Images by Joe Tipton
Somewhere along the sunny shores is a collection comprised of 2,400 toy cars in various scales and brands, mostly replicating numerous vintages and models of Mercedes-Benz. A few surprises lurk within, but the majority wear a three-pointed star. The owner built a career in the early days of data collection, storage, and management working for RCA, the main competitor at the time to IBM. We’re talking 1960s, James Bond-style reel-to-reel tape data machines that take up entire rooms.
“It was fun work, a little grueling at times, but it was cutting-edge work, which made it really interesting,” he said. “IBM had their machines with their pros and cons, and RCA had its’ machines with their pros and cons. Each would revolutionize the industry in their own way and pave the road for future technological advances. I was part of that.”
But when some simple time was needed away from high-tech responsibility, he often turned to cars. Real or toy, he loved them all, but has long had a special place in his heart for Mercedes-Benz and Porsche.
“I bought my first Mercedes in 1963, it was a 1959 190SL Roadster in red,” he said. “Since then, I’ve had about 15 various Mercedes-Benzes.”
The 1960s were a formative time for the owner, establishing himself in a solid (dare we say, “state?”) career, beginning to enjoy the niceties of a well-paying job and adulthood. It was during this time that he also began collecting toy cars, specifically those made in Germany, Japan, and England.
“Those countries especially had some really unique toy cars,” he said. “The Japanese and Germans were in really bad shape during the 1950s and faced heavy restrictions as to what they could import into the United States. But their toys were really creative in some instances.”
One Mercedes-Benz model he saw from Japan had a driver in the front seat and a dog in the right rear seat.
“When you opened the driver door, the driver would slide out of the car and the dog would slide across the backseat as if the dog were saying goodbye or looking to get out too,” he said. “There’s some really cool stuff out there. The Japanese specialized in the tin toys, and today, they’re very scarce, so many were just discarded over the years, but I have a few of them.”
An interesting counterpoint to his high-tech career, collecting the simplest of the simple toy cars. An avid traveler, he has purchased cars from all over the world, Argentina, Greece, France, and Italy included.
“A lot of the nicer cars came from Europe, like Germany, England and France, of course this was before the companies manufacturing them began merging and ultimately China has the majority share of die cast making today,” he said. “They have some nice stuff, but there is something really special about vintage toys, they were made mostly by hand, painted by hand, they were a true artform.”
Another artform the owner enjoyed was collecting automotive sales brochures from around the world.
“In 2019, I’ll have been a Club member for 50 years,” he said. “But one of the things I like about Mercedes is their global presence. It was always fun to travel and visit a Mercedes dealership, meet the sales people, the service people, see how they did business. I would always bring back a brochure, so I have a number of brochures in various languages from those locations. These brochures illustrate interestingly how some models vary from country to country.”
He has collected roughly 1,500 Mercedes-Benz sales brochures, plus an additional 200 or so from Porsche, and around 300 from various other manufacturers. Some of the sales literature dates back to the 1920s, while the majority are from the 1950s and 1960s, but what might be more fascinating than the books themselves are the stories attached to them.
“We would go to a dealership in the Middle East or Europe or somewhere, and my wife would be rolling her eyes as the sales guy and I talked about Mercedes,” he said. “It’s like anywhere you go, you’ve got a friend if you’re a car guy.”
He’s got a few, and the stories are even more unique than the various languages in which they are written, such as French, German, and even Hebrew.
“I’m a fan of good magazines, so I’ve also collected every issue of Road & Track, Automobile Quarterly, Car and Driver, and Sports Car Illustrated,” he said. “They’re great resources and nice ways to remember and look back at how things were.”
When he retired from the grind in New York, he and his wife moved and built a custom home, making sure the garage was accommodating and his office would have an astonishing amount of wall shelving.
“I knew I wanted to display my cars and enjoy them,” he said. “But I also needed space for the magazines and the brochures, so I had to build accordingly.”
The office is a very relaxing environment, medium-colored hardwood flooring beneath darker-colored shelving complete with lower drawers. Lighting is studio style, with spots illuminating specific spaces while highlighting around and the shelves have their own fluorescent lights within. Above and below most of the shelving units are storage for magazines, records and CDs, and boxes. A circular table and various chairs allow for relaxed visiting and conversation, but his other passion sits slightly off center, creating a little space within a space where he can unplug entirely.
“I love painting, it’s relaxing,” he said. “I started painting in about 1968, I was in Los Angeles at the time, and I wanted something to take my mind off work and other stresses, so I took up painting.”
Taking pictures at various car shows and concours, he would take the photograph and paint what he saw. He stuck with the hobby diligently and today is one of the most talented artists we’ve ever met who doesn’t identify himself as an artist, per se.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” he said. “I love painting, it’s enjoyable and creative, but I’m not really an artist.”
That said, he does take a few commissions per year and has had some very interesting requests.
“Sometimes people want their car in specific settings, and then they want this, and then they want that,” he chuckled. “But you start to run out of room, and you have to tell them to slow down.”
Over the years too, he has received a number of awards for various Mercedes-Benz Club activities, which he’s enjoyed showing as well.
“The awards are from Mercedes Club and the Porsche Club concours events I’ve shown at, but I don’t show much anymore,” he said. “I like to go to the shows, but not like I used to.”
With a space like this at home, staying in and enjoying is understandable.
