IN PERHAPS a sign of things to come, the National Automobile Museum of Tasmania’s open day featured a cameo from the Tasmania Fire Museum, with nine vintage fire engines on display.
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Dating back to 1929, the fire engines made a compelling addition to the 200-odd cars and motorbikes on display to the public.
NAMT manager Phil Costello said he was pleased with the turnout over the weekend.
‘‘Many people have visited. We’re not sure of the exact numbers but there’s been thousands of people,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s been a very successful weekend.’’
Tasmania Fire Service district officer John Hazzlewood said the fire engines, which are kept in different parts of the state, had proven popular.
‘‘The interest has been fantastic today. We’ve had a lot of people come through – certainly excited a lot of kids, a lot of big kids too with our old fire trucks,’’ he said.
The NAMT museum hopes to expand its premises to include a room to permanently house a rotating selection of the 30-odd vehicles in the Tasmania Fire Service’s fleet.
Mr Hazzlewood said the expansion would be a win-win for both museums if it went ahead.
‘‘We’re rather hopeful the council will approve the extension for the motor museum so we can enhance that partnership that we’ve got and display some of our vehicles on a more permanent basis.
‘‘A lot of effort has gone into restoring them and keeping them in the first place and then we want to show people, and we just don’t have that place now.’’
