"Turtle Wax has long had an excellent reputation in high quality car care products, so it was hardly surprising that the board was unanimous in its decision to support the Turtle Wax range of products."

- Phil Costello, Manager and Curator, National Automobile Museum of Tasmania

When a group of automobile enthusiasts set out in 1996 to found the National Automobile Museum of Tasmania (NAMT), it was the first step in a journey towards becoming one of Australia's most respected museums of automotive history. Established, managed and staffed by people with a passion for cars and motorcycles, NAMT is the temporary home to an ever-changing display of beautifully restored and maintained vehicles, each of which is significant in automotive history.

Playing an important role in keeping the display nothing less than breath-taking is the range of Turtle Wax Platinum Series car care products. An ultimate car care range, Platinum Series has been developed by Turtle Wax specifically to achieve a result that meets the high expectations of even the most critical car enthusiast.

The Platinum Series is made with the highest quality ingredients and incorporates leading-edge chemical technology, resulting in unmatched performance and finish. For NAMT, one of the most important features of the Platinum Series is that it has been designed to deliver an outstanding result with both old enamel automotive paints and newer two-pack paints.

According to NAMT Manager and Curator, Phil Costello, the introduction of Turtle Wax Platinum Series as NAMT's car care products of choice was only after the museum's board had given formal approval. "All the vehicles we have on display are on loan from private collectors, people who trust us to look after and protect their pride and joy," he says. "Turtle Wax has long had an excellent reputation in high quality car care products, so it was hardly surprising that the board was unanimous in its decision to support the Turtle Wax range of products."

Beating swirl marks

Even though most vehicles on display are received in showcase condition, Phil and his entirely volunteer staff scrutinise each car and motorcycle as soon as it’s delivered. “The lighting here is designed specifically to bring out the absolute best across the entire display,” he says. “The other side of the coin, though, is that it really highlights any imperfections in the finish.”

Among the imperfections that Phil and his staff occasionally come across are swirl marks, minute but noticeable scratches in the paintwork resulting from imperfect buffing or polishing with a cutting polish. Now, with owner permission, Phil uses the Turtle Wax Platinum Ultra Gloss Wax, a product designed to eliminate the visibility of minor flaws in a vehicle's paint finish.

"The advantage of using the Ultra Gloss Wax is that it dramatically reduces the visibility of problems such as swirl marks without having to resort to the somewhat harsh alternative of using a cutting polish," Phil explains. "When we first starting using the Platinum Series products, we polished one of the Ferraris we had in our Fabulous Ferrari display theme. The result was so fantastic that with owner permission, we'll be polishing as many cars as possible." It isn't only Phil, though, who has become such a strong advocate of the Turtle Wax Platinum Series range since its adoption by NAMT. The volunteers also have recognised the definite edge it has in delivering an outstanding finish. Phil states: "Most of the volunteers we have here on staff have been polishing and looking after cars for longer than I've been alive.

"Rather than just lay down the law and tell them outright that we're now using Turtle Wax Platinum Series, I gave each of them a sample of the Ultra Gloss Wax to take home and try out for themselves. That was pretty well all it took to convince them! I had one of the fellows come in to work a few days later and tell me that it was the best wax he had ever used. "

Keeping the shine

Making sure the exhibits retain their museum-quality shine is an every-day responsibility for Phil and his team; and nothing short of absolute brilliance is acceptable. Obviously, polishing the cars on a regular basis is somewhat extreme, so aside from the regular washing with water-filled spray bottle and chamois, the team is now making good use of the Turtle Wax Platinum Series Detailer. Designed to remove dust gently yet effectively, and refresh a car’s shine between polishes, the Platinum Series Detailer contains a Carnauba wax – the “queen of waxes”. “The advantage is that it’s a 'top-up' for the wax,” Phil says. “Every time you wash a vehicle, even with a mist of water and chamois, it takes away a little bit of the original shine. To get rid of that problem, we’re using Platinum Series Detailer. “All we need to do is give the paintwork a light spray and wipe it off with a gentle cloth,” Phil continues. “That’s all it takes to get the shine right back up to where it was when the car was first polished with Ultra Gloss Wax.”

A cut above the rest

For those people fortunate enough to have visited the NAMT, then there’s little if any need to state that it is one of the world’s prime examples of automotive history – something the museum takes very seriously. “We have an excellent reputation,” Phil says, “and visitors are constantly telling us that we’re up there with the best in the world. “The reality is that many automotive museums have displays that rarely change; and in all too many cases, feature vehicles that demonstrate pretty starkly how quickly they can collect dust. “With the Turtle Wax Platinum Series range, we’re reinforcing our reputation as a museum that takes an immense amount of pride in the vehicles we display.”