5000 model cars? That’s a lifetime’s work

By Charlie Calderwood

| 6 Feb 2026

Classic & Sports Car – Also in my garage: 5000 model cars

“I was born in Poland, and after the Second World War we didn’t have anything. Toys didn’t really exist,” remembers Marian Gradus, standing in his Northamptonshire office, in the UK, the walls all covered by display cases.

“But living in Kraków, I had access to lots of tourists, and every time I saw a car on a foreign registration I’d approach and ask them if they could send me some models. It worked pretty well.”

Working as an automotive engineer, Marian left Poland and, exposed to the shops of the West, has since amassed an incredible collection of 5000 model cars, which today are now all housed in his home.

Every European Car of the Year winner is present and neatly labeled

The beginnings of his remarkable collection were not with a car sent behind the Iron Curtain, but instead on a rare trip abroad.

“As a child, I traveled to Paris with the Red Cross,” he tells Classic & Sports Car. “My father had discovered his brother was living there.

“In France I was given a Norev Citroën ID19 station wagon, which was my first model.

“I didn’t know people made model cars before that. I still have it, in storage in my garage with 3000 more.”

The other 2000 models in this collection are on show, most of them in Marian’s office. And he has taken great care to display them thoughtfully and in an orderly manner.

Figurines decorate some of the displays

Display cases are grouped thematically, with a shelf of ‘Popemobiles’, another of cars owned by British royals, and a third including every European Car of the Year winner.

There are also sets of Eastern European models that might well bewilder many a classic car enthusiast, such as the GAZ 67 and 69, or Poland’s post-war icon, the FSO Warszawa.

“When I came here I discovered shops such as Beatties,” says Marian. “I spent any extra money I had on models.”

Living in Britain also allowed Marian the opportunity to immerse himself in the model-collecting community, attending swapmeets and making like-minded friends, but he has felt the hobby shrink in recent years.

Marian Gradus has collected model cars since childhood, now his collection numbers 5000-plus

“Of the friends I used to have, many have passed away,” he says. “Most of the shops have closed, too.

“Young people don’t seem to have hobbies in the same way, or not this hobby at least, so it is dying a bit.”

Marian is unsure of the future for his collection – he describes his family’s attitude to it as “accepting rather than enthusiastic” – but he relates a sense of satisfaction that, whatever happens to the miniatures now, he has followed his passion.

“They have given me a lot of pleasure – I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I spent my money on models instead,” says Marian, considering his collecting habit a relatively benign vice.

American classic cars feature strongly in the curated displays

“When I would go on vacation with my wife, I’d disappear for a couple of hours,” he continues.

“You might expect a young man to have gone off leering at women on the beach, but I would come back with two bags of model cars!”

Now in his 70s, Marian is hoping he will be able to pass on his collection, or at least parts of it, but to still retain certain displays, such as the European Car of the Year winners, up to date every year.

Some of his favorites are his Ford Zephyr station wagon, a model he painted himself to complete his collection of cars driven by Queen Elizabeth II, and also his Morris Minors.

This Ford Zephyr station wagon is one of Marian’s favourite classic car models

A fan of woodies in general, Marian’s dream classic car is a Morris Traveller, because his grandfather owned one when he was a child.

Sadly, he had to leave his DKW 8 and Fiat Topolino in Poland; he now drives a Nissan Micra C+C, won in a competition.

“My advice for anyone who wants to get into collecting model cars is to try and focus on a specific marque or model, and only buy 1:43 scale – they are more compact and collectible,” says Marian, wisely.

“My problem was that I bought whatever I fancied, and that’s how I ended up with such a massive collection.”

It certainly is a true passion project.

Images: John Bradshaw

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