The Lemmon Trust Museum in New Zealand

Written by Paul Sweeney.

A Ford Prefect (L) and a Humber Imperial on display at the Lemmon Trust Museum

Last weekend I went with my Kiwi mate Clynt to visit a local museum he'd heard about from his connections in the Vintage Car Club. It's owned by a family trust belonging to the Lemmon family and is almost ready to open to the public - but is currently on hold while the authorities ponder the fire and safety regulation hurdles the museum may need to jump.

​However, a quick phone call to Adrian Lemmon gave me the opportunity to tell him about our club and to ask if we could visit and film the collection for our YouTube channel. Adrian readily agreed and a short while later, my partner Billy and I went along with Clynt to take a look around.

The Lemmon Trust Museum contains not just a range of memorabilia and farm equipment from the past, but some fabulous classic and vintage cars and motorcycles. The cars are all British or American. Names such as Bean, Rolls-Royce, Humber, Ford, Napier, Dodge and Studebaker adorn the grille badges.

The collection includes a wonderful 1910 Austin, a Studebaker that once belonged to prominent Napier businessman Gerhard Husheer and a 1950s Humber Imperial that was used during the Royal Tour of New Zealand in 1953 then sold to the Lemmon family once the tour was over. It arrived complete with its set of Royal pennants tucked into the door pockets.

​The cars were collected by Adrian's father and grandfather so this is very much a personal collection. Adrian told us that all of the cars are still in working order and could be driven again given a service and some fresh fuel.

I hope you enjoy the little video I made from our visit.