"Paul Newman was a Hollywood actor. But he was also racing driver. Many of you will have known that. But it might be a shock to discover that, from the time he first piloted a racing car in his mid "
Wilzig Racing Manor
check out the privately owned petrolhead utopia in upstate New York.
OK. So you sell your financial business for a little under a billion dollars.
You’re a bit of a petrolhead. What do you do? You build a race track in your back yard, of course.
John Wilzig is such a man. A lifelong racer and lover of motorsport of all kinds – and latterly a collector of rare motorcycles and racing cars, Mr Wilzig had the vision and the tenacity to realise a dream many of us would share. He’s what we like to call on this side of the pond a bit of a lad. And what a lad!
Reports vary on costs – from £4-8 Million dollars for the track in upstate New York, a place known for its wild variation in temperature across the year. This means very expensive tarmac treatments to prevent the surface from breaking apart.
It took years also, apparently, to gain the requisite planning permissions to build what is the biggest and highest-spec, privately-owned race track in America.
There are various bits of film out there on the web to check out Wilzig’s backstory – but what caught our eye most were ACL’s pictures of his collection of motorcycles. Here’s a brutal, hefty yet refined looking Hesketh – but Mr Wilzig has a penchant for the Bimota brand – and there are some amazing Cagivas and Triumphs in this noble collection.
Watch this space for more down the line.
We tip our hat to ACL for the heads up!
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