Diecast Collector Owns More Than 800 Cars, Worth More Than a Small House

Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule, as each person is unique. It was only a little while ago that I discovered two well-known model car collectors, and I've already reported on Alex Ciobanu's story and his love for 1/18th-scale vehicles. But I knew this would only serve as an appetizer, as there's always "a bigger fish."

The biggest Mercedes-Benz diecast collection in the world?

Via his channel, Alex had documented a trip to what he called "Probably the biggest Mercedes-Benz diecast collection in the world." That's a bold statement; some might say it's even a bit overenthusiastic. While I'm in tune with what's happening in the Hot Wheels community, the world of 1/18th-scale cars is still relatively new in my books. But I'm eager to learn more about it, and I'm sure this story will be just as inspiring for you as it is for me.

I couldn't go to Mihail's house, where he keeps his collection, but I'll accept his invitation soon. Being an architect and entrepreneur simultaneously means he has a busy schedule, so we opted to speak via the phone for now. I was surprised to learn that he had already had an interview with my colleague, Alex Oagana, years before I became part of the autoevolution team. He already had 214 items in his collection in 2014, so I was even more eager to learn what makes this man tick.

So I launched my first question at him about his first model car. "I was about 13 years old, still in sixth grade. My first model car was a Mercedes-Benz 540K from Bburago. But it took several years of collecting stamps, coins, and banknotes before I would buy another one. In my first year of college, I walked up to a big store, and a 1/18th-scale CLK GTR from Maisto blew me away. It was like a fever had gotten a hold of me; I started looking for information online and calculating how many items I would need to buy."

"I wanted to focus on Mercedes-Benz models and related articles from Smart, Maybach, and Pagani." As you would have guessed, Mihail's father owned a 1978 Mercedes-Benz W123, which was part of the family for many years. In his early days, Mihail didn't even care about the brands behind the items he collected: he wanted the complete Mercedes-Benz line-up. And he's never sold any of his early purchases to this day.

I stopped counting at 670 cars

So I knew my next question would be difficult for him to answer, but I just had to know how many cars he had amassed and how much they were worth. "I stopped counting in 2021 when I had reached 670 items. I'm sure that at this point, the collection encompasses over 800 cars. It's hard to define the combined value, but if I sell each individually, we're looking at around $100K to $120K."

Given that he currently drives a 15-year-old Mercedes E-Class, you can do the math and see how much more expensive his tiny cars are. Still, he told me we would love a brand new E-Classe Wagon or an older, '60s SL if he had an extra $50k to $60K to spare. Three of his most prized possessions include a CMC-built 300 SLR that he paid more than $3,000 for, a rare D&G-built 1-of-30 AMG GT Mansory, which had a price tag of over $1,100, and an Ilario-made replica of an older Mercedes model. Mihail confessed to buying around 40 to 50 new items each year, depending on what rolls out in 12 months.

While he's always on the lookout for rare items, he noted that even after being at it for 16 years, it's always difficult to say which cars will be valuable in the future. I wanted to learn about his plans for increasing his collection, and I was somewhat surprised to learn that his only other non-Mercedes-Benz-connected asset is a 1/18th-scale Dacia. And he decided to keep it, as his family owned one before the days of the W123.

While I only have a modest collection of Hot Wheels cars, I felt many similarities to Mihail's story. So I immediately thought about the mixed reactions I've received from people over the years as they learned about my hobby: "What, are you ten? Grow up!", "Why don't you buy a normal car?" and so on. So, I was curious to learn if he had gone through this phase and how he had overcome it. "At first, it was a sensible topic in my family; some people thought I was crazy."

My biggest dream is to have an office with a secret room

"As my collection grew, people started seeing how deeply involved I was. Some would say that this hobby is 60% of who I am. I used to pick a random car from the collection and go for a photo session the way I envisioned. I tried finding the perfect angle and background to emphasize that item's historical value and essence. I've probably managed to do this with 250 to 300 cars in my collection. I would even drive 30+ miles (50 km) to get the shot I wanted. Sadly, I don't have that kind of time anymore."

I also noticed another common attribute among diecast enthusiasts: we tend to be perfectionists in this hobby. And that is especially obvious if you pay $1,000 on a 1/18th-scale car and find it has a defect. Mihail spent eight hours tearing down and rebuilding a 500K to replace a broken item, so you can imagine how patient and careful you need to be to perform such an operation. A picture is worth 1,000 words, and you'll notice that the hero of this story has quite an impressive display to showcase his beloved items.

So I wanted him to talk me through the setup: "My parents built a bigger house than they needed, hoping I would one day move back in with them. There was this big living room, which slowly became my collection room. I designed the whole thing, and my dad helped implement the idea. The entire thing could have cost over $20K, but we managed to do it for less than half of that sum. My biggest dream is to have an office with a secret room; I would only invite the people closest to me to enter it. But I'm terrified of how difficult it will be to transport them all from their current location."

Last but not least, I wanted to learn how he had managed to amass so many cars over the years. "I spent countless hours on a big diecast forum in 2009. People would complain that there were no 1/18th-scale trailers on the market. And I told myself this was something I should look into. Using aluminum profiles, I made 20 custom trailers to begin with. I knew my best shot at penetrating the market was convincing a famous Mercedes-Benz collector from Belgium to buy one from me."

I'm considering stopping

"And the rest is history. I've been building these items ever since, and I now have 45 different designs, with prices ranging from $700 to over $2,000. I've only ever had one bad experience selling these with a customer from New York. He wanted a trailer with transparent sides, and I wasn't as experienced with packaging as I am today."

"The item was damaged in transit. I told him I'd send another one if he returned the broken model. I was the only one to hold up my end of the bargain. I currently make around 100 trailers annually, working with my father and mother to deliver them all. But I feel like I need a break. I'm considering stopping, as there's no more time to enjoy my collection due to all the work."

"And my heart won't let me hire someone else to do the job; I couldn't be sure that my customers would always get the quality they paid for." I've spotted a few cars from Mihail's collection I would love to look at for hours, especially the Sauber C9 variations! It's amazing to see how he has them all on display, and I'm sure he has thousands of stories to tell to anyone interested in listening.