Benz: This car has doors that open upwards like a bird's wings.
• A 1934 Cadillac V-16 Town Cabriolet: This fancy car used to belong to the famous American actress Marlene Dietrich.
• A 1939 Mercedes-Benz 770: This car was thought to be a gift for King Edward VIII of England.
• A 1950 Cadillac Sixty Special "gangster special": This car belonged to an American gangster named Mickey Cohen. It was super tough, with armored body panels and bulletproof glass that was 1.5 inches thick!
• A DeLorean: You might know this car from the Back to the Future movies! It's the only DeLorean you can see on public display in New Zealand.
• A 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX STI Rally Car: This car was driven by the famous rally driver Ken Block in the 2007 NZRC Season and Rally New Zealand.