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Impressive, 100-Strong Collection of Classics Is Street-Parked in the “Ghetto”

Treasures are meant to be treasured, if you’ll allow the cliché. For two brothers from one of the most deprived areas in the UK, treasures are a sort of community good that is meant to be shared. Mostly because it means avoiding extra expenses.
Two brothers keep their vast collection of classics street parked, including on neighbors' driveways 8 photos
Photo: Twitter.com / The Sun
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This is the strange tale of two brothers from Birmingham’s Alum Rock, which is considered one of the most deprived areas in the country. They are Bugsy Ali and brother Shoukat, two self-titled addict car collectors who “can’t stop” buying new cars. Such an “addiction” obviously means that they’re pressed for space and, for years now, they’ve been keeping their cars on the street.

As of late, Bugsy Ali tells British publication The Sun, they’ve resorted to asking neighbors to allow them to park in their driveways. This means a £600 ($675) cut in the road taxes they used to pay before, but photos available at the link show that they still have plenty of cars street-parked.

While both Bugsy and Shoukat seem to be buying the cars in whatever condition they can find them with the goal of selling them off, they insist that they’re doing it out of passion for car collecting. Wherever the truth may lie, one thing is clear: they do have an eye for classics, as their collection includes mostly vintage Rolls-Royces, Bentleys and Porsches. They even claim to have a few touring limos that were once used by the Royal Family, as well as a rare 1961 Mercedes 600 Pullman, a Maserati and more Mercedeses than they can or want to count.

Bugsy tells the tab that the neighbors are more than happy to help them with free parking, because that’s the only way they’ll ever have a Bentley at their front door either way. As for fear that any of these vehicles might be stolen or damaged, even if they’re not in top condition, the brothers don’t have it.

“This is the ghetto round here. It’s the last place you’d expect to see Maseratis and Porsche GTRs,” Bugsy says. “I’m not worried about them being stolen. This is my area. I’ve lived here all my life. I’ve had people from out of town try their luck but all the neighbors are watching out for me. It’s a close-knit community. People know not to mess with us.”

The collection is said to count over 100 automobiles, many of which are parked in a single place. TikTok user Tamo Khan takes credit for discovering it, as he posted a video of it earlier this month, allegedly with Bugsy’s permission. You can see it at the bottom of the page. Commenters joke that the reason Bugsy is not afraid of having them stolen has nothing to do with his neighbors’ kindness, since he is or used to be a known figure on the local drug scene.

@tamokahn Bumped into "Buggsy" from Alum Rock and we got talking. A real old school G this guy. He telling me he got 100+ cars, classic Rolls Royce's and Bentley's etc just parked up everywhere ???? #tamokahn #alumrock #ukpakistani #0121 #alumrockbirmingham #ukcars #ukcarscene #ukmuslim #fyp #ukmuslim #ukcarscene #r32 #luxurycars #birminghamuk #fy #jdmcarsoftiktok ? original sound - Tamo Kahn


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Editor's note: Photos in the gallery show some of the most iconic rides used by the late Queen Elizabeht II. Photos of the collection in the story are available at The Sun link.

About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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