SOMETHING FOR ALL
LOOKING FOR AN EXCUSE TO GO FOR A DRIVE OUT OF MELBOURNE? TRY CHARLIE’S PLACE
LONG-TERM collector and museum owner Charlie Schwerkolt is one of those rare people who has been able to turn his unquestionably quirk y tastes into a public resource and have some fun along the way. Located at Art hurs Seat on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, Charlie’s Auto Museum houses one of the most eclectic gat herings of automotive f lamboyance t hat you’ll encounter any where in the countr y.
Though the collection isn’t huge, it has a fascinating mix of conventiona l and oddball gear, with an emphasis on t he latter. Rubbing doorhandles with a perfect ly normal early Holden, for example, is a V8 Tatra. In fact t here’s a couple of t he Czech breed f loating about, and they’re premium models. Then there are not one, but t wo Brick lins
“ONE DECIDED IT NEEDED A REST AND WENT HOME ON A TRAYTOP”
– t he ultra-ra re, low-volume f uturistic Canadian creations that never rea lly made it in t he commercial world.
It’s k inda f unny to be wandering t hrough, watching a classic Bathurst race on a TV monitor that hangs from the raf ters above a collection of microcars and Studebakers, including a four-door version of an Avanti. Yep, a four-door – so someone got creative wit h t he f ibreglass.
We f irst featured t his place severa l years ago and it’s worth reminding people of its ex istence. We dropped in recent ly for a sta f f drive and, as is of ten t he case wit h old cars, one of them decided it needed a litt le rest and went home on a tray top. This time it was Guido’s BMW 633.
Any petrol-head will get something out of a v isit and it’s as good an excuse as any to go for a drive…
(Ed’s note : see our earlier stor y online at tradeuniquecars.com.au got to News & Reviews > search for charlie’s.)