Tucked away in a secluded corner of rural Cheshire, in the UK, an area best known for containing the residences of football stars, is an eclectic collection of machinery that is sure to set a petrolhead’s heart thumping. The collection’s owner, Tony, has slowly built it up over the past three decades with one simple philosophy: buying vehicles he really likes, and using them as often as possible.
As he explained to The Late Brake Show’s Jonny Smith, Tony got into cars at a very early age thanks to his father who was a garage owner and stock car racer, and he had a very hands-on childhood working with his father on his various cars. This early start led to him forming the collection he has today, spread out over three buildings on his property.
As Tony relates, the collection seriously started with his 1988 Porsche 911 Carrera, his first “really nice car”, which he bought brand new and simply held on to for 35 years. The black Porsche is still in great shape, with just over 69,000 miles on the clock, and still used regularly. His next purchase was about as different as was possible to get from the sporty 911: a 1944 Willys Jeep.
If there is a common theme to this collection, it is probably that each vehicle is quite different from the other, and each provides a unique driving experience that doesn’t overlap with anything else in the collection. Tony is the first to admit that his collection is certainly an eclectic one, with a Ferguson tractor sharing space with a Datsun 240Z “Super Samuri”, and a 1969 Ford Mustang convertible (apparently built for Henry Ford II himself as a European vacation car) a couple of spaces away from 1920s Land Speed Record holder Sir Malcolm Cambell’s 1926 Rolls Royce 20HP Tourer (which Tony says was an “impulse purchase” at Goodwood and had 40,000 pounds worth of work done to it by the previous owner).
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One real rarity is an MG X Power SV, a front engined “racecar for the road” built from 2003-2005 during the dying days of MG Rover. Made mostly of carbon fiber, with a (supercharged in this case) Ford 4.6-liter V8 underhood, it had a complex production process that involved the car traveling thousands of miles around Europe during production, and is considered a “great motoring disaster” by some people, but Tony loves it and says it is a fantastic drive.
Even rarer than the MG is the 2012 Ginetta G60, one of just 50 units made. Tony’s car is one of the very first off the production line and was even driven every day by his partner, Vicky for over two years. With 360 HP pushing a carbon fiber body weighing barely 1000 kg, and no electronic driving aids of any kind, it must have been quite an experience on the daily drive!
Those are just a few of the cars featured in this wonderful collection, and Tony fully intends to keep adding vehicles and enjoying them for as long as he possibly can, with a fully equipped workshop and an in house mechanic ensuring that they all stay in fine fettle. For a closer, more in-depth look at the collection and the cars within it, we highly recommend that you check out the full video on The Late Brake Show.