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Ricci's Garage: buying a lot of cars doesn't make you a car collector

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Ricci's Garage: buying a lot of cars doesn't make you a car collector | Top Gear

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Mark's eclectic garage is a result of... a number of things that seem to change regularly, actually

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Ricci's Garage: buying a lot of cars doesn't make you a car collector

# data.attributes.metatag[].attributes.content
Mark's eclectic garage is a result of... a number of things that seem to change regularly, actually

# data.attributes.metatag[].attributes.content
Ricci's Garage: buying a lot of cars doesn't make you a car collector

# data.attributes.metatag[].attributes.content
Mark's eclectic garage is a result of... a number of things that seem to change regularly, actually

# data.attributes.metatag[].attributes.content
Ricci's Garage: buying a lot of cars doesn't make you a car collector

# data.attributes.metatag[].attributes.content
Ricci's Garage: buying a lot of cars doesn't make you a car collector

# data.attributes.metatag[].attributes.content
Mark's eclectic garage is a result of... a number of things that seem to change regularly, actually

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Internationally renowned photographer Mark has been working with TG for many, many years. When not taking photos he’s buying inappropriate cars. Here he shares his addiction with the world…

Recently I received a message on Instagram which read “Are you a photographer or a car collector?” and while I have quite a thick skin – both physically and mentally – it triggered me.

The legitimacy of Vicky_Z9913’s profile is up for debate. There are many CashApp mentions, a bio stating ‘entrepreneur’ and a duplicate account named Lena_LS63 tagged in each post. Red flags aside, it did make me question what on earth am I doing with the cars I currently own.

I don’t really like the term collector, not when referring to cars. And that could be down to the culture surrounding this behaviour in recent years, with some individuals using it as a means of just showcasing their wealth or (trying) to gain some form of social following. Don’t get me wrong, there are some fantastic collections out there – and individuals – but I’d argue they tend to move in silence rather than shout at every opportunity.

It also depends on what exactly you’re collecting. If I meet someone who has a samurai sword bought during a trip to Japan, that’s an interesting topic of discussion. But if I meet someone who has an entire collection of blades, daggers, and other life ending equipment, that’s someone I want to stay as far away from as possible.

To be deemed a collector assumes you have some kind of plan or foresight into the objects you’re collecting. And that’s very admirable, but it’s also something I annoyingly lack. There are many cars I’d like to own, and if I won the pools I’d fill a barn full of sub-£10k snotters, but I couldn’t tell you what any of those would be yet.

Because what I want from a car seems to change on a daily basis. It’s influenced by WhatsApp chats, eBay listings and everything in-between. Like the fact there’s a 1992 Lexus GS in LL Cool J’s ‘Loungin’ music video – which was suggested to me on YouTube – and a quick search shows they’re as little as £2k now for a nat-asp one. Lot of car for the money, isn’t it? And there lies the problem – there’s no foresight to my garage, just an impulse to buy anything that looks interesting and doesn’t cost more than what’s in my bank account at the time.

So no, Vicky_Z9913 from a Shanghai bot farm, I’m not a car collector. Even if that was a message just to sell me your CashApp scheme, it’s not working today. Admittedly, two months ago I did say I really wanted to find a Pajero Wagon... which I’ve now found and bought in the past 24 hours. Although it is a project in need of work and badged a Shogun, so it’s still somewhat impulsive. But just because I’ve acted like a car collector in this instance doesn’t mean I’m about to wear driving gloves and start a podcast, so providing I buy nothing else for a few months can we agree that I’m just a photographer with a (very) unhealthy hobby instead?

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Internationally renowned photographer Mark has been working with TG for many, many years. When not taking photos he’s buying inappropriate cars. Here he shares his addiction with the world…

Recently I received a message on Instagram which read “Are you a photographer or a car collector?” and while I have quite a thick skin – both physically and mentally – it triggered me.

The legitimacy of Vicky_Z9913’s profile is up for debate. There are many CashApp mentions, a bio stating ‘entrepreneur’ and a duplicate account named Lena_LS63 tagged in each post. Red flags aside, it did make me question what on earth am I doing with the cars I currently own.

I don’t really like the term collector, not when referring to cars. And that could be down to the culture surrounding this behaviour in recent years, with some individuals using it as a means of just showcasing their wealth or (trying) to gain some form of social following. Don’t get me wrong, there are some fantastic collections out there – and individuals – but I’d argue they tend to move in silence rather than shout at every opportunity.

It also depends on what exactly you’re collecting. If I meet someone who has a samurai sword bought during a trip to Japan, that’s an interesting topic of discussion. But if I meet someone who has an entire collection of blades, daggers, and other life ending equipment, that’s someone I want to stay as far away from as possible.

To be deemed a collector assumes you have some kind of plan or foresight into the objects you’re collecting. And that’s very admirable, but it’s also something I annoyingly lack. There are many cars I’d like to own, and if I won the pools I’d fill a barn full of sub-£10k snotters, but I couldn’t tell you what any of those would be yet.

Because what I want from a car seems to change on a daily basis. It’s influenced by WhatsApp chats, eBay listings and everything in-between. Like the fact there’s a 1992 Lexus GS in LL Cool J’s ‘Loungin’ music video – which was suggested to me on YouTube – and a quick search shows they’re as little as £2k now for a nat-asp one. Lot of car for the money, isn’t it? And there lies the problem – there’s no foresight to my garage, just an impulse to buy anything that looks interesting and doesn’t cost more than what’s in my bank account at the time.

So no, Vicky_Z9913 from a Shanghai bot farm, I’m not a car collector. Even if that was a message just to sell me your CashApp scheme, it’s not working today. Admittedly, two months ago I did say I really wanted to find a Pajero Wagon... which I’ve now found and bought in the past 24 hours. Although it is a project in need of work and badged a Shogun, so it’s still somewhat impulsive. But just because I’ve acted like a car collector in this instance doesn’t mean I’m about to wear driving gloves and start a podcast, so providing I buy nothing else for a few months can we agree that I’m just a photographer with a (very) unhealthy hobby instead?

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Mark's eclectic garage is a result of... a number of things that seem to change regularly, actually