Gilbert's Motor Museum

Gilbert's Motor Museum is that rare thing, a museum inside its own exhibit. The Gilbert family ran this High St premises for 117 years, hand-building Treblig bicycles (read the name backwards) and early motorcycles, selling Buicks and Holdens new off this floor, and fixing the district's machinery until the business closed in December 2018. A year later, Strathalbyn's volunteers reopened the doors as a museum.

More than 100 vehicles now fill the old showroom and workshops: veteran, vintage and classic cars, motorcycles, and cars that were originally sold new from this very building. The motorsport corner is proper South Australian history, real Rowley Park Speedway racing cars curated by the SA Vintage Speedcar Association, the Glen Dix Collection from the state's legendary flag marshal, and Adelaide Grand Prix displays.

Strathalbyn is one of SA's prettiest heritage towns, 45 minutes from Adelaide on the way to the Fleurieu, and this is the best ten dollars on its main street.

An old dealership explored room by room, with volunteer guides whose local knowledge is half the value of the ticket.

Look out for:

• Cars sold new from this floor, back home in the showroom where locals first bought them.

• The Rowley Park speedcars, genuine dirt track racing machinery from Adelaide's beloved lost speedway, curated by the SA Vintage Speedcar Association.

• The Glen Dix Collection: decades of memorabilia from the flag marshal who waved off everything that mattered in SA motorsport, with Adelaide Grand Prix displays alongside.

• Treblig and the Gilbert story: the hand-built bicycles and early motorcycles that started 117 years of trading.

• The motorcycles and veteran machinery threaded through the classic cars, over 100 vehicles in all.

• The volunteers, many with personal memories of the business; get them talking.

Allow about an hour, comfortably more if the conversations start. Then walk Strathalbyn's antique strip and riverside, the town is the other half of the trip.

• Tickets: $10 adult, $8 concession, children under 16 free with an adult; groups of 20 plus at $8 each, pre-booked.

• Hours: Wednesday to Sunday 10am to 4pm, open most public holidays (closed Good Friday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day); other times by appointment.

• Volunteer run, so if you are travelling far, a call ahead is wise: +61 408 158 230.

• Getting there: on Strathalbyn's main heritage street, 45 minutes from Adelaide, easy street parking. Drive-to.

• Accessibility is a strength: wheelchair access, and explicit support for visitors with autism, intellectual disability or dementia. Free WiFi and public restrooms.

• Pairs naturally with Strathalbyn's antiques strip and the Fleurieu wine towns beyond.

Last updated: 2 September 2026