Update: Ian Hope's British Car Museum (NZ)

27/7/2022

Written by Paul Sweeney.

Many of you will know I was a friend of the late Ian Hope and helped him with his amazing collection of British cars here in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand.

The last I heard after Ian sadly passed away was that his museum was closed and for sale. After hearing some rumours recently, I stopped by there today to see if anything was happening. I found the real estate agent's sign now says, "Sold" and a few vehicles have been moved outside and were marked, "For Sale" (see photos).

There was a contact number written on the vehicles for sale - well, it would be rude not to, wouldn't it? So I called the number hoping to find out what was happening to the collection.

I was in luck - I got through to Mark, one of Ian's nephews. He told me he had taken on the challenge of disposing of the property including the car collection and that he was working on tidying up the inside of the buildings. He is also gradually disposing of many of the cars either for restoration or as parts donors and says his goal is to end up with approximately 50 of the best to keep.

The new owner will take over in approximately a year's time and hopes to reopen the reduced collection to the public if possible - but Mark did stress there are many obstacles needing to be overcome before that can happen - not least the Health & Safety issues.

Anyone interested in possibly buying from Ian's collection should keep an eye on www.trademe.co.nz - meanwhile I will check back in a year from now and report how things have gone.

Yes I did ask Mark if I could get inside to film, but he told me it's now designated as a hazardous work site so public access will not be possible until further notice.

5 Comments

Daniel Bysouth

28/7/2022 01:24:16

I would love a small souvenir to remember the Sage, Ian Hope. Such a shame we never met. God bless him.

Paul Berman

29/7/2022 18:56:24

Thanks for the update Paul. Let's hope that as many of the cars as possible can be sold intact or kept for the new, smaller museum.

Les Elmer

24/2/2024 04:12:10

Hi Paul.

I'm reviewing a 2020 book for my monthly Hot Rodders Bookshelf column in NZ Petrolhead. One of the 2 books I'm reviewing for the March 2024 issue of NZPH features Ian's British Cars Museum at Haumoana.

Is there please any further update on the future [if there is one] of the museum, to your update post of July 2022..?

Thanks, Les Elmer
M: 021 710 234
E: [email protected]

Paul Sweeney

26/2/2024 03:52:43

Hi Les.

To the best of my knowledge the museum has no future, I'm afraid. The new owner has been steadily selling off cars over the past year or so (many have since popped up for sale having been recommissioned by their new owners) and the premises themselves are now on the market. The building appears to be abandoned, but there's no way of telling whether any cars remain inside.

All Ian's museum signage has disappeared and locally it's rumoured that the new owner has retained just the best of Ian's cars for his private collection with no intention of reopening to the public.

That's all I can tell you, I'm afraid. It's far from what Ian himself told me he hoped would happen to his collection, but frankly and very sadly his wishes were unrealistic and never likely to happen.

26/2/2024 04:22:31

Hi Paul. Thanks very much for your prompt [but very sad] reply. It is a great shame that Ian's wishes were obviously not written into his will forcibly enough to prevent this sad outcome. Unfortunately it's all too often the case I believe, and collections which may have taken years to accumulate are dispersed without any recognition of the work and passion that went into the finding researching and the displaying of all the collected vehicles in context with their time and their contemporaries. A huge loss IMHO. Thank you again however for the reply. Cheers, Les .

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Update: Ian Hope's British Car Museum (NZ)

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