Museums in New Zealand

Museum of New Zeland Te Papa Tongarewa

A special motorcycle, the record-breaking Britten V-1000, designed and built by Kiwi "genius" John Britten that in 1993 set the World Flying Mile Record for motorcycles 1000cc and under, reaching 302 kilometres per hour is exhibited in The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. It is New Zealand's national museum, located in Wellington. Known as Te Papa, or 'Our Place', it opened in 1998 after the merging of the National Museum and the National Art Gallery.

Museum of Transport and Technology

The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) is a leading Auckland Museum with a focus on science, transport and technology. MOTAT holds over 300,000 items in our collection showcasing the history New Zealand innovation and ingenuity. MOTAT is spread across 40 acres over two sites. Take the vintage tram past beautiful Western Springs park and visit the award-winning Aviation Display Hall where you’ll find iconic military and civil aircraft. A favourite collection of many visitors to MOTAT is the Historic Village.

MOTAT

National Transport & Toy Museum

The Wanaka Transport and Toy Museum collection boasts rare and unusual aircraft, cars, trucks, motorcycles, fire appliances, military vehicles and tractors, as well as a colourful array of automobilia. A wonderful selection of more than 25,000 toys is awash with nostalgia, including, clockwork and battery powered toys, pedal cars, money boxes, teddy bears and porcelain dolls.

national toy

Omaka Classic Cars

Omaka Classic Cars allows us to enjoy that special period in motoring history where space, grace, chrome bumpers, large grilles and individual design were allowed to run wild. The collection covers the period between the pioneering vintage car era and the cars of today, when motoring was individual - challenging the limits of both the design and the technology.

Omaka

Southward Car Museum

The Southward Car Museum houses a collection of over 350 vehicles, as well as three aircraft and various other exhibits including motorcycles, bicycles, fire engine etc. The motor museum is run by a charitable trust, incorporated in 1972. The car museum is approximately an hour's drive from downtown Wellington and is situated between the North Island Main Trunk Railway to the west and State Highway 1 to the east.

Southward

The Pointon Collection

"This Private collection, of antique cars and motorcycles, plus original vintage costume, is displayed in a replica of a small town New Zealand garage from the 1930's. One of New Zealand's largest private collections of Automobilia is complete with garage equipment, signs, tools, spares, accessories, books and clothing."

pointon

Toitū Otago Settlers Museum, Dunedin

In this museum the story of the Otago region told through displays of more than 100,000 exhibits, many of them with a relatable domestic angle, from food to clothes to houses to cars. There's something for everybody's interests: a rare old steam engine in the foyer, stories of Māori life in the region, 150 years of locally-designed clothes, early technology, a wide range of vehicles from bicycles to a cable car, 1980s alternative music, and a solemn and respectful memorial to those who left Otago to serve in wartime.

Yaldhurst Museum

TEMPORARILY CLOSED in 2022

The Museum complex is set in the grounds of one of New Zealand's early colonial homesteads originally built in 1876 by the founders great grandfather John Taylor. The museum has more than 160 cars in its collection, including a few locally built rarities, like the NEEV truck, the Mistrix race car, the Logan Singer special and a replica of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

 

Yaldhurst