National Motor Museum, Birdwood, South Australia (SA)

Since 1965 millions of people have enjoyed discovering their motoring heritage at the National Motor Museum, Birdwood, South Australia.

As an international centre for the collection, research, preservation, education and display of Australian road transport history, the National Motor Museum is much more than a collection of vehicles. It is a social history of the way we were, the way we are now and the way of the future.

They have a couple of really rare cars like:

• 1899 Shearer Steam Carriage
• 1900 De Dion-Bouton Type E, Vis-a-Vis Voiturette from France
• 1904 Ohlmeyer ‘Jigger’ Tourer
• 1908 Talbot, from London, UK
• 1910 Daimler Landaulet, coachwork by Lewis Cycle and Motor Works of Victoria Square, Adelaide
• 1914 Dixi R12 Tourer from Germany
• 1913 Newton Bennett from Manchester, UK
• 1925 Rolls Royce, rebodied by French company Carrosserie Vanvooren

Rick and Kathy Howe have been to this museum and this is what they have to say about the museum: “This is a pleasant but not outstanding museum located about an hour outside Adelaide in South Australia. The collection is varied and includes automobiles, motorcycles and a few transport trucks and buses. The focus of the museum is, quite naturally, on the history of Australian motoring, with exhibits on the exploration of the continent by motor car and on early motoring heroes such as Tom Kruse who famously delivered the mail to remote outback locations for many decades. Some information is also offered on the history of auto manufacturing in Australia, which only ended in 2016. I learned a lot about this topic during my visit but wished there were even more to see. Apart from a few recently done exhibits, which are excellent, the overall museum experience suffers from the inconsistent quality and state of preperation of the individual vehicles and the somewhat crowded and random display halls. I readily admit that my being a non-Australian may have lessened my enjoyment of this museum. The staff members I encountered were delightful and friendly and if you are in the area I can certainly recommend a visit.”

Read more about this museum and see all of Rick and Kathy Howe’s images at motor-museums.com. Their images below used with permission.