Owner Gerald Rhodes was employed by International harvester before going
into his own car and truck wrecking business. Naturally enough he found
himself in the right places to pick up bargains.
But it also required many years at auctions, flea markets and garage
sales, as well as responding to newspaper adverts and word-of-mouth tip-offs
to bring together a fascinating range of items.
While Mr Rhodes lives in Christchurch, Wanaka's dry climate and beautiful
location made it an ideal place to house such a collection.
The first building went up in 1994 and the first hangar - built to look
like a 1940s aircraft hangar - went up in 1995. Since then they have added
a 1440 m2 Fire Station and a second 40m-long, 2,000 m2 hangar to house
military vehicles, planes and motorbikes.
