A Southland bank that starred in the hit New Zealand movie The World’s Fastest Indian has sold for $650,000.
Bidding on the two-storey heritage building on Great North Road in Winton started at $500,000 and quickly shot past the RV of $575,000.
The property, which offers a two-bedroom apartment on the top floor and 250sqm of commercial space on the bottom, featured in the 2005 sports drama about Kiwi racing legend Burt Munro.
The building appears on the big screen when Munro, played by Oscar-winner Sir Anthony Hopkins, goes to get a loan to get to the United States.
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Bayleys agent Linda Riordan, who marketed the property with colleague Paula Johnstone, told OneRoof before the sale: “It’s a pretty crucial scene. If it wasn't for the bank in Winton, he [Burt Munro] still would have been stuck in Southland.”
She added: “Hollywood coming to Winton was a big deal. The town was buzzing.”
Bidding on the bank started at $500,000. Photo / Supplied
The upstairs offers a two-bedroom apartment. Photo / Supplied
The building was sold by Kiwi model and photographer Amanda Bransgrove. She told OneRoof that she and her husband bought it in 2019, for $575,000, after spotting it during a visit to the town.
“We purchased the bank while on a road [trip] around the lower South Island,” she said.
Riordan had said she had been fielding enquiries from Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin, Queenstown and the United States before the auction.
“Some buyers are retail stores, some are eateries. As a heritage building, it’s been strengthened, well kept and it is the safest place to be,” she told OneRoof last week.
The building sits on a 1012sqm freehold site and the upstairs Art Deco-style bank manager’s apartment currently operates as AirBnb.
