Southward Car Museum

　　The Southward Car Museum is situated just north of Paraparaumu on the Kapiti Coast of New Zealand’s North Island, about an hour’s drive from downtown Wellington. It enjoys sunshine, beaches, and stunning natural scenery. Originally the largest private car collection in the country, it was started by Len and Sheila Southward in 1956 and was later entrusted to a charitable trust for management and operation in 1972.

　　The museum opened to the public in December 1979 and has since become the largest and most comprehensive car museum in the Southern Hemisphere. It features a 60,000-square-meter exhibition hall, as well as engineering workshops, a gift shop, a restaurant, and a small theater that can accommodate 474 people. The collection currently includes 250 vintage cars and 3 aircraft. Its treasures feature a 1895 Mercedes-Benz, Marlene Dietrich’s Rolls-Royce, a 1915 Stutz Indianapolis race car, and a 1950 Cadillac, among others. In addition to these classic cars from various eras, the museum also houses a wide range of vehicles including cars, sports cars, motorcycles, fire engines, and airplanes from different periods.

　　Southward Car Museum Must-visit reason: The largest car museum in the Southern Hemisphere Continent: Oceania Country/Region: New Zealand Province/State: Wellington Region