Mangaweka's new self-serve gas station is fitted out with retro-style pumps. Photo / Ethan Griffiths
Since 2017, the Rangitīkei town of Mangaweka has been home to four high-tech electric vehicle chargers, but not a single petrol station.
That changed on Friday when a brand new self-service station opened with the goal of becoming something of an attraction.
Owned by Allied Petroleum, the Mangaweka Retro GasolineStation is located right on the side of State Highway 1.
The new attraction mixes the old with the new, with the old-style gas pumps operated by a self-service machine, requiring customers to pre-pay for their fuel at the kiosk.
The site was previously home to a BP and later G.A.S. petrol station, and after that became 'Mangaweka International Airport' - a nod to the genuine DC-3 that had been displayed on the site since the mid-1980s.
The new owner of the property is Brendan 'Mintie' Cottle, a Shannon-based businessman who leases the site to Allied.
Cottle has owned the site for the last five years, purchasing it after a brainwave while travelling through the town on his way back to Shannon.
"I just had a vision when I came past. I'm into my automotive stuff, and I had a vision coming past here. I contacted the owner and we sat down and did a deal."