Car lover’s dream come true
Motor racing legend Greg Murphy is as Holden as they come, but even he says he’s never seen anything like the Hillsborough Holden Museum before.
‘‘I was just absolutely blown away,’’ Murphy said.
‘‘There’s wonderful museums all over the place, and we’ve got some incredible stuff in New Zealand which is just staggering, but homaged to Holden, one brand, no - I haven’t seen anything like this.’’
Murphy cut the red ribbon to officially open the museum that holds New Zealand’s largest private collection of Holden cars and memorabilia on the weekend.
The New Plymouth museum, and Bathurst race track-inspired mini-putt course, have been dreams that were brought to life for Steve Fabish and his wife Joy Fabish.
‘‘This is a moment we’ve both been waiting for, for a long time, to open our museum for others to enjoy,’’ Fabish said to the crowd on Saturday.
‘‘As you can imagine this has been an immense undertaking with hours spent right from the start on the drawing board to the final details.’’
‘‘I would like to thank my wife Joy for letting me live my dream and share it with others.’’
The museum is a Holden-lover’s dream with new and older model Holden cars, walls filled with memorabilia and more.
The Bathurst-themed mini-putt course features sharp bends and other difficulties that players have to manoeuvre around.
Morris West, the MC for the day, said the course was one of the best he’d played on, and made him want to visit the Bathurst race track more than ever.
Fabish said the museum’s existence stemmed from his lifetime of loving Holden cars and the mechanical skills his father taught him when he was younger and which have served him well ever since.
‘‘I bought my first Holden car as a teenager and I’ve loved Holden cars since.’’
Many speakers used the word passion when they described Fabish.
Murphy met him a few years ago, and has thought highly of him since.
‘‘I thought I was passionate about the lion and Holden and the brand, and I started driving a Holden in 1995 and I haven’t driven anything else, another touring car since then.
‘‘So I felt very loyal to the brand and very passionate about it,’’ Murphy said.
‘‘He [Steve] was actually one of the most incredibly passionate men who just had a desire and a knowledge and love for something that I was in awe of.’’
Andrew Lamb, the manager of Holden Special Vehicles New Zealand, said the Holden brand is all about passion.
‘‘I think even above that, there’s the passion that Steve and Joy have expressed and shown here in this amazing facility that they’ve built,’’ Lamb said.
‘‘It’s a fantastic facility.
‘‘It’s going to be a great asset to Taranaki and tourism.’’
Eddie Finn, the general manager of corporate affairs at Holden New Zealand said the museum was of world-class quality.
‘‘It will be high on the mustvisit list, not just for Holden fans but for motoring enthusiasts from around the country.’’
New Plymouth Mayor Neil Holdom called the Fabishes ‘‘grandparents of the century’’.
‘‘What you’ve built here is fantastic,’’ Holdom said.
‘‘And what you’ve done for the children of Taranaki for building a place like this [is too].’’
The museum is open Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 10am to 4pm and the mini putt is open every day from 10am.