A morning with Ian Hopkins and his collection
By Phil Hall
One of the many things to which I was looking forward on our big trip was going to Cairns. We have been there before and, while many people reckon that it’s over-commercialised, I rather like it. But my main reason for looking forward to Cairns was not the beach, the tourist attractions or the myriad of coffee shops and eateries. No, it was to renew acquaintance with a man who has become quite a good friend over the last few years.
Ian Hopkins, or “Hoppy”, as he is known to his multitude of friends, is a fixture at all of the classic and historic bike race meetings that take place on the Eastern Seaboard of Australia. He’s everyone’s friend and is spoken of in respectful terms by everyone in the sport. As I was to find out, he is a man of many talents and his exploits and interests range much further afield than the sport of motorcycle racing.
Arranging a time and a place to meet was easy and it was a short distance from our caravan park to the Moto Australia headquarters. Contained within a building that was once the Peters Ice Cream factory, Ian’s museum is a treasure trove of not only bikes but accessories and memorabilia spanning his lifelong passion for things mechanical. As the enclosed photos will show, a couple of hours was nowhere near long enough to take in everything that was on display.
While Ian rents out most of the building to other businesses, the museum, housed in what was the cold store of the ice cream factory, is buried deep in the building and is pretty much everything, including cyclone, proof. Being in Cairns it certainly needs to be. A short walk up the ramp, past the mermaid statue at the door and a veritable Aladdin’s cave appears.
Ian has had a wide and varied career over many years. He has worked in engineering, drafting and design, yachting and boat building and motorcycling pursuits of many kinds. Ask him what parts of his career were the most rewarding and he will almost certainly say his cooperation with the legendary Phil Irving on the Repco Brabham Formula One cars, built and driven by the late Sir Jack Brabham, still the only man to have won a World Championship in a car of his own design and construction. In the corner of Ian’s office is the actual drafting board that he used 50 years ago while working in the office with Irving.
You don’t have to be in the museum very long to figure out three things.
1. Ian’s tastes are strongly Italian. Ducatis, MV Agusta, old and new, Moto Guzzis and Bimota are all represented and every one of them has a story. For this is not a static collection of bikes and bits that are simply to be admired. A brand new Moto Guzzi that has ZERO miles on the clock vies for attention with an MV that shares its claim to fame.
A Magni Guzzi with a parallelogram swing arm (remember Kawasakis’s FUBAR of the 1970s?) is likewise brand new, unridden and just as it rolled out of the factory.
The last remaining Cagiva Dakar bike is there too, along with a genuine and original Ducati engine from the very first model when the motor, complete with its fuel tank, used to be clipped to a bicycle frame to provide Italians, still suffering from the ravages of WWII, a means of getting around.
There is a lovely Imola Replica 750 and a superb green framed Ducati as well. Italian bike fiends would go nuts. Oh, and a GENUINE, (not replica), TT2 Ducati as well as many others from the country of motorcycling passion.
2. His collection includes hundreds of items that have all been personally autographed by the people with whom we associate them. Bikes, hats, books, posters, models, cars and personal items all bear famous signatures from a wide and eclectic collection of characters from all over the world. Many of these items, especially the ephemera, are irreplaceable, bearing not just one but many signatures of names that are all household to us as enthusiasts today. And it is also clear that Ian is no brand name snob. A wonderful replica of Jay Springsteen’s 750 AMA flat track bike sits alongside a 1960’s BSA racing bike and a newly completed TD2 Yamaha race bike.
3. Ian’s passion spans the four wheel globe as well. Unsurprisingly, given his involvement in formula one, Ian is also passionately interested in cars and the museum includes two speedcars, both out of the USA, one powered by a V8 Ford engine and the other by the legendary Offenhauser 4 cylinder engine. Hanging on the wall nearby is a nomex racing suit that belongs with the two cars. While he was cleaning up some time ago, Ian came across a small cardboard box that he recalled had come in the crate then the two cars were delivered from the USA. Thinking the box was empty and had just been put in to make up packing space, he was just about to throw it out when he noticed that it was sealed up with sticky tape. The box was light and Ian was sure that it was empty but he opened it just in case and the racing suit was in there. It nearly didn’t make it to the collection.
And that’s just the cars and bikes. Numerous pairs of leathers, all worn at some stage by racing luminaries, hang around the walls and adorn the cabinets. Dozens of helmets, many of them autographed, are likewise on display. Dozens of models of cars and bikes are in the various display cases and, as with the bikes and cars, every one of them has a story, a story that Ian is more than happy to tell you.
Sadly the museum, as a private collection, is not open to the public and I count it a rare privilege to have been allowed to explore it.
Sadly, also, the collection is being broken up and the whole box and dice is for sale. Ian’s family do not share his passion for things mechanical and, while he could pass it on to them, he knows that they would not be willing or able to maintain it so he has been gradually selling it off bit by bit. Ian understands that it is a singular (or perhaps shared), passion between he and his wife, and that it is entirely reasonable that his family do not want to carry it on. So, if you are interested, contact Hoppy at Moto Australia and he just may have a deal for you.
Speaking to Ian at race meetings it is clear that his passion for motorcycles and motorcycle racing runs very deep indeed, but that is a very one-dimensional view of a man whose interests and involvement is far-reaching indeed. Ian is politically active, being a confidant of many senior politicians and his views, especially on subjects that concern his beloved Cairns, are actively sought by other important people in the community.
He is a poet with a quirky and down-to-earth take on the world around him and people in general. He is an avid reader, not just within the narrow confines of motorcycling but in many broader areas as well.
But most of all, Ian is a gentleman, in the truest sense of the word. And I think that is the main reason why his circle of friends encompasses the great names that it does and why, when he speaks, people listen and take note. Unfortunately, Hoppy could only spare us two hours before important family matters demanded his attention but it is a morning that I will cherish for a long time. Like a kid let loose in the toy shop, I could have spent many happy hours at the Moto Australia headquarters and I am very grateful that he spared this traveller the time that he did.
