Southward Car Museum in Upper Hutt

Beautiful car collection with old and new

Great place to spend the day looking at all the amazing vehicles

A lovely place for the family. We visited about 12 months or so ago and it’s great to see the standards of cleanliness have improved since our last visit. A must see for any car or movie fan! Lovely staff too; the blue haired lady was a delight. Many thanks, Amanda and family.

An absolute must for any car enthusiast and even for those who are not. Loved the history notes in front of each car. Favourite for me was the few formula one cars and their links to NZ.

The sta dard of the fund raising concert was exceptional. Howlucky we are Len Southward despite opposition built this local venue and the schools and private teachers guide the outstanding talent

From the sublime to the ridiculous - if youre even remotely interested in vehicles, youll want to check out Southward Car Museum in Kapiti. Established by the late Sir Len Southward & his wife Vera in 1972, this started as a personal collection by the 1st man in Australasia to travel at over 100mph on water. It currently displays 400+ vehicles: One of a kind 1920 hand-beaten Copper Dodge Coupe, Mickey Cohens 1950 gangster Cadillac with matchbox-thick bulletproof glass, Back to the Future stainless Delorian, Shelby Mustang GT500e Super Snake, NZs oldest car 1895 Benz Velo, Indianapolis race car, Ed Roth customs, film prop cars, Rolls, Ferrari, McLaren, Model T, Hot Rod, Rat Rod, Lambo, Harley, Norton, boats, bikes, planes, firetrucks, popcorn carts, bicycles, numberplates, toys - you name it, @southward_car_museum has it!

Fabulous vehicle history all in the one place. Even if you are not a huge car enthusiast you will see cars from all throughout history from some of the first ever made to McLaren sports cars. Cars from around the world too.

Excellent collection of vintage and modern vehicles spread out over several levels. Well worth the entry fee.

Expansive collection. Somerhing for everyone

Great venue, marvellous collection.Pleasant cafe.

Normally visit every few years or so. This place never disappoints. New cars added each time Ive been. Great collection and very diverse!

Very nice to visit, if you really want to see the Vintage cars and Bikes

Its great! A large collection of vintage and exotic cars, motorcycles, and even a couple of planes. There is an attached theatre, and a gift shop that sells gifts and sandwiches. Doesnt change a lot, but fun to visit 🙂👍

What an amazing place. So much to see. Spent over 2 hours enjoying all the cars and motorcycles, well worth the visit

This museum has a world class collection of cars. It is well laid out and the displays have lots of history and information. Well worth a visit.

Top spot. Highly recommend you visit even if you are not into cars.Love the Mickey Cohen authentic gangster car. Not that expensive and great family deal.

Took my boy there for the first time - I last went there 16-17 years ago.I was quite disappointed.There has been a change in management and it has gone backwards. The lighting was poor and the roof is leaking - there must have been at least a dozen buckets in various areas of the museum.The museum was Sir Lens pride and joy, and its such a shame that it has been allowed to deteriorate through a lack of maintenance.Covid hasnt been kind to most businesses, however that cant be used as an excuse for basic, common sense maintenance.Im sure Sir Len and Lady Vera would have had something to say about the Museums management.

An amazing line up of classic cars, bikes planes ect, most have been fully rebuild and restored, the smell and displays takes you right back.. a must for all ages

Unbelievable that a place with so many cars, I such excellent condition and such a vast array of style and price could be a private collection. One of the best car collections you could hope to visit

Huge collection of cars from all around the world and across time. From Japanese legends of the 90s to the futuristic vision of the Swinging 20s. Also includes a collection of motorcycles and bikes. Each display has an accompanying plaque that gives info on the history and facts of the car model, and/or the history of the particular one on display. Could spend all day reading if I wanted to! Entry $21 for an adult.

Wowww what a beautiful museum!!! 😋 We had such a lovely time checking out the car show in April too!

Southward car museum houses an impressive collection of cars ranging from antiques to some of the more modern makes. Allow yourself a few hours to take in all the information and history. Definitely worth a visit.

Awesome collection of vehicles from our motoring past. Well worth the visit, allow at least a couple of hours to enjoy this great museum.

if your on your way to wellington then stop in.an interesting place with a lot of vehicular history

A visit Not to be missed. Allow at least 3 hours to give it a fair go.Some absolute gems to be seen. Amazing collection. There are cars in here that most people NEVER see in their entire lifetime. To be fair, Ive only posted general photos of the collection. These classic cars need to be seen in person.

Fifth visit, just keeps getting better.Wow factor, even the smell of old vehicles bring back the memories

So much to see! I love looking at old cars and reading about their history, how they came to be.

Pretty much had the place to myself thanks mostly to the pandemic. Massive selection of vintage cars and bikes displayed. Recommend allowing a go couple of hours as so much to take in. Was disappointed with selection of food on offer at the café but probably due to lack of foot traffic. Staff were very friendly and helpful ✅ also don’t forget to check out the vehicles down in the basement…

Absolute gem of a place even if not a car enthusiast. Everyone loves it. From Marlene Dietrich Daimler to The Delorean from Back to The Future. Stunning collection and very informative... Take the family

Having driven past so many times thinking this is a place I want to visit, now finally did and spent 3 and a half hours looking around and will come back again. What a incredible museum and collection of cars, fire trucks and bikes even some aeroplanes, this is a world class collection, the numbers of cars is simply outstanding plus the quality Im sure isnt matched anywhere in New Zealand. So worth a half a day visit. The attached photos do not do this collection justice by a long shot.

Visited with hubby & 2 children (4yrs & 12yrsIt was great, lots to see. Really like the info stations with the displays. Next time I going by myself so I have less interruptions 😂 and can spend a bit more time there.

If youre a car lover, youll absolutely love this place. There are a lot of vintage collections.

We had a brilliant time here today. Thank you Southward Car Museum!

Awesome collection of cars and motorcycles, plus the odd items.

Brilliant. Nostalgia at its best..Far better than the Australian National Car Museum

Just a stunning museum to cars. Well worth a couple of hours for any but an avowed transport hater. World class.

Wow, was not expecting such a comprehensive collection of incredible cars. Worth travelling to see.

Good place to visit on a rainy day. Found the exhibition quite interesting. A guided tour to focusing on some unique cars and their history would be a nice touch. Kids got bored quite quickly and we ended up leaving after 1.5 hours.

Really beautiful place, staff are super friendly, nice and clean. Took the kids through in the pram (there is a liftand then had a play on the beautiful lawns out the front.

Well worth the visit. If anything, start early and visit long. But theres so much to see, so I would seriously suggest 2 hours in the morning and then hitting a local restaurant then do two hours in the afternoon.

Good collection of cars, cool place to visit, but $20 per person is a bit high

One of the best car museums I’ve visited and I’ve been to quite a few around the globe. Really great place and some amazing cars to see. There was even a meet in the car park when I arrived so even more great cars to look at. If you love automobiles then you have to go.

Located on the Kapiti Coast, the Southward Car Museum houses hundreds of cars as well as planes, motorbikes and other interesting vehicles and machinery.The museum was created by Sir Len Southward and his wife Vera. They started collecting cars in 1956. It become the largest private car collection in Australasia. They purchased the current site in 1976 which was then opened to the public.Ensure you have several hours available so you have time to visit the whole museum. There are three levels of vehicles plus lots of memorabilia.

Excellent museum with a lot of old and new cars, all sorts of odds and ends in between. Good place to spend an hour or 2,more if you take time to read everything or watch the videos at some of the displays. Gift/coffee shop for snacks and all sorts available.

My husband spent a few hrs at the museum and he found it is a very well presented collection. Having the history of every presentation in the collection recorded for everyone to read, makes it very interesting. Worth visiting more than once.

If your a car lover or just enjoy history then this place is a must see, very friendly staff and very well priced.

Excellent place for car enthusiasts, lots of vintage cars with information, can spend around three hours. Reasonable entry fee 👍

Very wide range collection of classic cars. Worth to visit if you like classic cars. It has a nice coffee shop too!

A great car Museum with cars of all eras, makes, models, and functions. Staff are great and knowledgeable. Remember to go and see the basement as well. There are also collections of vintage motorcycles and fire engines.

Fantastic place there were really early cars, motorbikes and cycles on display. There is a store and a cafe next to it. The staff were really friendly. The cars are well maintained and most cars had good description about the model, manufacturer, year, technical specification and additional tidbits. Highly recommended for cars enthusiasts and regular people to understand evolution of these automobiles and companies.