Tony Denny is a man who has kept alive a “raging love affair” with a classic V8 despite admitting the car needs careful handling.
Australian property tycoon Tony Denny is passionate about the sound of a V8 purr. He made
his fortune in Eastern Europe, after he established – and later sold – one of the largest automotive dealership networks in the world. Denny, who now lives on a 30-acre estate on Sydney’s Central Coast, has invested his fortune in regional property and is the founder and managing director of Central Real Capital.
He also established a car museum.
Both the dealership and the museum are no longer around, but Denny has kept his “raging love affair” with cars alive.
Not the typical ones, like crimson Ferraris or sleek silver McLarens – but he has those too.
Denny’s favourite beast is a 1977 brown Triumph Stag. “My wife hates [the colour], but she loves it otherwise,” he says.
Denny searched for three years – from 2009 to 2012 – to source the world’s best Stag. He believes he found it. “I located one in the UK. I was based in Prague – and sent one of my main car buyers over,” he says.
“He said it was the best one ever. So, I brought it over to Prague, looked at it, drove it around and it was just gorgeous. Eight thousand miles, full history, as new. It was just beautiful.”
Denny bought the Stag for about 40,000 pounds. He admits it was a lot of cash back in those days, but it’s proved itself a worthy investment – although he’d never dream of selling it.
“I’ve had offers of over $150,000 for it. I’ve rejected them, though. I love it too much.”
Denny says the Stag brings back memories of his youth, but it’s special for another reason – a rather “ridiculous coincidence,” he says.
It was manufactured on the same day his wife was born.
He takes his Stag for a spin every two months; not too often, because these cars are renowned for being unreliable, he admits.
“I’m monitoring it like you would a patient in intensive care. But it drives beautifully. Every second I drive, it’s just a magical feeling. It just makes me feel happy. The sound of the V8 is great, I get a bit of a whiff of the fumes. Oh, my God! It’s intoxicatingly great.”