Motat is a fascinating museum of transport and technology located in Western Springs a suburb of Auckland. It has an amazing collection of historic vehicles of all types and plenty of heritage and history which will entertain delight and fascinate visitors for hours. The large property is beautifully themed with many heritage style buildings and artefacts to give you a real feeling of what New Zealand was like years ago. There are some incredible vehicles on display from cars, trucks, planes, trains and trams, in-fact the tram is a working exhibit offering trips around the complex and to the nearby annex exhibition which houses many of the aircraft exhibitions. The site was once home to a huge pump which serviced Auckland’s water supply, today this incredible piece of Victorian machinery has been restored and is housed in an beautiful brick building looking more like artwork than a piece of machinery, it is really an incredible sight. Motat also features a historic village with many small cottages all decked out with their heritage fittings and furnishings, they are very interesting and give you a real feel of how people lived years ago.
Most people think Reno in Nevada USA is all one arm bandits and giant buffets, well you are pretty well right but there are some very good attractions in and around this “Biggest Little City in the Worldâ€. One fantastic attraction that any car lover should visit is the National Automobile Museum which is located right in the heart of the city. The museum was originally founded to display the dozens of amazing cars owned by Bill Harrah of the Harrah’s hotel and casino chain. The museum has some pretty cool stuff, there’s one of Elvis’s tanks, a gold plated DeLorean as seen in the photo, cars from John Wayne, Frank Sinatra and even Al Jolson. But it’s not the celebrity cars which are the most fascinating, it is the breath of the collection. There are over 100 years of history with plenty of cars you just won’t see anywhere else. The museum also has a great collection of period costumes and artefacts and there is some great memorabilia and artwork. There are four main halls all themed and good gift shop which has a whole range of great products. Read the rest of this entry »
Stuttgart’s Mercedes Benz Museum is probably the best automotive museum in the world with over 160 vehicles all magnificently displayed in a building designed by UNStudio who also designed the New Zealand Te Papa Museum, which can only be described as art. There are over 16500 square metres of exhibition space with some of the world’s finest examples of Mercedes Benz automobiles. The exhibition starts at the top floor and works it’s way down spiral ramps to the bottom with giant showcases of vehicles on all levels. Amongst it’s huge collection are cars, buses, trucks from all eras of the Mercedes Benz timeline all shining like jewelery in the beautiful displays. One highlight is the Gallery of Celebrities where visitors can get up close to the Popemobile, movie and music stars cars and even a Mercedes owned by Princess Diana.
Toyota City is in the outskirts of Nagoya in central Japan and as the name suggest it is the home of the huge Toyota motor company. The company is trailing these cute little electric cars called the Crayon which can be hired thought the city. For a few hundred yen (a couple of dollars) you can hire them at many locations around the city. They have a cable on the front of the vehicle which has a paddle which plugs into a electric repowering station. The vehicles travel at reasonable speeds and have a range of about 30 kilometers they are quiet popular for getting shopping home and for buisness trips for many of the people who don’t have a car in this tightly packed city. Read the rest of this entry »
As today is Australia Day we thought we would feature a couple of Australian Icons over the next few days. Today’s story is the National Motor Racing Museum at Bathurst. Bathurst is the premier car racing event on the Australian calendar and it is where legends of the track are made. None other than the Peter Brock who’s car is featured on today’s photograph. The vehicle exhibits change regularly and is located next to the mountain’s circuit which is a public road on non race days. The ever changing display at the National Motor Racing Museum showcases an array of motorcycle and vehicles and car racing memorabilia from all over the country, especially featuring the ‘kings of the mountain’ Every October tens of thousands flock to the mountain to cheer on either Ford or Holden in the battle for the best V8 super car.
Legendary rock group Kiss will be the star attractions along with the best of Formula One motorsport and the mighty Australian V8 Supercars at the Australian Grand Prix held in Melbourne, March next year. The band has had a long history of playing special concerts in Melbourne, they recorded a television special there a few years back with a one of concert with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra with classical music set to their greatest hits. The Melbourne Grand Prix is the first event on the 2008 Grand Prix calendar and promises to be huge with several hundred thousand people attending over the four day event. Held beautiful Albert Park with sweeping views of the city the Grand Prix is regarded one of the world’s best and with next years special guests Kiss it promises to be even better.
The Grand Prix comes to the Portuguese island of Macau next weekend for what promises to be a huge weekend but for those who cant get there for the action there is a great museum you can visit during the year. The museum celebrates the the 50 odd years of racing in Macau and has some great displays. Opening in 1993 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first Macau Grand Prix the centre has some great memorabilia and amazing racecars and motorbikes. For those who want a real bargain and want to see some of Macau’s other great museums like the Wine Museum (which is next door), the Maritime Museum, Lin Zexu Museum and the Museum of Art there is a a bargain joint ticket available.
In Odabia which is the new waterfront technology district of Tokyo, Toyota has a giant showroom come, car museum, come theme park and its really fun for the whole family. There is plenty to do including ‘driving’ the Crayon which is a self driving electric micro car. As you can see in the picture the car is one of Toyota’s latest efforts to revolutionise transport. Reading sensors on the road this car follows the track around the complex. There are simulator rides, an outdoor driving course for people wanting a test drive of a Toyota product and plenty of technology exhibits including Toyota’s cutting edge designs and quite a good display on hybrid and new power plants. The centre also features a beautiful museum where iconic cars from around the world (not all Toyota) are on display and then there’s a discovery centre hall which demonstrates how products are designed to suit as many people as possible. The centre attaches to the huge Pallete Town shopping complex where you can easily find plenty do do for the whole day.
Although the Ute or Utility was invented by Ford in Geelong Australia in the 1930’s, Deniliquin in New South Wales holds the title of the Ute capital of the World. Deniliquin is on the edge of some of the driest and flattest land on earth a farming and grazing region and home to the annual ute muster. In 1999 Deniliquin wrote itself into the history books with the largest parade of registered utes with 2939 vehicles taking place, and since then the number has grown to 6211. People bring their utes from all over Australia to attend and some even transport them from overseas for this huge event. This years event is on this weekend and it promises to be bigger than ever. To celebrate this feat the town has even erected a WB Holden Ute up a pole in all its glory. Read the rest of this entry »
In some countries driving can be a bit more hectic than others. Check out this video of an intersection in St Petersburg, Russia as cars play chicken and then get tossed around like skittles on the icy roads. If you want our tip, make sure you take the insurance option when renting a car in Russia. Read the rest of this entry »
