A Memory Lane for Grandparents, Children and Petrol Heads - Southward Car Museum, Sir Len Southward, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, collections, electric cars, vintage cars, Paraparaumu, Kapiti.

With a collection of over 350 vehicles, as well as three aircraft and various other exhibits including motorcycles, bicycles and fire engines, the Southward Car Museum is a delight for car enthusiasts of all ages.

The museum is located 45 minutes from Wellington, in Otaihanga just north of Paraparaumu. Opened in 1979, the collection was the work of Sir Len Southward and his wife, Lady Vera Southward. The cars are housed in a purpose-built building featuring the 6000 square metre Southward Exhibition and Conference Hall, engineering workshop, gift shop and restaurant, and is set in six hectares of park-like grounds. The museum building also includes the Southward Theatre, with a Wurtlitzer theatre organ originally installed in the Civic Theatre in Auckland.

Southward is a family-friendly venue available for a wide range of events, and has parking for over 400 vehicles. The grounds are ideal for picnics, outdoor weddings, car club activities, teddy bear picnics, bushwalks and model boat clubs on the manmade lake. The Southward Theatre seats 474 and can provide the perfect venue for productions, exhibitions, craft shows, expos, art shows and flower shows.

The Southward Car Museum is one of the largest and most comprehensive privately-owned collections in the southern hemisphere, with cars dating from 1895. Traction engines, motorcycles, stationary engines and early motoring curios are all on show. Highlights include Marlene Dietrich’s 1934 Cadillac Town Cabriolet, a 1915 Stutz Indianapolis race car, a gull-winged Mercedes-Benz, a 1950 Cadillac ‘gangster special’ that belonged to gangster Mickey Cohan, and an 1895 Benz Velo, imported to New Zealand in 1900.

Take a look at 'Place Finder' Nature Coast (Horowhenua / Kapiti Coast).

Southward Car Museum is a member of the Nature Coast project.