A century-old sole-surviving former war ambulance sporting a birthday makeover may get its first public outing in more than a decade during this year's Anzac Day parade in Wanaka.
The 1915 Rover Sunbeam World War 1 Ambulance is part of the National Transport and Toy Museum collection based at the Wanaka Airport.
Museum curator Jason Rhodes hopes the ambulance can play a part in this year's Anzac Day centenary parade along Ardmore St in Wanaka, following recent restoration work on the vehicle.
''The poor old beast is 100 years old and deserves a bit of an outing and bit of a tart-up that we've been giving it ... we just thought we'd try and take it out and do something more public.
''After something like 40 odd years since it had its last tidy-up we gave it another one, repainted the guards and oil changes and everything else that it needed.''
Mr Rhodes is still waiting on confirmation from Wanaka's Anzac Day organisers about what role the ambulance might play on April 25, but regardless, it will soon be moved into the museum's main building and displayed more prominently over the coming year.
Made in Wolverhampton by the Rover Company, under agreement with the Sunbeam Motorcar Company, the ambulance was one of about 1600 produced, but is believed to be the only surviving example, Mr Rhodes said.
It saw service in World War 1 in Europe where it is understood to have been allocated to New Zealand troops.
It was among ambulances then made available to various hospital boards by the New Zealand Defence Force about 1920.
It was used on the West Coast as a mortuary van and ambulance by the Buller Hospital.
In 1925 it was bought by Stan Booth, who converted it into a motorised caravan and covered it in galvanised iron.
It was rediscovered in a field near Kerikeri in 1966 with tamarillo trees growing through it.
Bryan Jackson paid 30 for it and restored it to war service condition.
Its original red cross and Royal Army Service Corps markings were still intact beneath the galvanised sheeting.
The ambulance was sold to the National Transport and Toy Museum in 1973 but displayed elsewhere until the early 1990s, when it was brought to Wanaka for an airshow.
After the show, it remained in storage until the museum opened at Christmas 1995.
It has been rebuilt from almost entirely original parts and ''gets along very well'' still, despite only having been driven around the museum grounds for the past 10 years or more.
''It's fail-safe because it's so simple. There is nothing like modern vehicles to go wrong. It doesn't even have a battery.''
Anzac Day co-ordinator Commander Lyal Cocks RNZN (Retd) told the Otago Daily Times yesterday evening he hoped to check out the ambulance this week and its inclusion in the parade sounded like ''a good idea''.
