NZ Museum Tour: Southward Car Museum, Wellington

This museum contains some real rarities! A Davis Divan, a Tippen Delta, Stanley Steamer, Carver One, Plymouth Prowler, Reliant Regal Mk1, 1949 Land Rover, 1957 Prince Skyline plus some much more common classics of yesteryear.
Started by Len Southward, it seems anything goes in this collection, based near Wellington, New Zealand. Visit www.southwardcarmuseum.co.nz for more information.
The HubNut store and support options can be found at hubnut.org
#Museum #OldCars #HubNut

[@bcfairlie1]

I was a kid when my great uncle first took me to Southwards. SIr Len himself came down to chat with me after I had asked reception about the green split screen VW. We sat in Marlenes Caddy and had a chat. Never forgotten his kindness

[@kevinbutcher995]

Old Len was a character for sure.. I remember visiting the museum many years ago and being befriended by an old gentleman who gave us an impromptu re tour and seemed to know very detail of every car in the place..... turns out it was old Len himself. Just a lovely bloke ho loved cars bikes and boats.

[@pauldavies6037]

NZ must have one of the best motor museums in the world I hope they get plenty of visitors !

[@konaguzzi1]

overall it does not get many visitors it's quite out of the main centres though some tourist buses do stop there, there are a couple of other car museums as well Motat in Auckland and WowCars in Nelson

[@johnnorth9355]

Just another motor car museum ? No sir this is automotive heaven ! I could spend the rest of my life happily just sitting in those beauties and dreaming of wild motoring adventures. Such a diverse and quirky collection - a car for every mood. From the every day to the absolutely insane . Brilliant.

[@michaeljohnson9421]

I recognised Marlene Dietrich's Cadillac from David Niven's autobiography, The Moon's a Balloon. As a bit-part actor trying to make it in Hollywood, he didn't know Marlene Dietrich herself - but he was mates with her chauffeur.

[@davidfarmer2049]

I think David Niven was mates with every one. IIRC he had very affable way...?

[@hohocc1349]

My Dad restored the Stanley Steamer at about 8.30, the change of ownership papers used to be on display in reception (not sure if they are still there), and feature Dad and Sir Lens signatures from I think 1968. He knew Sir Len as they were both in the automotive trades. Sir Len took the time to show me around when I first visited in 1990, a very pleasant chap and he's left a great monument to his achievements.

[@mahulad7298]

My dad worked on Lens cars when he first started his small scale museum in Seaview Gracefield, Len was a real gentleman very interesting chap to talk to. The new bigger museum is truly world class.

[@paulstandeven8572]

The new museum was his 'little retirement project'. He put a lot of effort into making it a real legacy. I had the pleasure of being shown around by him twice (as part of a group) - once in Seaview and once in the new place. Yes, a real gentleman and full of knowledge about the vehicles on display. With some of the vehicles, he knew them from new - he proudly showed off an early '20s ABC flat twin motorcycle, and told us that he had uncrated it at the original dealer and set it up.... His first product when he started his engineering business - during WW2 there was a shortage of mirrors for tucks, so he made the tubing by improvising a set of rollers to form it from strip, and then seam welded it. Very clever, no nonsense down-to-earth man. . When Len Southward was young, he had a very very red head of hair. The race boat was an emphatic statement 'red and proud'. He had a lot to be proud of.

[@mahulad7298]

@@paulstandeven8572 Len made special roller presses for my father's business which allowed him to manufacture guards for the trucks he built in return dad would do the metal finishing on his vintage collection we watch them hoist the old plane up into the roof of the old museum. Len was probably the last genuine kiwi industrialist.

[@konaguzzi1]

@@mahulad7298 A shame his son was not interested in it the business or the museum

[@micheltebraake7915]

Two reasons to visit New Zealand: nature and the very special car museums. Thanks again Ian for showing.

[@graemew7001]

That has to be one of the best motoring museums that I've ever seen, some really rare cars in there, was really surprised to see the Davis, apprently there was only ever 12 made, flathead V8 in a 3 wheeler....scary!!

[@tomfrazier1103]

The Davis was fitted with flathead fours, Hercules and another. These were forklift type power units. According to Jay Leno's friend about 16-20 were built. A survivor is in the Pertersen collection in Los Angeles too.

[@graemew7001]

@@tomfrazier1103 Having looked into it you are of course correct. I got my info from watching an episode of Chasing Classic Cars with Wayne Carini from years ago. I've just found this 4 minute video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/m2rQhqKhbMaXf68 and it explains why I thought they were all flathead V8's. Apparently the one he had was the only one with that engine. Thats what I love about cars, always learning, thanks for putting me right on this one.

[@thomastrout9997]

The Davis @ the Petersen was restored with a crowd funding program and during the restoration the vehicle was found to have several different colors on various parts. One hypothesis was that, much like Tucker had done, the car had been repainted various times for advertising purposes as well as the appearance of more vehicles then actually existed. Just as interesting is the display of advertising ephemera for the Davis. Diminutive models, both male & female, were used in promotion photos sitting 3 across on the bench seat. This offered the illusion that 3 full sized adults could ride comfortably in the Davis, which decidedly they could not.

[@tomfrazier1103]

@@graemew7001 The Petersen car had been mounted on a post as advertising. They actually claimed 4 abreast seating. Leno got that, with some joking among the acquaintances. Extreme homophobes need not go more than 3 in a Davis. There is one in a New Zealand collection too. As far as wierd car sculptures, a good one in Nevada is a giant spider made of a VW Bug & long "Legs" for a Dayton junkyard.

[@graemew7001]

@@tomfrazier1103 I doubt you would be able to get 4 people my size sitting next to each other in a Davis 😂. I've seen some of those sculptures on the internet and some of them look really sinister!!

[@reddermot]

22.11 In the motorbike section, you walked past a red Suzuki RE-5. recognisable by it's flip top cylindrical intstrument binnacle mounted above the headlight (and deleted on the later example which is helpfully parked alongside) Rotary powered and released by Suzuki to instantly coincide with the '70's fuel crisis thus dooming the project to failure after only two years. Note the air intakes underneath the radiator. They supply air to the exhaust internals in an effort to cool the notoriously hot breath of the rotary engine. Not particularly appreciated in period but very collectable now. In fact, it was the reason that I first visited the museum many, many moons ago because a friend and fellow rotorhead spotted a lone RE-5 on a revolving display stand and said I should visit immediately to see it .... because Rotary. Unbelievable now to see two in the same collection!! I'm really pleased that you managed to make it to Southwards.

[@seattlebeard]

At last KZbin recommends an outstanding video! Thank you for making this available to us. :o)

[@marksmith8928]

Great museum. The Cord was worth a look for its front wheel drive and pre-selector gearbox. Pretty innovative for mid 1930's.

[@davidrhodes7655]

Magnificent collection I'm sure even Jay Leno would be impressed

[@tomflyinghat9122]

A very nice video Ian, so thank you. I am always super impressed by your knowledge and ability to communicate this in a very down to earth and matter of fact manner. You glance at a car and say "oh yes that's a Desoto Fireball XL5 .....". I look at the same car and say "it is green". Keep up the good work and take care of yourself.

[@deanblenkinship1614]

Deffo on a binge of this channel. Thanks for this amazing content buddy

[@BarryAllenMagic]

The Stanley looks as if it's being powered with a tea urn. Surely, a HubNut dream come true?

[@gingerbread6614]

We very much enjoyed your tour. You did a great job. Thank you.

[@mickles1975]

Those Cords are absolutely beautiful. I would give my left gentleman's organ to own one.

[@mrbennetts]

Diseasel .... i’d give all four of mine !

[@waltertaljaard1488]

Lovely collection. A place where I could spend an entire day.

[@rayg9069]

I will have to go back through this entire series now and compile a list of places to visit when I get to NZ. Ian has single handed saved the NZ tourism department from bankruptcy.

[@sambaker3233]

As a New Zealander I can tell you right now that then New Zealand Tourism industry is FAR from Bankruptcy! You will see that when you get here. Good luck. Make sure you book way in advance.

[@rayg9069]

@@sambaker3233 Cool, I'm over the ditch in Australia, I have been to Auckland for just a couple of days working, it certainly looks like a great place to tour around. Ians videos would have done no harm to NZ reputation at all, the place will be full of white kneed Britishers now :-)

[@lewtscott3346]

Sam Baker Ah - what a difference a couple of weeks make.

[@jerzywoking1699]

I went there back in 1996, and it looks a fair bit different now. The cars were excellently kept back then, but the actual building looks much improved.

[@DalekBuilder]

Another great collection and museum. Superb to see a nice collection of Reliants on display so far from the UK. NZ really is a place that keeps on giving when it comes to the museums and collections.

[@kkiwi54]

The only word that rhymes with New Zealand is museum ;)

[@andrewphilpot2752]

Just wonderful thanks for the flying tour of that amazing museum

[@huntaway365_]

Sweet.. I'll have to go next time I'm in Wellington 👍

[@Mercmad]

The Tillings Stevens Fire engine was made by a company which started out building Vulcan trucks. They branched into cars in the 1910's. I helped Restore a 1913 Vulcan and because the chap I was working for at the time had no idea of what a vulcan was,I spent a bit of time researching them (the car was barely finished when we entered it in the Melbourne motorclassica where it won a first prize. ) Anyway Tillings Stevens carried on to keep building vehicles when the Vulcan brand was discontinued. Eventually becoming part of the Rootes Group. So if you ever hear a commer truck running with the distinctive two stroke sound of the commer knocker engine, you will know that it is powered with a TS 3 engine, a Tillings stevens 3 cylinder,,six piston diesel. When i was last at that museum, the Cord was a quickly painted wreck,having been burnt in the distant past and my then Wife ,when she stood next to the Merc 770 ,her head was just above the top of the headlight.... 😂

[@jnpowell9077]

Thanks for that tour, brilliant !

[@gryfandjane]

Well, there we go. My mind is boggled, and I’m ruined for the day. What a magnificent collection!

[@61silverfox]

What an amazing place,thank you Ian.

[@ginggur17]

I have to say you have shared some fantastic museum visits with us so far. Love it.

[@jjkelly4664]

This was worth every minute. What I enjoyed more is that they took the time to display everything with pride. I wish we had as much automotive pride in Australia.

[@rayg9069]

Yes, makes our museums look like farm collections

[@bernardjharmsen304]

Vehicles are more disposable in Australia, but then you lose the history

[@HowardLeVert]

What a wonderful museum. Thank you for that - really enjoyable!

[@ThePowerbloke]

Thanks again Ian for a look at another fantastic and very comprehensive museum.

[@ginggur17]

It’s amazing really when you think of how many variations of cars and bikes etc etc that there are out there. When they all do the same thing. It’s always a pleasure listening to you with knowing what you do. Thankyou.

[@redsorgum]

Thanks, nice tour of the museum. It would take me some time to go through the museum, so much eye candy.

[@RideCamVids]

Wow the Davis Divan at 16:03 now thats a rare one to find in NZ. Jay Leno did a video on one from the Peterson Museum in LA.

[@davidbarnsley8486]

That is one incredible collection Thank you mr nut 👍👍

[@alanlansdell7533]

That is quite a collection, thanks for taking us round.

[@sg8539]

Brilliant museum with superb cars and liked the automated sectioned models too. Thanks Ian, great stuff.

[@timhancock6626]

That place is just superb ! I'm having yet another "Blimey" moment. I'm in Blimey overload with your recent videos...Well done !

[@jasetheace5954]

Fabulous video, thanks very much!!

[@tommaroon531]

Wonderful museum and a terrific tour guide - thanks very much Ian. I could happily have walked around with you (so to speak) for another hour.

[@Tokoa144]

Great video bud.. It's been a while since I'd been to Southward museum in Kapiti so it's fantastic to get an updated tour. Love your car knowledge and love your videos..

[@Shane_Marsh]

What an absolutely cracking video Mr Seabrook, a feast for the eyes. Although sometimes I can shut my eyes and just listen. Great times.

[@kennyg4744]

Thanks again for another museum tour. You are giving us all a chance to "visit" brilliant museums most of us wont ever get the chance to. Nice nod to Robert at Aging Wheels.

[@ohcrikey9560]

Thank you for a great video. It's nice during these days of lockdown, to be able to go to a motor museum for a day out! Cheers!

[@MGBetts1]

59 Caddys - my favourite! Fantastic walkaround Mr. HubNut, despite the lack of actual wiper action!

[@meirionevans5137]

Some real gems there! From the big Mercs to Sinclair C5 via Tillings Stevens hybrid. Well done HubNut Bach!

[@telewiza]

What a great collection!! All famous cars from history under one roof!

[@bollinvalleyrailway]

Excellent museum tour as always, including the obligatory rover p6 in almond. Which apart from the one you spotted out on the road, you seem to always miss them, when you find them in museums.

[@PaulinesPastimes]

For such a small country, New Zealand certainly has the pick of car museums. A real feast. Cheers.

[@stevewilson8467]

What a fantastic collection, another big thank you for the vid. I believe Status Quo had their own small car museum, it only contained 3 Cords..

[@ls6882]

Another video I thoroughly enjoyed! Cheers man!

[@frothe42]

Smashing! I know you glossed over some American vehicles, but the one you missed was that gorgeous two-tone Nash Rambler; I happened to have spotted one locally, restored in excellent condition this fall, although it was red white two-tone. And that Imperial LeBaron next to the 1970 Pontiac Catalina, very rare! Loved all of the classics, from all over the world, so thank you for sharing!

[@frothe42]

Oh, and the Dodge Viper V-10 was also used in Dodge Ram trucks.

[@rbarreca835]

Thank you for the great tour. What a great collection of stuff I do & do not recognize. Rocco in New York City

[@kennethhume8628]

Great video and very many thanks for indulging those of us that love motorcycles as much as cars . 😁😁😁

[@Andrew_Sparrow]

The motorcycle collection is amazing, he skipped half and only skimmed the rest! well worth a visit just for that :) can spend an hour or two just on the bikes

[@stevedoubleu99B]

What a superbly diverse collection. I'm always fascinated by the Cord.........maybe I owned one in a previous life....Great tour, thank you for sharing.

[@SoulOnTopJB]

Great video, brought back many memories, visited the place a few times. staggering to think of the value of all those cars all under one roof.

[@alanalzee4849]

Excellent viewing of a car museum that really is stuffed full of some truly beautiful vehicles, the car people of NZ you are very lucky to have such a selection, Would watch again 👍

[@peterriggall8409]

Mega, amazing, jaw dropping......you have done your homework prior to walking us around Ian. Thanks for the experience. How could you put a value on that lot? Priceless.

[@dazio7035]

Wow, what an insightful vlog. Please keep up the good work that you do. Most interesting.

[@LarryBees]

top tour HubNut .Thanks for the Chance 😁😁

[@stefanl6471]

Brilliant!

[@donnageorge-henderson5419]

What a great car place 😍 loved seeing the DeLorean, Bug, 500, old stuff

[@vtwin6683]

Mini clutch magic is all in the freely rotating primary gear on the end of the crankshaft, the clutch disc is splined to this gear and the flywheel is a taper fit onto the end if the crank.

[@sumkunt0r]

Thanks Ciff G, I was scrolling down the comments to see if anyone explained how the clutch works, you saved me the job. :)

[@mendhamsmusicmoviesmovemen8075]

I love this adventure Ian! You are going to all these museums! Places that I would love to go to, but never will because of my severe disability and other things. It's 'kind of' like you are going for me, by watching all these movies! It's so fantastic!

[@mrbennetts]

I learnt so much from your comments, Ian. I am amazed at your knowledge. So glad you didn’t dwell on the bikes. Leave them to somebody else! Another big thank you.

[@theshowman8478]

Great museum, great video. What a collection !

[@davidhenderson861]

A Davis! I remember Wayne Carini restored one, and brought it to a Cars & Coffee event. Amazing vehicle.

[@davidfarmer2049]

Good tour. Nice work.

[@Golo1949]

It really is a great place, we visited it on our trip around the north island, definitely recommended.

[@ralphhowes]

That is a huge collection. Thanks for the motorcycle coverage!

[@Andrew_Sparrow]

The motorcycle collection is amazing, shame he skipped half and only skimmed the rest :)

[@grayfool]

A great museum . Some amazing stuff there.

[@motleydude73]

Went there in 1988 as a 17 year old. Loved it. That gangster car is awesome.

[@garywillcox2286]

Ian, when you were passing through the motorbikes, you failed to notice the Blue Suzuki RE5 (which had the speedo/tacho that looks like a long cylinder) Suzuki's attempt at a Wankel Rotary powered bike 1974-76

[@harrisonhunter7512]

That was an amazing tour of this museum much appreciated and one on my to do list is this museum and motat up in Auckland.

[@HubNut]

I went to Motat. I couldn't recommend it really. Car side of things is very disappointing, aero is ok.

[@harrisonhunter7512]

@@HubNut oh ok cheers for that.

[@richardbaron7106]

@@HubNut Yeah, MOTAT is more a general transport and 'back-in-the-day' type museum rather than a automobile museum. Southward's is a top-notch museum, especially for a small country like New Zealand.

[@konaguzzi1]

WowCars in Nelson is very interesting.

[@stephenscholes4758]

I am restoring a 1965 Moulton F at the moment....the one pictured is probably a 1963-build (first year of manufacture) highly desirable in Kingfisher "Billiard Cue" livery...the proprietor of this museum has exquisite taste, like me!!

[@paultaylor9652]

Lovely Jubbly Mr HubNut.

[@christopherpearce7368]

I visited on a road trip around the North Island. Great collection of cars.

[@tonywilliams1582]

Glad you like our car museum. It's a few years since I last went, it's changed quite a bit.

[@robertl2856]

Thanks for taking me along with you 😁

[@thomas316]

I live in Wellington and have been along a few times, every time I got there are new and interesting cars. The curators are hard at work. My girlfriend really enjoyed the micro cars and motorcycles. 🙂

[@CortinasAndClassics]

Good to see another Daf other than the one on Classic Britain's channel 👍 Nice find Ian. Love those big mercs too and the Gullwing. What a place to visit there's so much 😲

[@MillerCorner]

That copper Dodge is simply INCREDIBLE!

[@davidflamee]

Spellbindingly brilliant. Enchanting from start to finish. Just how you managed to cover so much ground in the time, I don't know. I especially liked the back story on the re-built Mercedes. Those are expensive head lamps!!

[@niklaswejedal463]

That was AWESOME!

[@griffspeed]

Thanks for showing the Bikes Ian..... Stay safe mate..

[@nicksss1843]

😱 18:10 beautiful land cruiser with FIGHTING CATS on the roof haha! Great times and again thank you so much for another delightful video

[@christoguichard4311]

It never fails to amaze me how encyclopedic your knowledge is Ian! Also...quite surprised that the fastest youve ever been was "only" 130mph 😉

[@Robhalifax]

That Civic is a glorious colour. I had a blue one.

[@captaccordion]

Wow! What an amazing museum. On the Standard V8, there is very little information available on them, but apparently they are only 2.7 litres, and were notorious for overheating. One wonders why they bothered. A chap I know in Melbourne is restoring one of the remaining 4 known to exist. On Willys, the Americans pronounce it Willis, and the rest of the world pronounces it Willies, just in case you ever find yourself in yankland. The 1937 model shown has the American body, whilst Australian ones had a locally made body (by Holden, who were body builders at that time) which looks considerably better in my view. If you have an idle moment, google a photo of the 1939 Willys, which has an even more wacky 'face'. The Riley Pathfinder was the last car using Riley's twin cam (in the block) 2.5 litre 4 cyl engine. The body and chassis were shared with the Wolseley 6/90 which used the C series engine in 2.6 form, and the Riley engine was 10 bhp more powerful. On the Prince Skyline, I've never seen one before, but the styling similarity to the Checker Cab is quite remarkable. Cheers.

[@jblue2435]

What a fabulous place. If I ever get to visit NZ I'm going there 😀

[@nikjames2965]

The Southward collection is truly mind boggling.... but how could Hubnut completely ignore the mighty CanAm McLaren?

[@NeilIrving1973]

Great video and museum, loved seeing the BMW bubble car and AC 2 liter almost next to each other, my dad has the very same vehicles in a little museum in North Wales 😁

[@waynekerr5815]

I have be looking forward to this video

[@itsfromlawrence]

Great review of the cars in there. This is my grandfathers museum and I found your walk around when showing the Redhead boat to my daughter with footage of my father driving one of the support boats. As a young kid I was always amazed at the pile of rusty old junk cars that he kept on purchasing, then when he put them in a museum in 79 it all made sense. He even purchased a steam engine(KA945) that he wanted to use to bring people from Wellington up to the museum but think it got all too hard working with Railways etc... so he donated it to the local train enthusiasts. My father started his own collection of cars and now that he has passed away I have those in my shed. I have the old Panhard with hot tube ignition, there is a video of it running in my channel, supposedly one of the first cars with the engine at the front driving through the gearbox onto the rear driven wheels, Systeme Panhard as it was called. This was car 4 in 1891, not sure what car 3 had but 1 and 2 had rear engine rear drive.

[@RichieRouge206]

Wow what a museum- best I’ve seen. Not as big as Beaulieu but just as impressive, especially with the rarities there. The old outboard motors were really cool too! Wonderful tour Ian - thank you.

[@williamho5636]

I see lots of potential hopefuls for the London to Brighton veteran’s car adventure

[@shaunw9270]

21.00 : That was a Douglas Dragonfly, made a stone's throw from where I live, here in Bristol, UK.

[@rydermike33]

Like your very own NEC Classic Car Show! Fantastic collection.

[@gord307]

They know how to do a good motor museum in NZ! Thank you for the video :-)