 | |
  Location within South Australia | |
| Established | 1964 |
|---|---|
| Location |
|
| Coordinates | 34°49′11″S138°57′16″E / 34.81972°S 138.95444°E Coordinates: 34°49′11″S138°57′16″E / 34.81972°S 138.95444°E |
| Type | Automobile museum |
| Director | Paul Rees |
| Website | National Motor Museum |
The National Motor Museum, formerly also known as The Old Mill and Birdwood Mill after its initial location, is an automobile museum in the Adelaide Hills in the township of Birdwood, South Australia.
The museum was started by Jack Kaines and Len Vigar in 1964, and, as the Birdwood Mill Pioneer, Art and Motor Museum, sold to a private company led by Gavin Sandford-Morgan in 1970. [1] It was purchased by the South Australian Government in 1976, [2] [3] and from 1982 came under the auspices of History SA. [1]
In 1980 the Federation of Vintage Car Clubs (SA) approached Donald Chisholm [4] OAM , [5] then general manager of the museum, to participate in the inaugural Bay to Birdwood classic car run. Chisholm agreed to be co-organiser, and suggested and agreed to provide a perpetual trophy for the "Concours d'Elegance", with its design based on the Shearer Steam Car, which would remain on display at (as it was then often called) Birdwood Mill. [4]
The National Motor Museum is Australia's largest motor museum, [3] with close to 400 vehicles on display as of 2009 [update] . [6] [2] It holds a large and historically important collection of cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles. It is housed in a modern complex adjacent to its original home, "The Old Mill" on Shannon Street, Birdwood. [2] [3]
The museum is the endpoint of the annual Bay to Birdwood run, in which vintage, veteran and classic cars and other road vehicles are driven by their owners from the foreshore area of Adelaide through to the Adelaide Hills to finish at the museum, where a festival is held and trophies awarded. [7]
The following is a non-exhaustive list of motor vehicles on display:[ citation needed ]
The following is a non-exhaustive list of motorbikes display:
Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last three years, it switched entirely to importing cars. It was headquartered in Port Melbourne, with major industrial operations in the states of South Australia and Victoria. The 164-year-old company ceased trading at the end of 2020.
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The Bay to Birdwood is a motoring event of citizen-collected vehicles that takes place annually in South Australia, formerly consisting of the Bay to Birdwood Run and the Bay to Birdwood Classic, which ran in even- and odd-numbered years alternately. Since 2020 it has been a large-scale run including vintage, veteran and classic cars and other road vehicles. It commences in the coastal Adelaide suburb of West Beach and concluding at the National Motor Museum in the Adelaide Hills town of Birdwood.
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Media related to National Motor Museum, Birdwood at Wikimedia Commons
