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The Tiger Tea bus is getting a cool new friend — a talking police highway patrol car.
The 2017 Holden Commodore, complete with a soundtrack of radio transmissions, is part of a revamp of Toitū Otago Settlers Museum’s transport and technology gallery.
Museum curator Peter Read said the displays had been among the most popular exhibits since they were unveiled in 2012 but were due an update.
"It's one of our show pieces.
"It's where we have some of our most favourite stuff, you know, the Tiger Tea bus and the Cadbury computer and all those things that the museum is well known for.
"So it was time to refresh it and see if we could improve a few things and bring in some new elements as well."
The computing section had been upgraded with more devices on display and modernised decorations.
He said it was a more dynamic space, introducing various film projections throughout the exhibition.
This included a Dunedin-made arcade game for visitors to play and footage from the 1940s of cars racing around Otago Harbour.
"There's a lot of nostalgia associated with transport, but the previous iteration of this gallery, in terms of the transport story, was focused very much on motoring.
"So we've widened it to include horse-drawn vehicles and cycles — the wider transport story."
The Otago Motor Club supported and provided funding towards the restoration project, which took two years to complete.
"One of the other reasons for making some changes in here was to enhance the Otago Motor Club story, because it's a very important transportation story for us and they are also a big supporter of the museum."
The new displays would be open today from 10am.
"Hopefully, there's something for everybody in here and it'll attract as many people as we can."