Collecting Model Cars

When I was a child, I remember vividly watching the motor racing on my parents old black and white television.  Obviously I had obsolutely no idea of the colour of the cars racing, but then again, I did, in my minds eye I could see them all, they were the brightest red.  I would watch the great drivers of that day such as Graham Hill, Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart and my little boy heart would leap when Ferrari came in first.

I knew from a very early age that when I gew up I too wanted to become a racing driver, I would meet all these famous and most wonderful drivers, they were my idols.  One day too I would race with them.

As soon as the racing finished on television I would prepare for my own race, I would immediately rush to the cupboard where my toy box was kept and take out my model racing cars.  These cars I absolutely treasured, despite their sometimes rather poor state.  They came in all sizes, all colours and were made of tinplate, diecast and even in plastic.  However, whatever their size or colour to me they were all Red Ferraris and they would all compete against each other in 'my' race.  Often the race would go off-road, over my bed, over my pillow and back down again.  I would later go to bed and read my car books and magazines and then during the night I would dream about racing a Ferrari.

When I became a teenage and I bought my first 'real' car, my parents assumed that I was now too old to keep my old toy model cars and so they were given away, but unbeknown to anyone, I had secretly kept a few.  I hide them away not in shame I don't think, but I wondered what people would think of me keeping some very old and very battered cars from my early childhood which, I admit now, I sometimes took out of hiding at night and still raced.

When I grew much older I no longer cared what anyone thought of me and my love of model cars and so I took them out of hiding and stood them in pride of place on a shelf for everyone to see.  I was amazed how my old car models got people talking and it's funny how so many men of my age had lives than ran parallel to mine, they too loved their model cars from their youth and they too dreamt of racing a Ferrari.  It was then that I decided I wanted some of the model cars back that I had lost.  My search had begun............

We all remember the great racing drivers of our youth and the great cars they drove, I think like me, it leads to collecting in later life.  Today there are some great Ferrari models to be found, some of the best I have found recently are the Ixo La Storia Ferrari Formula 1 collection as it covers past and present drivers.  I would have adored these models as a child.  The quality and presentation of these models is superb, they are absolutely nothing like the old model cars I grew up with.  There is also some great tinplate models around these days, again not like my childhood tinplate cars, but having said that I still love collecting tinplate cars from the past, never mind if they are a bit battered and played with, mine was, it gives them authenticity somehow.

Collecting model cars from your childhood brings with it a great sense of warmth and the memories just come flooding back.