One of the highlights of the New England high country is the National Transport Museum at Inverell. This museum displays hundreds of cars and motorbikes dating from the late 1800s through to today.

The vehicles are laid out in a very large warehouse style building. The cars are ordered nominally by age and make. Many are lent to the museum and most have technical and biographical information.

 We visited the museum as part of our stay at Inverell. There is more than enough to fill a couple of hours.

One highlight for me was the 1906 Dayton Motor buggy. This cross between a horse buggy and a motor car was built to handle rough terrain with high wheels. It was used by a Doctor to visit patients often over rough country. 

I also enjoyed the long line of Rolls Royces from different times. It was interesting to learn that Rolls started, like many car manufacturers, only supplying the chassis and running gear. A separate company then built the coach work. There was one there with a bare aluminium body - all silver and rivets. 

In addition to cars, there is a large collection of motorcycles.

In the motorcycles, the one that caught my eye was the 1924 Waratah. This is an Australian built bike and gave a real feeling of where motorcycles have come from. This bike looks very primitive and also hard used. The vehicles in the museum are a real mix of original condition and restored. 

One area that was disappointingly under represented were the cycle cars of the 1960s and earlier. These cars were a cheap alternative to standard cars of the time. They were often built around a small engine, sometimes as used on a motorcycle.

They also tended to have three wheels because anything under 4 wheels was classed as a motorcycle and so paid lower fees to be registered and run. Perhaps the most famous of these was the Morgan which had a reputation as the poor man's sportscar. The only motorcycle car or bubble car – as they were called in the 1960s – on display at the museum was a brilliant Messuresmitt. These, along with the Trojan, another three wheeler, were popular in the 1950s and 1960s and were the archetypal bubble car. 

After the second world war, the Messuresmitt company in Germany was forced to stop manufacturing planes to kill people with, and looked for another product that fitted their manufacturing expertise. They started to build these bubble cars using the same aluminium fabrication techniques they used on their fighter planes.

This car doesn’t even drive like a normal car, the controls are more like that of a motorbike. 

Another interesting car was the Australian Ute that was four wheel drive. At one time Ford was interested in getting the Australian Defence contract for four wheel drives and replacing Landrover as the supplier. They made a small number to demonstrate the concept and their technical ability. However the contract was again awarded to Landrover and so that small number was sold on the open market. 

For anyone who has an interest in history and cars or motorbikes, the National Transport museum will reward a visit copiously. For the small price of $12 for Adults or $5 for children there is much to see and learn.