Collections Unveiled – Supercars & Superbikes

Welcome to Collections Unveiled, a new series that Torquecafe is proud to bring you, which will take you behind the garage doors of some of Australia’s most stunning car collections.

To begin, we couldn’t be happier to be unveiling such an incredible private collection as our first feature for Collections Unveiled, which we’re calling ‘Superbikes & Supercars’. Based out of Australia, South-East Queenslanders would be no strangers to spotting the likes of some of these cars at various Cars & Coffee events, track days, and even whilst out and about for some ‘daily duties’.

Thanks to the husband and wife owners of these incredible cars and bikes for being apart of Collections Unveiled. We’ll take a backseat here as they take us on the journey that is their collection.

CARS: McLaren Senna • McLaren 675LT • McLaren 720s • McLaren 570s • Lamborghini Balboni LP550-2 • Ferrari 458 Italia • Porsche 911 Turbo (997) • Porsche 911 Turbo S (991) • Porsche 964RSR

BIKES: Ducati 1299 Superleggera • Ducati 1199 Panigale R • Ducati 1098 R • Ducati 749 R • Ducati Desmosedici RR • Ducati Panigale V4 R • Ducati Hypermotard 950SP • BMW HP4 Race

My wife and I are actually quite excited and rather honoured that we have been thought of for this project. I have always been interested in speed and the mechanics behind the achievement of same. The love of cars came as a result of my love of open-wheel racing cars; they are so specifically and unapologetically made just for the purpose of being the most efficient and practical way of making a human being achieve performance like few other modes of transport.

The love of motorcycles came about as I realised that they also represent a two-wheeled version of what open-wheel race cars achieve, but with the added intrigue of a non-protected rider who dares to extract the performance available on race tracks and roads throughout the world. A large part of their attraction is that they are the same the world over; no left or right-hand drive, just get on and enjoy the ride.

For the cars, I fell in love with the McLaren MP4/1 Formula 1 car when it was first released in 1981. A carbon fibre monocoque? The future had arrived! I watched the 1995 road car – the F1 – arrive as a person with nowhere near the financial wherewithal to buy it on release, but have pined for that car ever since. I test drove a McLaren 12C in 2012 upon their release, but just couldn’t fall in love with it at that time; believe me, I tried.

The only dealership in Australia at that time was in Sydney and the then sales manager (by default, for the country) was also a friend from my Porsche days and he introduced me to the 675LT as the car he believed I needed to have. He wasn’t wrong and there has not been a single drive I’ve ever done in that car where I don’t finish by shaking my head and saying “what a car!” Once experienced, driving a carbon fibre chassis constructed car is just something else.

For the bikes, when younger, I owned a Suzuki GSX 750RR which was one of the superbikes of the day. My wife realised the inevitable and proposed that “It was the bikes or the marriage” – haha. It was hard to take at the time, but accepting that I am probably alive today because of that conversation helps considerably to consolidate my feelings on that one. I always watched the World Superbikes in the early 2000s with Troy Bayliss and Troy Corser and was just mesmerised by the sounds of those race bikes on the European tracks. That continues to this day, talk about addictive. Fast forward to 2015. As a family, we had a few days in Sydney and I kept hearing these magnificent Ducati bike exhaust tunes echoing up through the buildings of the CBD. It felt like the call of the wild. After some conversations about being older (wiser…?), we both agreed to the purchase of the 1199R and the Ducati cast was then set.

A long time ago…  in a galaxy far away…   Yes, as a very young man, at what was financially probably the worst time of my life, I competed for three years in Formula Ford.

At one round of the Australian championship, I was the youngest driver in the field by three years, driving the oldest car in the field by six years. Needless to say, with little experience and even less money, success was truly just a dream. However, the seeds were planted for later in life and I was determined that if, when older, I ended up with a little coin available, I would assist a young driver to move into and through open wheel motorsport to maybe achieve more than they could if in the same situation I was when I was younger.

That came to be, starting in 2013 and ended only just last year, with involvements in Formula Ford, Formula 4 and Formula 3 at Australian Championship level. The assistance from my wife and I ended up including eight drivers over those seven years, with lots of enjoyment and success along the way. Perhaps another of our life’s goals has been achieved in that regard.

We didn’t start out to ‘collect’ – merely to drive as much as we possibly could. But as we would complete all of the changes I wanted to make to each vehicle (there are many!), it would then become an integral part of the family and moving it on was then just not in the plan.

So, the numbers have been building and before you know it, hey, we now have a collection! We still don’t consider ourselves collectors; more enthusiasts. Perhaps, collectors would not have driven the McLarens that we currently have well over 40,000 km in just over three years.

The feelings are many. To name a few, pride (of ownership), enjoyment (of performance and appearance), and the many friendships from all over the world that we have developed through meeting of so many people from and during the events and drives we complete. We know that there are many more meetings and friendships yet to come and we await those as much as the drives and events also yet to happen.

The reactions? We can never say we’ve seen it all, but the vast majority of reactions are extremely positive. People actually thank us for letting them see the cars. We reply with a genuine “It’s our pleasure!” We know that most of these cars and motorcycles are regarded as exotica, and we take our role in getting their existence known to many with a degree of pride. As always, there still remains those few who think that somehow a negative gesticulation or call-out will somehow make their own day better, but thankfully, that approach is actually quite rare.

Apparently, you are not supposed to have favourite children, but it’s hard to go past the Senna, purely on the performance and the shock value that the car has on those that see it. It really is a two-seat open wheel race car with some carbon body panels over the wheels for extra aero performance.

In regard the bikes, perhaps it remains with the first motorcycle that I purchased in this ‘modern’ era of bike ownership – the Panigale 1199R. Beautiful to look at, “little” in its feel when on it and yet possesses outrageous performance and an appetite for everything that shouldn’t be done on the road!

From a ‘history’ perspective, perhaps the stand out is the 964 RSR, which was commissioned by Alan Hamilton for himself, when he was the sole importer under the PCA banner. It was built at their Melbourne workshops.

A friend told me that when he was a cadet with them in the very early 1990s, for about six months, it was roped off in the middle of the workshop floor with various techs working seemingly endlessly on it.

That we now own that car is ironic, as I first met Alan at lakeside in 1982 when he was fielding Alan Jones in the Australian Sports Car Championship using the mighty Porsche 935. I have very fond memories of that day and have long remembered the time he gave to me as someone he knew nothing of. I absolutely do think of him whenever I get into that little car.

I must admit however, I wasn’t thinking of him when I rolled it at Morgan Park in 2012, but that’s another story.

At a guess, I’d say my earliest automotive memory would be Elvis Presley in the movie Speedway. My sister (when I was way young) was besotted by him and as a family, every time a movie with Elvis was on, we all had to watch it. I’m quite sure it would be corny to watch now, but as a youngster, it had the desired effect.

Perhaps my earliest recollection of an open wheel car was the Yardley-sponsored McLaren M19 Formula 1 car. We all had matchbox cars as kids, but I had that car (in the slightly larger size they also made) and I think that I may have pushed that little model car around for almost as many kilometres as the real one did in a season.

A friend recently found that model and purchased it after I told him the same story some time earlier.  It of course now sits proudly with its much larger amalgam brothers on one of the display shelves in the McLaren garage. I even got to see the real thing when we visited the McLaren Technology centre in 2019. Now that was an experience.

Trust me, we don’t have the time for all of my old stories and I’m sure that the people interested enough to have a look at this probably don’t either. Needless to say, my wife says that I can talk under wet cement, but when we are with others who share the car and bike interests that we do, when in relaxed environment, the conversations can go on for quite a while. One of the better ways to start a great exchange of thoughts and ideas is to say “that car/bike, when standard, was a great starting point, however now … “

COLLECTIONS UNVEILED: We’ll have to remember that for our next encounter then…

To the both of you, thank you again for so kindly allowing us into your collection and giving us an incredible insight into the cars, the bikes, the passion and the history behind it.

It has been an honour.

You can stay atop of the adventures some of this collection goes on by following @hypercar.girl on Instagram.