What to See at WOW World of Classic Cars Museum in Nelson New Zealand

by Feb 9, 2018Asia, New Zealand10 comments

WOW: Fashion and Cars in one museum

The highlight of our trip to Nelson was WOW. This is two museums in one. I spent as much time as I wanted in the fashion museum and Norman spent as much time he wanted in the car museum. All for the price of one admission.

The fashion museum was WOW WOW WOW! More on that next week.

The National WOW Museum showcases two very distinct collections that collide in a celebration of design, innovation and wonder.

 

Where else in the world can you see a stunning selection of more than 50 wearable art garments, alongside more than 140 veteran, vintage and classic cars?

 

The Nelson Classic Car Collection displays a stunning range of cars dating from 1908, all in immaculate condition.

 

Together the wearable art and collectible cars epitomise the very heart of WOW – exploding the boundaries of design so that creativity and invention can thrive in a world of limitless possibilities.

The car museum was also fabulous. It showcases cars as works of art.

 

Here is the link to the museum:www.worldofwearableart.com

WOW Museum for boomervoice

We had a lot of fun at this museum, even before we entered

WOW poster for boomervoice

This poster showcases what you will see at the museum

The address for the museum is easy to remember: 1 Cadillac Way

WOW car for boomervoice

The WOW fashion museum features wearable art

 

The WOW car museum features drivable art

Race Car Fan Fare at WOW for boomervoice

Race Car Fan Fare

The museum displays the cars as works of art

Art Deco New York at WOW for boomervoice

New York in the Art Deco Era

Which do you prefer: the car or the artwork behind the car?

Old Green Truck at WOW for boomervoice

Do you remember the first time you drove?

I was 7. We had a campground. My brother was 15. He drove an old green truck around the campground. He let me drive. I steered while he did the gas and brakes. He did a lot of braking. Sometimes he had to grab the wheel.

Our old green truck is not in a museum but I have very fond memories of my first driving experience.

Now it is time to turn over the remainder of this post to Norman so he can tell you about the fabulous drivable art in WOW.

Note to readers: Any mismatch between the cars and the commentary is entirely made by me. Car enthusiasts will notice.

WOW dream world for boomervoice

100 Years of Motoring

On display during our visit was an exhibit entitled: 100 Years of Motoring. It focused on the “Fashions, trends, experiments, advancements, indulgences” in automotive trends over the past 100 years.

The collection was truly eclectic, ranging from early classics like the Ford Model T, which revolutionized and popularized automobiles so that they moved from toys for the rich to individual transportation for the masses, the Stutz Bearcat, one of the earliest sports car, which was often raced, to the 1916 Locomobile Speedster, the most expensive car produced in America at that time and a favourite of politicians and plutocrats.

Model T Ford at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

This is the early classic Ford Model T

Locomobile at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

This is the 916 Locomobile Speedster

Cord at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

1937 Cord 812

The collection also includes some of the great cars of the 1920’s and 1930’s, including a 1937 Cord 812, which is on virtually everyone’s list of 5 most beautiful cars of all time.

The 812 was designed by famous car designer Gordon Buehrig, who during his design career worked for Stutz, Dusenburg, Packard, Auburn (which owned Cord), GM and Ford. Buehrig was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame for his design work in 1989: http://www.automotivehalloffame.org/honoree/gordon-m-buehrig/

 

Buehrig is  one of the greatest auto designers of the 20th C.

Packard at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

1927 Packard 7 Seater Touring

Another stunning example is a 1927 Packard 7 Seater Touring, which sported a Lalique glass sculpture radiator cap

Packard front end at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

This is the front end of the 1927 Packard 7 Seater Touring

Packard hood ornament at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

This is the Lalique ornament

Cadillac 1929 at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

Another stunning car in the collection is a 1929 Cadillac Dual Cowl Phaeton, with an early V-8 engine

This Cadillac was one of the earliest efforts of legendary GM designer Harley J. Earl, who was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame for his design work in 1986: http://www.automotivehalloffame.org/honoree/harley-j-earl-2/

Studebaker at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

The Flamboyant 50’s

From the flamboyant 50’s were some interesting specimens, including a 1950 Studebaker Commander Convertible, a 1953 Cadillac Convertible and a 1959 Cadillac Coup de Ville, with the polarizing “ray gun” tail fins.

This is the 1950 Studebaker Commander Convertible

Studebaker front end at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

This is the front end of the 1950 Studebaker Commander Convertible

Studebaker driver seat at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

Picture yourself here

This is the driver’s seat of the 1950 Studebaker Commander Convertible

Cadillac convertible 1953 at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

This is a 1953 Cadillac Convertible

Cadillac 1953 convertible rear at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice
This is another view of the

This is another view of the 1953 Caddy

Cadillac 1959 at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

Would you drive a 1959 Cadillac Coup de Ville?

Cadillac 1959 rear at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

Do you like the “ray gun” tail fins on the 1959 Caddy?

Mini at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

The swinging 60’s

The swinging 1960’s collection included a mini, a Mark II Jaguar (for fans of the Inspector Morse British TV Series), and a replica of the “Shaguar” from the Austin Powers movies (a 1967 E-Type Jaguar in Union Jack livery).

For those who prefer the British detective series, The Saint, starring Roger Moore, there was a white 1971 Volvo P1800E that was similar to the white 1962 P1800 that Moore drove in that series.

Mark II Jaguar at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

Inspector Morse drove a Mark II Jaguar

Shaguar at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

This is Austin Powers “Shaguar”

Shaguar front end at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

This is another view of the Shaguar

 

Volvo P1800 at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

Roger Moore looked good in his white 1971 Volvo P1800E

Volvo P1800 front end at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

This is the front end of Moore’s Volvo

BMW 328 at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

This car caught my attention: a beautiful white 1937 BMW 328 Convertible

Bristol WOW for boomervoice

The Silver 1953 Bristol 403 is beautiful

The Silver 1953 Bristol 403 used a lot of the technology in the BMW 328 including a BMW engine. Even the grill has the familiar BMW “split-kidney” design, but, as befitting the Bristol marque, is more reserved.

Both BMW and Bristol were originally in the aircraft sector, so there was a natural affinity.

Chevrolet Corvair trunk at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice
I found the 1965 Chevrolet Corvair Corsa Coupe interesting. It was equipped with one of the first mass-produced turbo-charged engines in a car. It’s horizontally opposed, air-cooled, 6-cylinder turbo-charged engine produced 180 hp, 40 hp more than the same normally-aspirated engine. It is interesting to note that the iconic sports car, the Porsche 911, which also uses a horizontally opposed, air-cooled, 6-cylinder engine did not receive a turbocharger until 1975, a dozen years after GM first introduced turbocharging on the 1963 Corvair.
Chevrolet Corvair closeup of trunk at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

This is a close-up of the 1965 Chevrolet Corvair Corsa Coupe

Maybach front at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

Would you like to be chauffeured in a Maybach?

For those interested in how modern-day plutocrats are coddled in the back seats of their chauffeur driven limousines, there was a Maybach 62 (Daimler’s luxury brand, for those think that an S-Class Mercedes is too plebeian).

The Maybach marque had been resurrected by Daimler. It had been one of the most luxurious cars in Germany prior to WWII. It had also manufactured engines for Zeppelin airships, and its most prestigious model was therefore named the Maybach Zeppelin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maybach_Zeppelin

After BMW bought Rolls Royce and VW bought Bentley, Daimler, the parent of Mercedes-Benz, felt that it needed an ultra-luxury brand to compete with its German competitors, so the Maybach was re-born in 2002.

Maybach rear at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

Like a yacht, a Maybach is named by its size.

The entry model is 5.7 metres long, and is named the 57

Maybach interior at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

Would you be comfortable in the Maybach 62?

The Maybach with fully-reclining rear seats is 6.2 metres long and is named the 62.

Maybach interior dash at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

Another view of the Maybach 62 to help you decide if you would be comfortable

Honda NSX at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

Future Classics

In addition to the 100 Years of Motoring Exhibit, the museum has a large collection of interesting cars in a warehouse, a number of which are likely to become future classics, including a Honda NSX, the first Japanese supercar capable of competing with the best European supercars, a DeLorean (like what the character “Doc” Brown drove/flew in the movie: Back to the Future, an Avanti II (designed by famed industrial designer Raymond Lowey), a BMW 2002, another Jaguar Mk II, a VW Karmann Ghia, which has already been featured in the past in the Museum of Modern Art’s Design collection, and to make us feel at home when we were as far from Toronto as you can get, a car manufactured in suburban Toronto, the Dodge Challenger SRT.

DeLorean at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

How do you open the doors in a DeLorean?

Avanti at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

This is the Avanti II

Jaguar Mark II at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

This is the Jaguar Mk II

VW Karmann Ghia at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

This car has the best name: the Karmann Ghia

Dodge Challenger WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

This is the Dodge Challenger

Our first car was a Dodge Dart. We drove it into the ground. By the end of its life, we had to top it up with brake fluid every day.

 

What was your first car?

Bimota at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice
I was delighted to see an exotic motorcycle, the Italian Bimota V-Due, whose high-development cost, of its exotic 2-stroke fuel-injected engine, bankrupted Bimota. This example is one of only 150 fuel-injected V-Due’s ever produced.
Land Speed Record Mini at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

World’s Fastest Mini

Finally, and fittingly, for a country that is known for its great, resourceful engineers, the world’s fastest Mini is on display.

Two Kiwi’s, Garry Orton and Guy Griffith, took a 1964 Mini, and modified it to run at the Bonneville Salt Flats to create a new land speed record for the Mini. They installed a modified and turbo-charged BMW motorcycle engine cylinder head onto the Mini’s engine block to produce the necessary power. It produced over 350 hp. Their goal was to break the land speed record for a car with an engine < 1000 cc, which was 131 mph held by a Suzuki Swift, and the speed record for a Mini: 121 mph.

They smashed both records in 2016 achieving 144.033 mph on race gasoline and 156.006 mph on methanol.

Jay Leno interviewed a member of the team and inspected the car in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baB9CjOmwWc

Land Speed Record Mini front at WOW Classic Cars for boomervoice

Munro’s Odyssey

This effort was reminiscent of that of Burt Munro, a Kiwi who modified an old Indian motorcycle in his home and garden shed, and shipped it to California in 1967 to break the existing land speed record for motorcycles < 1000 cc.

Munro’s Odyssey was turned into a movie, released in 2005, starring Anthony Hopkins as Munro: The World’s Fastest Indian. What made Munro’s adventure all the more improbable was that to break the existing record in 1967, he used a 47- year old motorcycle that he modified. Munro was 68 when he broke the record with a run of 183.59 mph. Improbably, Munro’s record still stands 50 years later.

The world’s fastest Mini exhibit is a true tribute to the Kiwi spirit exemplified by Burt Munro.

 

Come back next week for WOW: World of Wearable Art

Rose Ann MacGillivray

World Heritage Traveller at BoomerVoice.ca
I love visiting World Heritage Sites, celebrating the world’s most fascinating places and cultures, and most of all, having fun on a trip. Join me on the road to fun and fascinating places. Thanks for reading – and remember to add your e-mail below for updates!
Rose Ann MacGillivray