The amazing race Ducati collection of Tony O'Neill

[spqr81]

Ma che minchia di lavoro f? uno cos?'?

io infatti non riesco a capacitarmene....sinceramente sono un p? incredulo.....:
ma davero esiste st? gente????

PS:certo chi avr? ordinato una RR....adesso si sentir? uno straccione.....a confronto con questo tizio

[duke848]

WELCOME INSIDE BRITAIN’S SECRET £3m MUSEUM (1/4)


Nothing prepares you for what lies behind the doors of multi-millionaire Tony O'Neill’s garage. He reckons he has a “decent” collection of old Ducati World Superbikes in his garage.

Writes Michael Guy from Motorcycle News.
Photos by Peter Fox & Ducati.com archive.

But the Kent-based 55-year-old is the proud owner of arguably the greatest collection of V-twin race bikes outside Ducati’s own museum in Bologna. And MCN was granted exclusive access to this race fan’s dream garage. Your eyes can’t move around the room fast enough to take it all in. Instantly recognisable race bikes line the walls, famous fairings are hung up, lids and leathers are piled on the floor and half a dozen Ducati Corse crates are stored in the corner.

His collection is worth around £3m, and it boasts 12 factory Ducatis which all form a significant part of WSB history. Giancarlo Falappa’s beautiful 1991 Ducati 888 is the oldest in a collection that also includes Foggy’s 1999 championship-winning bike, Troy Bayliss’s No. 1 machine from 2002, plus race-winning 998s ridden by Bostrom, Xaus and Toseland.

And if that’s not enough, the arrival of Hodgson’s 2003 title-winning Fila Ducati 999 now takes centre stage in this museum of exotica. And they aren’t just museum pieces. They are ready to race, fully serviced and in the exact spec that they finished their respective seasons. O'Neill doesn’t just look at them, either – he can’t wait to get his first ride on Hodgson’s 999 on a track day later in the year. It’s the ultimate collection for the ultimate WSB fan, and he can’t think of anything better on which to spend his considerable fortune.

O'Neill, who made his money in a metal fabrication firm, said: “I learned to weld and fabricate pretty well and within six years I was employing 80 people to make TV stands. We started off in a room the size of a double garage and in the end we were producing 3500 TV stands every day for the likes of Sony, Mitsubishi and Panasonic. I worked 6 am to 10 pm, seven days a week, for almost 12 years.” And that laid the financial foundations on which he was able to acquire his enormous house with 25 acres of land and a private river.

In 1990 he sold his business and started handling special projects for the Arrows Formula One team. These included buying and selling the previous year’s cars, specialist engineering projects and looking after sponsors at the races. And he still owns F1 cars – but his real passion was bikes.

After years in the car industry his interest in bikes was rekindled in 2001 when his son came home on an old Kawasaki one day. After a quick blast up the road he remembered what he was missing and went and bought a ZX-6R. “A few months later I went to the BSB test at Silverstone and a friend of mine introduced me to then World Supersport racer Jamie Whitham. I couldn’t believe how relaxed and friendly he was. It was so different compared to Formula One.”

Sadly, most of us will never get the chance to see Kent’s secret Ducati museum, because O'Neill has no intention of opening it up to the public. He said: “I let people in to see some F1 cars a few years ago, and I saw one woman put her kids on the top to take a photograph. That was it. I can’t trust crowds of people close to these bikes!”

[Paolino81]

mamma mia!!!!!!

[Killer Gianpy]

God bless the O'Neill Family !!!!

Purtroppo, negli ultimi anni Tony O'Neill ha un pochino "dimenticato" il mondo delle 2 ruote, e si sta dedicando alla sua nuova passione per gli aerei militari...

Sta facendo costruire un nuovo capannone/angar per conservare i sui caccia, e suo fratello Nicky mi aveva scritto che stavano aspettando con ansia la consegna di un F-16 ex USAF...

Il grande legame che Tony aveva con Ducati era soprattutto dovuto alla sua amicizia con Paolo Ciabatti, che temo abbia un pochino perso i contatti con lui da quando ha lasciato Ducati Corse...

Non conosco lo stato di conservazione delle Desmo16, ma Vi assicuro che tutte le SBK sono perfettamente funzionanti, e girano ogni anno a Goodwood, il Festival dedicato alle auto/moto da corsa del passato.

Speriamo che Ducati lo inviti al WDW2010 a Misano, così potremo rivedere qualche SBK da sogno in pista...

[giuseppe_d]

God bless the O'Neill Family !!!!

Purtroppo, negli ultimi anni Tony O'Neill ha un pochino "dimenticato" il mondo delle 2 ruote, e si sta dedicando alla sua nuova passione per gli aerei militari...

Sta facendo costruire un nuovo capannone/angar per conservare i sui caccia, e suo fratello Nicky mi aveva scritto che stavano aspettando con ansia la consegna di un F-16 ex USAF...

Il grande legame che Tony aveva con Ducati era soprattutto dovuto alla sua amicizia con Paolo Ciabatti, che temo abbia un pochino perso i contatti con lui da quando ha lasciato Ducati Corse...

Non conosco lo stato di conservazione delle Desmo16, ma Vi assicuro che tutte le SBK sono perfettamente funzionanti, e girano ogni anno a Goodwood, il Festival dedicato alle auto/moto da corsa del passato.

Speriamo che Ducati lo inviti al WDW2010 a Misano, cos? potremo rivedere qualche SBK da sogno in pista...

ripeto

ma che minchia di lavoro fa?

[TheKing]

Se non vado errato il "saldatore"

[Burtuluf]

che spreco tanta roba cosi dentro un museo....dovrebbe darle in prestito a chi le vuole provare....

[armaduke]

ve lo dico sottovoce........E' IL GARAGE SEGRETO DI GIUSEPPE_D............in quello non segreto ci sono:
multistrada 1200,
multistrada 1100,
multistrada 1000,
multistrada 620

giuse', gli inglesi t'hanno beccato

[giuseppe_d]

ve lo dico sottovoce........E' IL GARAGE SEGRETO DI GIUSEPPE_D............

avercelo un garage cos?...

in quello non segreto ci sono:
multistrada 1200,
multistrada 1100,
multistrada 1000,
multistrada 620

giuse', gli inglesi t'hanno beccato

MAVAFFANGULO VA'!!!!

[TheKing]

ripeto

ma che minchia di lavoro fa?

Non mi sbagliavo: possiede un'undistria metallurgica che produce supporti (quindi penso telai) tv per gruppi quali Sony, Panasonic and so on...
Ah, possiede anche qualche F1!