Classics Museum

The Classics Museum at Railside Place, Hamilton, just off State Highway 1, shows more than 60 cars at a time from a collection topping 100, wrapped in one of the country's best petroliana displays: enamel signs, restored pumps, pedal cars and vintage pinball machines between the rows.

The museum's own headliners run from a 1937 Bugatti Type 57 Ventoux to a Ford GT40 Mk II and a 1938 Diamond T Texaco tanker truck, with visitors reporting an Auburn Speedster, a Cord and a BMW Isetta bubble car among the displays. Cars come and go as displays refresh, so the floor changes between visits.

The attached Jukebox Diner does the 1950s in full, no museum ticket required, and museum visitors get a discount: the natural lunch to bolt onto the visit.

A dense, colourful museum where the memorabilia competes with the metal.

Look out for:

• The 1937 Bugatti Type 57 Ventoux and the Ford GT40 Mk II, per the museum's own headline list.

• The 1938 Diamond T Texaco tanker truck.

• Visitor favourites like the Auburn Speedster, a Cord and a BMW Isetta bubble car.

• Petroliana in depth: restored pumps, enamel signs, pedal cars and pinball machines.

• The Jukebox Diner, open to all with a discount for museum visitors.

Best way to experience it: go hungry, do the museum first and the diner after, and allow time for the signage; the petroliana is half the show.

• Open daily 8am to 3pm.

• Entry $20 adult, $8 child 5 to 14, under 5 free; concession and family rates vary across listings, so confirm at the door.

• At 11 Railside Place, Dinsdale, just off SH1; free on-site parking, wheelchair accessible.

• The Jukebox Diner has its own phone (07 846 2260); museum enquiries +64 7 957 2230.

Last updated: 3 September 2026