hen you think of
Invercargill in New Zealand,
you think of Burt Munro, the
world’s fastest Indian. But,
there’s another icon that hails
from the bottom of the world, and it’s Bill
Richardson.
The late Bill Richardson is the man
responsible for building arguably the largest
private machinery collection of its type, now
known as Transport World.
Bill is famous throughout the south of New
Zealand, known for his transport businesses,
encyclopaedic knowledge of all things
trucks, and of course, his epic collection of
iconic rigs.
The 15,000-cubic-metre automotive haven
was born out of Bill’s passion for all things
transport and a dream to share that passion
with the world.
Bill was quoted as saying, “One day I
hope someone loves it enough to carry it
on”, which is exactly what his daughter Joc
O’Donnell has done with his collection.
Joc now heads up the museum, as well
as the popular Dig This and Motorcycle
Mecca also featured on Mighty Machines,
and she was kind enough to show us around
Transport World for the day.W
THE COLLECTING BUG
Joc first gave us a bit of background on
Bill’s extraordinary collection, comprised
of hundreds of trucks, tractors, cars and
motorcycles.
“He started collecting trucks in 1967. He got
a hankering to get hold of his grandfather’s
truck, which he purchased not far from here
for about ten quid ... and that was sort of the
start of the collection,” Joc explains.DEALS on Show
How many Minis, is
too many Minis?Back when UDs
were known as
Nissan DieselsYou’ve got to
love a good
cross-section. In
this case, an old
Austin engine171