Gosford Classic Car Museum opens

The somewhat innocuously titled Gosford Classic Car Museum makes pretty good use of what was once a Bunnings megastore.

As the home to more than 450 classic and vintage cars and motorcycles, the venue is claimed to be the biggest privately owned classic car collection in the Southern Hemisphere and promises to be a big drawcard for visitors from around the globe.

The converted warehouse was purchased in 2015 and has been dressed up with polished concrete floors and carpet – and a stunning display of all types of automotive transport, from vintage classics, supercars, modern classics, motorcycles and even examples of military transport.

The glittering, eclectic range of vehicles on display is valued at $78 million and is mesmerising not just to enthusiasts, but to anyone with a passing interest in cars.

Vehicles on display include not just a collection of Australian classics, such as a 1972 Torana XU-1, a full complement of Holdens from 1948 to 1978 and a singularly rare Onyx Black Phase III Ford Falcon, but also exotics including a $5 million Ferrari LaFerrari, a Porsche 959, a Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and four generations of Lamborghinis, including a 1969 Miura P400S.

Opening its doors in May 2016, the museum is the realisation of a vision held by entrepreneur Tony Denny, who grew up on Fords and Holdens in North Sydney. He is on the list of Australia's top 200 richest people and directed funds from the sale of 77 per cent of his share in the British used car network AAA Automotive to establish the museum.

Although most of the cars were sourced within Australia, many came from overseas. The collection was gathered over a period of 18 months with the initial purchase, totalling something like 5000 cars, whittled down to the current level. All were treated as investment decisions and many are available for sale at the right price.

One of the initial purchases was the 53-vehicle collection held at the Nash, AMC, Rambler museum in Western Australia. Today, 30 per cent of the value of the entire collection is made up of Ferraris – including not only the LaFerrari, but also F40, F50 and Enzo models.

The Gosford Classic Car Museum is located off the M1 freeway at West Gosford and is open seven days a week. Admission price is $20 for adults, $12 for children and $15 for car club members. Plans are also under way for the establishment of a function space that will enable the hosting of special events.

More information is available at the website: gosfordclassiccarmuseum.com.au