From Lucio Cippiciani, Burnaby BC:
Tony Whitney, what can I say....there are NOT a lot of people around like him. I met Tony back in the late 80's as a fan of Drivers Seat I recognized him right away. We bumped into each other of all places at Wilkinson's Automobilia, he was a regular customer and a big fan of model cars! We hit it off right away and had lunch many times, we shared so many interests but the biggest of course was the automobile industry and cars!
He helped me immensely with my business early on, not only offering advice but helping promote many of the products I was selling at the time. As many who knew Tony you also knew he had a passion for Italian cars. Tony was involved in the local Italian Car club, a regular with the family every Fathers Day in North Vancouver. That was one place you could count on him attending, EVERY YEAR.
It's amazing how often our paths crossed over the years, he introduced me to Bruce Coney from the West End times many years back where I often worked along side Tony on their various Apple Macintosh computers. Tony early on was enamoured by the small original Apple Mac Classic B & W computers, often clicking away on that tiny 7" screen for hours. Another passion both he and Spencer, his youngest son had that we all shared.
He was such a special person, we had so many of the same interests; cars, photography, cigars, fine watches, bicycles and so much more! Tony was multi talented and great at most everything he did, there were NOT many people like him! From renovations and updates at home to building a bicycle, there wasn't much he couldn't do!
To this day I still own a couple of his custom built road bikes, they are regularly ridden and a great memory of him and what he could do! Unfortunately in recent years I had not seen him since his move from Richmond to the Vancouver Island area but we spoke from time to time....of course being the gentleman he always was - always offering me a place to stay if I went to visit. I still, to this day, have his autographed photo of both him and Ted Laturnus hanging in my office.
Tony I thank you for all your help and friendship over the years, I will truly miss you! Condolences to the family and many of his close friends and relatives....I am honoured to have known him!
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