Bill Richardson Transport World - Invercargill NZ: Classic Restos - Series 55

While in the deep south of New Zealand, Fletch revisits Bill Richardson Transport World, a favourite destination whenever he travels to New Zealand.

The museum was founded by Bill Richardson, who developed a fascination with trucks at a young age. Bill was determined to restore his grandfather's 1939 International, which he finally found in 1967. This truck became the foundation of his collection, which grew to include 150 rare, unique and interesting trucks and 200 petrol bowsers over the years. Bill became well known among vintage truck collectors and anyone looking for a home for vintage trucks. The collection grew to include every make and model thanks to one man's passion.

Sadly, Bill passed away in 2005, but his legacy lives on with his daughter Joselyn O'Donnell, who continues to run his company HWR Transport and the truck collection. The family opened Bill Richardson Transport World to the public in 2015, and today, it is the largest private truck collection of its kind in the world.

Workshop Manager Darren takes Fletch on a tour of the massive 15,000 square meter facility, which is equivalent to a city block, to give some perspective. The collection has extended beyond the truck collection to include the family's other motoring interests.

There is a VW Kombi collection that is Joselyn's interest. After an initial bad experience on a driving holiday in a 1975 Volkswagen Kombi in Europe, where she suffered claustrophobia, it later became her passion first to collect and restore the very same Kombi she drove with Bill in Europe, right down to the same orange exterior and tartan interior. Out of this desire and a love of the VW Kombi,  a collection of twelve models grew. Joselyn thinks Bill would have found this quite amusing, given her first experience with a Kombi.

Bill Richardson Transport World has a close connection with Burt Munroe's 'The Fastest Indian' movie, providing much of the memorabilia and Bill Richards playing a small cameo in the movie. Oreti Beach, where Burt Munroe did most of his testing, is not from Invercargill and is well worth a visit.

Fletch continues through this incredible collection and suggests that you allocate sufficient time to do it justice when visiting.