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Journal: Do You Collect Cars?

Do You Collect Cars?

By Yoav Gilad
June 26, 2014
17 comments

Photography by Josh Clason for Petrolicious

The car I’m piloting slides through thick burnt umber fields, tires screaming, begging for mercy, as wailing sirens get closer. I punch the accelerator, the car lunging forward at impossible speeds as the parade of police cars begins to recede. Approaching rapidly is an open draw bridge with a lumbering, slow ferry beneath. Suddenly, the soft, distant tinkling of bells shatters my concentration. “Ice cream!“

I spring up to my feet as if fired from a howitzer, clutching my chosen getaway car, a silver De Tomaso Pantera with a massive black spoiler, and scramble to find one of my parents. The orange shag carpet provides the traction to achieve maximum ice-cream-freak-out speed and in a moment I’m in the kitchen sliding into the table, “Ice cream truck! It’s like a million degrees! I need money!”

I don’t remember what happened next. It could have been any sticky, humid summer day in subrurban Washington DC, but the little car in my little hand was a constant. The hours spent pushing Hot Wheels, Matchboxes, and sometimes a rare Corgi or Tomy delivered by parents friends’ who had traveled abroad and knew of my addiction, around on the carpet were innumerable. So too, the time spent with my lips vibrating in constantly increasing frequencies, simulating the frenzied acceleration of my imagined freedom. I don’t where the hell I was going, but I sure wasn’t staying there.

Funny, but my love for these little escape vehicles never withered. Perhaps I’m still a child. Do you still collect toy or model cars? If so which ones?

Tags Collecting/ Corgi/ Hot Wheels/ Matchboxes/ Model Cars/ Questions/ Tomy/ Toy Cars
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Luis Chaparro
Luis Chaparro
5 years ago

Hello guys, this is awesome.
I’m a Porsche enthusiast, a year ago I was thinking of creating the ultimate collectible piece for Porsche lovers and I come up with this idea: https://kck.st/2EhRWCV I decided to build a CNC Fuchs replica wheel for my self and now I’m sharing the project with the community. The project was posted on Kickstarter a few weeks ago to see the response from the community. You guys are free to check it out, thanks.

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Leon Prinsloo
Leon Prinsloo
6 years ago

Oh yes, most definitely. People still buy them for me, one of my best friends and his wife bought one for me for my 41st birthday. You just don’t see me on the floor with them anymore as I now race them on my computer with a gaming steering wheel 😉

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Jorge Rueda
Jorge Rueda
6 years ago

Mainly 1/64’s here

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BJ Barker
BJ Barker
9 years ago

Current college student here, unable to keep a car in the city. I pick up Hot Wheels cars whenever I’m especially missing driving or working on cars. I have a nice little concourse on my shelf, it’ll do for now.

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Fritz
Fritz
9 years ago

I was waiting for such a topic to come up 🙂

I’m collecting toy- and model cars since childhood, where it started typically with Siku, Matchbox, HotWheels and Majorette cars.

Nowadays I collect mostly 1/18 miniatures of Italian, French and British cars of the 70s and 80s from various die-cast and resin manufacturers like Norev, Kyosho, Autoart, Ottomodels or Laudoracing. But as Fiat/Alfa/Lancia enthusiast I have some 1/24 cars as this has always been a quite popular scale for Italian cars. In the past it was BBurago, Mebetoys and Polistil that made a lot nowadays Welly, Motorama and Italian kiosk collection models (e.g. 100 years of Alfa Romeo)

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Christopher Dyer
Christopher Dyer
9 years ago

Yes! I collect mainly 1/64 scale, so Hot Wheels, Matchbox, or whatever else I can find. I have several Tomica, Kyosho, and so on. That collection exceeds 400 cars. I also maintain a small collection of 1/43 scale cars as well, these are usually higher end. My desk at work is decorated with die-cast cars.

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MattC
MattC
9 years ago

I remember having a well kept Hot Wheels / Matchbox collection when I was a child. The cars would be wrapped in individual tissue paper and placed in a big cardboard box (yes my OCD tendencies started early). My best friend lived 2 houses away and his backyard had the perfect bowl shaped for the massive lengths of Hot.Wheels orange track.Good times indeed.

Now in my 40’s, I will pick up a Hot Wheels /Matchbox when I am in the checkout line, if the car is interesting. I am not giving the source proper credit. But I remember seeing an article about how an auto journalist will do that at a grocery store every time he needs to take out money. Seems like a good idea.

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Kaan Burak
Kaan Burak
9 years ago

Yeap,I have been collect of 1:18 scale high end models.Most of cars classis era and also I have my personally review site,
Here is miniaturezed petrolicious site 🙂
http://www.dramaticdisplay.com

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Robert
Robert
9 years ago

A few years ago I was between gigs and living on a very tight budget. One day I was a little bit blue and wandered into a drug store looking for a pick me up. Looking back, I think I just wanted to buy something. None of the candy bars caught my eye so came home with a Hot Wheels car. A buck and some change—mission accomplished. I have been buying them ever since.

I have a handful I that I treasure, but I also enjoy giving them away.
Every kid that visits (nephews/friends/etc.) gets an unopened car.

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Alan
Alan
9 years ago

I enjoy my fairly complete collection of 60’s and early 70’s Matchbox cars, most with original boxes. Sometimes the box is worth more than the car since most boxes got tossed within a day or two of the new toy purchase. I have most of them on display in our “TV” room and love to share them with guests of my same vintage.

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Steve Goudy
Steve Goudy
9 years ago

Just out of college I saw a white 1937 Talbot Lago, one of the most beautiful cars ever made. This one however, was a Hot Wheel. “Why didn’t they make Hot Wheels like this when I was a kid” I asked myself. That started it. I couldn’t afford to collect real cars, but when I would see a Hot Wheel, Matchbox or Johnny Lightning that I liked I’d buy it. Later family and friends would try to get them as gifts for me. I never kept duplicates or fake cars, only cars that really existed in full size. I now have over 400. It’s time to git rid of them, they take up too much space.

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Yoav Gilad
Author
Yoav Gilad
9 years ago
Reply to  Steve Goudy

I have a HW Talbot Lago, just like the one you’re talking about! Very cool, indeed!

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Jonny Law
Jonny Law
5 years ago
Reply to  Steve Goudy

Mine was a ’71 Cuda. Couldn’t afford the real, but could get the 1/64 scale for cash.

I Agree with you Steve, “never kept duplicates or fake cars, only cars that really existed in full size”. Hope you kept them. I found that a CD bookshelf works the best.

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TJ Martin
TJ Martin
9 years ago

I did up until recently . FYI ; late 50’s . I started as a child building and collecting . 1/24 .. 1/20 … 1/12 ( a few Tamiya F1 cars) .. as well as the occasional M/C .Then as an adult mostly 1/18 by CNC , Minichamps and AutoArt and a few select 1/43 . Mostly cars … and a 1/12 Vincent and a Brough M/C as well . But between the inevitable accidents every time we move [ which has been often lately ] the diminishing availability and rapidly rising prices of the quality models due to manufacturing problems in China lately [ the NYTimes did an excellent article on the subject last month ] and the fact that they take up so much room [ 1/18 ] as well as being a bit of a pain to keep dusted and clean I’ve decided … Basta ! Enough ! No more for me . Sadly . Life moves on and either you go with it or get run over by it 😉

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Matija Dagovic
Matija Dagovic
9 years ago

First of all lemme say hello Petrolicious, it’s been a wonderful journey so far. I’ve read each and every article, watched every video, virtually soaked each piece of information you’ve gracefully shared with us. So, this is a big “thank you” for the car website that suits my taste the most.
Second of all, hope you don’t mind a tiny bit of criticism. Cut to the chase: your proofreading simply isn’t up to the quality standards of everything else you offer. I’ll be more than happy to be involved in the process, if an opportunity arises. Also, being a car geek from Eastern Europe might be of interest to you in terms of writing…
To answer your daily question for the first time: yes, I do collect cars. I prefer the 1:18 scale and my modest collection consists of various, mostly vintage cars, meticulously crafted by AutoArt, Minichamps, Norev and so on. Here is one of my most beloved cars in the collection, a gift from my wife – the beautiful 1967 Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV in Giallo Ocra made by AutoArt. Are you paying attention, Afshin? 😉
Anyway, keep the most excellent work, guys!

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Benjamin Shahrabani
Benjamin Shahrabani
9 years ago

I have a few, mostly 1/12 scale Porsche models, but a few smaller ones too. The best ones from CNC or Autoart are getting expensive though!

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Pete Foglia
Pete Foglia
9 years ago

Yes, I’m now in my 60’s (never thought I’d make it this far!) and have a pretty good size collection, starting back in the early 70’s with a 1:43 BMW I bought when I got my first 2002. I stuck with the 1:43rd’s for a long time and then moved to the 1:18 scale for more detail. I’ve gone a bit nuts franky, buying models of my “wish I had cars”, and those I did own. Now I need to be a bit more discreet with my retirement spending. But it’s been fun. Thankfully my son is interested in taking them over when I’m gone!

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