PLACES TO GO
Australia’s Gosford Classic Car Museum
When a motor museum claims to be one of the top five privately owned car collections in the world, it attracts attention, especially when it opened only two years ago.
In 2015, Australian entrepreneur Tony Denny acquired an 11,000m2 warehouse from Bunnings, the DIY firm that recently bought out the Homebase chain in the UK. Denny loves classic cars and views them as works of art, being able to find something beautiful in just about every car he sees. Having a significant lump sum of money on his hands after selling part of his share of a large European used car network, he now enjoys time scouring the internet for new vehicles for his collection.
Denny currently has around 450, whittled down from an original 5000, 95% of which were bought in Australia, the exceptions being some of the Ferraris and the impressive line-up of Soviet bloc cars. In fact, his 30-odd Ferraris, including a LaFerrari, plus F40, F50 and Enzo, make up 30% of the value of the collection, which pundits put at $70 million.
Naturally, there is also a full range of homegrown Holdens ranging from 1948 to 1978, plus a superb range of American cars, including the 53-car John Ivy collection of Nash, AMC and Rambler products.
Once past the admissions desk, the visitor’s brain suffers a delightful confusion of fine and interesting cars in all directions, backed by brilliant neon signs and illuminated petrol pump globes, sending the mind spiralling back through the decades to a time when motoring was somehow more innocent, colourful and carefree.
There are whole batches of fine cars from all corners of the globe. Near the middle of them all is a large billowing Australian flag. In fact, this was the brilliant artwork on Rosco McGlashan’s Aussie Invader III, which ran at 638mph in 1996, but couldn’t claim a Land Speed Record because damage and weather conditions prevented a return run.
Aussie Invader III is a mighty impressive showpiece all the same.
Towards the back and in complete contrast to the Goggomobil Dart nearby is a 1998 De Havilland Rapide, a vintage-style special built around a 10-litre aero engine. The museum’s oldest car is a 1923 Jewett. Built by a company better known for its trams, Jewetts were made only between 1923 and 1926, at which time they started to be marketed as Paiges. There’s also a 1929 Dover van, built by Hudson for just a year or two and popular with the US Postal Service in period.
Several cars are intended to make the visitor just stand and stare, including a pastel blue 1950 Alvis TB14 roadster, an achingly beautiful red 1954 Swallow Doretti and the 1950 Austin A90 Atlantic trials car. It’s a chance for visiting non-Australians to get a good look at some Leyland P76s and the Australian Ford range, too.
There is a substantial shop with an unsurprisingly heavy bias towards Ford and Holden, stocking a range of shirts, caps and memorabilia, plus an extensive range of models and signs. Outside the entrance a ’50s Airstream caravan serves the wholesome kind of food so beloved of car nuts.
Gosford Classic Car Museum is located on the beautiful New South Wales Central Coast, an easy one-hour drive north of Sydney, and is open from Wednesday to Sunday each week. Admission is $20, with car club members $15 and under-14s $12.
Wait! One last thing: every car at Gosford Classic Car Museum is for sale. In fact, at the time of writing almost 70 were due to be auctioned to create room for newcomers.
Gosford Classic Car Museum, Stockyard Place, West Gosford NSW2250, Australia. www.gosfordclassiccarmuseum.com.au.