Zero to 60 and Beyond

by Tony Quinn and Robert Tighe

“When it comes to motorsport I’m a promoter, competitor, circuit owner, team owner, winner, loser, sponsor and an arm chair critic.”

This is not an excerpt from the book but it is a succinct summary of and by the man at the center of this book.

Zero to 60 and Beyond is a biography of a Scottish Australian New Zealander who few people outside those countries will have heard of. But that doesn’t matter. It’s an engrossing story of an indefatigable individual who worked his way to success in business and motorsport.

Tony Quinn is a Scottish-born entrepreneur who made his fortune in Australia, then fell in love with motorsport and New Zealand, where he now lives. He owns four race tracks, several racing series, a collection of desirable cars, and was a serious race and rally driver. Zero to 60 and Beyond is his story.

This is the biography of a man who started with little but made the most of his abilities and propensity for hard work to create a multi-million dollar business. Working with his subject, author Robert Tighe has written an enthralling story in Quinn’s own words. It starts with Quinn’s childhood in Scotland, where his family lived in a caravan that his father built, then extended as the family grew. There is always a risk that readers will find the childhood years of a biography boring, but surely not in this case. It is fascinating and sometimes hilarious reading.

The book takes us through Quinn’s early years in Scotland, working with his father, his resourcefulness in finding ways to make extra money for himself, then the creation of his own business using waste from his father’s pet food plant.

The story covers Quinn’s move to Perth, Australia and a series of business setbacks. Following a move to New Zealand, he built successful businesses before moving to Queensland, where he established VIP Pet Foods, which grew, then delivered him his fortune when he sold it in 2015.

Quinn’s story then moves on to motorsport and his creation of Highlands Motorsport Park close to Queenstown in New Zealand. He describes how he set himself a budget to build the facility. No one thought that he could complete the build for the amount he allocated, but with his very hands-on approach and the use of local contractors, a world-class facility was created in record time. Other tracks followed, with his purchase of Hampton Downs circuit near Auckland in New Zealand, Queensland Raceway in Australia and Taupo International Motorsport Park, also in New Zealand.

Away from his business ventures, Quinn describes how he enjoyed racing and rallying success in both New Zealand and Australia.

The initial version of this book was released in 2016; in 2025, the authors added ten chapters to bring the book up to the present time. These additional chapters cover major events in Quinn’s life. Some vulnerabilities are exposed. He reflects on the break-up of his decades-long marriage, the death of his daughter from cancer, and his 2022 Porsche Carrera Cup crash that left him fighting for life.

When questioned whether it was difficult to write about these things, Quinn replied:

“No, I didn’t think it was tough. It was probably cathartic in a way because you’ve come through all that stuff, you’ve survived, and it’s good to reflect on something that happens to a lot of people. And I mean, the biggest thing for the accident, for me, was the mental side of things—the mental pain of getting through the journey, you know, being a totally different life situation that you had to deal with. The mental strength that was required was far more than I would have ever thought. Before the accident, I would never have given it much thought, but it was far more impactful than I ever thought. I would have told myself to toughen up, but having lived it, I know now how bloody hard it is.”

I found this book enthralling. I read it in a matter of days. It’s the sort of book that has you continually wanting to read the next chapter to discover what happens next. It reveals Quinn’s single-mindedness, business acumen and unrelenting commitment to hard work.