I recently stumbled upon a little treasure in Kaikoura. Feeling in need of a quick bite we pulled up to Bernie's Diner. So much fun (the way Burger King
was once in the long ago past), Every thing was American retro 60s at 105 Beach Rd.
Ah, those milkshake containers, the little collection of mustard, tomato
sauce and salt on each table. Spotless presentation and the service was
faster than MacDonalds Matamata. I'd done my research and knew there
was another even better reason to be here: Harmon's Classic Car Museum. It was created in 2017 by father and son Geoff and Bernard Harmon with their passion for cars. It remains a private collection.
I was delighted at the range and quality of models from the USA. The British cars were simply functional and boring though that's all that many of us Kiwis would have had experience of in our youth. The American cars were plastered with chrome, terrific upholstery, glam and certainly plenty of space. You'd never fit a parking space these days with those cars.
Such big boots with luggage space, full size spare tyres you can easily get to, bench seats - younger generations will never know how exciting those could be. It was great to see under the hood of some of the models and be able to recognise various components. In my younger days I could change a tyre, change fuses and spark plugs, fill the radiator and window washer reservoir. Things look simpler now but in reality are much more complicated these days with everything dependent on electronics.
Inside an annex were some interesting displays of unrestored cars, a classic caravan used back in the 60s and 70s, a huge stationwagon for beach holidays complemented with a diorama, a boat and even old petrol pumps. I still remember my father filling up the car with Caltex boron. Nothing lead-free back then. My parents started out with an old Singer and then progressed to Mum having a Humber and Dad a Mark 4 Zephyr. Alas the Zephyr rolled with a caravan during high winds on a hilly road while my parents were on holiday and was badly damaged. My father, who was driving, was quite battered too but cars were pretty solid in those days. He drove it home with a stoved in roof and the windscreen held to the car by ropes.
American cars were hard to come by so NZ was pretty much British automobiles until Japanese imports made their presence felt and greater reliability was a blessing, along with the reduced price tag.
There were additional items included in the museum: old petrol-powered bikes from the 20s, a Vespa scooter, a beautiful terracotta-coloured bike with sidecar and old traffic cop bikes. These were before the traffic division was assimilated by the police. Honda was the preferred brand and I remember them well though I never had any 'personal' dealings with them.
The museum includes a scaled replica of the West End of the main street of Kaikoura as it was at least 70 years ago. Included are some of the important buildings that are now gone.
Once back in the diner you can buy car-centric merchandise.
I had a lot of fun here remembering my own past with cars and motorbikes, family jaunts and asociated other memories..
It's open 7 days a week for breakfast and lunch, doughnuts and milkshakes, burgers and coffee. www.harmons.co.nz
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