Farms and Farm Machinery – September 2019

Youdon’tgotoTransport

Worldunlessyou’vegotat

leasthalfa daytoexplore.

30 TradeFarmMachinery.com.au THE TRACTOR YOU WANT IS NOW EASIER TO FIND

FEATURE

W

henyouthinkofInvercargillin NewZealand,youthink

ofBurtMunro,theworld’sfastestIndian.But,there’s

anothericonthathailsfromthebottomoftheworld,and it’s

BillRichardson.

ThelateBillRichardsonis themanresponsibleforbuilding

arguablythelargestprivatemachinerycollectionofitstype,

nowknownasTransportWorld.

Billis famousthroughouttheSouthofNewZealand,

knownforhistransportbusinesses,encyclopaedic

knowledgeofallthingstrucks,andofcourse,hisepic

collectionoficonicrigs.

The15,000squaremetreautomotivehavenwasbornout 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.

But first, Joc 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 explained.

“I think there’s probably about 250 trucks, 60 cars, and of

course the motorcycle collection down the road.”

Since taking over the museum, Joc has carried things on

with the same level of passion her father was known for,

transforming the already impressive collection into an immersive

experience for the public.

“As the years went by we decided we would open it to the

public, and we thought if we were going to do that then we

needed to try and widen that audience reach by having a bit

of diversification in the collection,” she told us.

“I’m into Kombi vans and my husband is really into motorsport

and racing cars. Then our oldest son is into Citroens and our

second son is into Minis.

“For us it was really as a family about continuing on a legacy

that dad had started.”

It’s more than just the machines that make Transport World

special – it’s the people, the stories, the effort that goes into the

unique displays...and of course, the toilets!

Yep, you read that right, the toilets! Joc had the quirky idea of

making every toilet an automotive playground!

You don’t go to Transport World unless you’ve got at least half

a day to explore, because the place sucks you in on a carefully

curated journey through the 1900’s and beyond.

For those of you partial to two wheels as well as four, a

few streets away is Joc’s multi-million dollar collection of

motorcycles – old and new.

Motorcycle Mecca is truly mind blowing, in terms of the sheer

variety of bikes on show, from classic Harley Davidsons, Indians,

Triumphs, even a 1912 Flying Merkyl.

The star of the show though, for us anyway, was the

Vincent Black Shadow on display. A genuine $1million

dollar bike! Sadly, but understandably, we weren’t allowed

to ride it!

If you’re in New Zealand anytime soon, you’ve just got to

check out Invercargill and when you do, schedule a pit-stop at

Transport World and Motorcycle Mecca.

1

MACHINERY

paradise

New Zealand’s Invercargill

is home to a huge collection

of trucks, tractors, cars and

bikes: the combined result

of one family’s passion for

vehicles of all shapes and

sizes. Cobey Bartels spent

the day at Transport World

to find out more