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Hi, I’m Kavaldip Singh, I’m a 22 year old diploma student, and I collect Hot Wheels cars as a hobby.
These days, many people start collecting rare figurines, cars, or trading cards as a form of investment.
I currently have 1890 cars in my collection. But even though the entire collection is worth RM25,000, I will never sell a single car.
Let me tell you why.
My dad got me into collecting cars when I was 8 years old.
The story goes back to before I was born. My father had his own collection of about 20 to 30 cars when he was younger.
As a young father, he was ecstatic to finally have a child to have this bond with. Growing up, my conversations with my dad were about our passion for cars.
In 2006, my dad bought my first ever toy car: a Hot Wheels Ferrari 156.
My first Hot Wheels, Ferrari 156
Since I was 8 at the time, I didn’t know what a Ferrari was. I just picked it because I liked the design.
As I did more research on it, I found out this car was driven by the late Juan Manuel Fangio, a race car driver that won the World Drivers Championship 5 times.
Since then, I started my own collection with my pocket money.
When I told my dad I wanted to carry on his legacy of collecting cars, he had his doubts.
He told me he would give his blessing to start the collection only if I am passionate about them. Not for the wrong purposes, like selling it off at a profit later.
My father believes that when you resell one of these cars, you are selling the memories with it too.
He used to always say: “Each car, no matter the price, has its own beautiful memory. So no matter how much someone is willing to pay you for it, you should never sell.”
Some might not agree, but to this day, I have always followed his advice.
There have been tons of buyers interested in the Hot Wheels Ferrari 156. Once, I even got an offer from a Singaporean buyer that was willing to pay a five-figure amount!
It was a lot of money, but selling my cars is something I would never consider.
I still have the Ferrari 156 in my possession to this day.
My dad and I in August 2020, with a few hundreds of cars from my collection.
I have spent almost RM25,000 for this collection
As of November 2020, I have 1890 cars in my collection including the ones that my dad passed down to me. Together it cost me almost RM 25,000. My estimated value of this collection, based on the offers I’ve received, I’d say is around double that, possibly more.
My one requirement for the cars that are added to this collection is that they’re all real cars. They all should be cars I see on the road like Ford Mustang, Nissan GT-R, Lamborghini and Ferrari. No future-concept models like the Futurismo or fantasy cars like the Batmobile.
When people see my collection, their first question is always, “What’s your favourite car?”
To that, it’s like asking your parents who your favorite child is. They’re ALL my favorites.
However, if a gun was pointed at my head and I have to pick one in order to save my life. It would be hands down the Hot Wheels Ferrari 156, only due to the history that it came with that made me fall in love with this hobby.
From left: A Mitsubishi Lancer, Lamborghini Diablo, BMW i8, Lamborghini Veneno, Ferrari 458 and the LaFerrari.
This is a Shell 2009 V-power Ferrari Set.
Maintaining the condition of these toy cars can be difficult. The love and care I show to my cars is the same level of love and care for a person. It’s really heartbreaking to me when I see one of my cars damaged or lost. I would say it’s as painful as a breakup!
I have lost a model car before – an Aston Martin DB5 James Bond from the Shell Exclusive collection back in 2009.
One time, my younger cousins came to my house, and they went to my room and saw my collection. They were eager to play with the cars, and since they were children they were being rough with it. They forced open the casing and threw the cars around the room.
There were several cars that got damaged. The paint was chipped off. When I got to the scene, I just sat down and stared at the carnage. After recollecting myself, I tried to restore them by removing all the paint, and painting them with a new coat of paint.
That memory is heartbreaking, because everything was limited edition. But luckily in 2018, I found an online Shell toy car supplier that was selling the whole set and immediately purchased it!
Nowadays, I display my cars in a case that I keep locked to help me maintain the condition.
There are 160 cars, 100 of which are in the locked display.
I got this Honda NSX from mini GT as a gift from my friend.
People used to judge me when I told them about my collection
Since I was young, people have called me crazy or weird for having this hobby.
My friends and family would say things like, “Instead of spending money on toys, you can save the money to get a house or a luxury car.”
What they don’t understand is that owning a real-life Ferrari or Lamborghini is nearly impossible to attain.
If I ever get rich enough to buy one, I will probably only have one sports car in my lifetime. But with diecast models, I can have every single car model that ever existed in racing history.
However, these days my family’s mindset has changed. Maybe because after I started an Instagram for these cars, I have been covered by The Sun Daily.
On April 1st 2019, I was sought out and interviewed by Astro for a show called Man on the Street. Ever since then I have gained more followers.
Sometimes I would use those pictures and added motivational quotes to help inspire my followers.
I have gotten responses from people how I inspired them to start their own collection. Sometimes I even get replies saying how I have just inspired them in life because of the quotes I posted.
On the left, is the Ferrari FXXK, and on the right is the BBR Concept 43
I have come to terms with the fact that not everyone will understand my love for these cars. At the end of the day, it’s still a love that I share with my dad.
We like to spend time together by watching Netflix shows like Car Masters: Rust to Riches, Fastest Car and Rust Valley Restorers.
Sometimes my dad and I compete on who knows better about cars while watching. He’d say something like, “They should not have done that and used a Ford engine.”
And I’d go, “No, they should use a BMW engine.” We’d bicker back and forth until it can get into arguments. But we always chill out within an hour or two.
If it wasn’t for my dad, I would not have this beautiful passion. And for that, I owe him a lot.
I do hope in future my own kids will have this passion and I will be able to pass down my collection to them.
For more stories like this, read: Message in a Bottle — How One Man’s Obsession with Bottles Turned Into a Beautiful Museum and I Reanimate Dead Things for a Living. Here’s What My Job Is Like.
Editor’s note: This article has been edited on 27/11/2020 to clarify that the valuation is the author’s personal opinion, and is not to be taken as a statement of fact. The reader’s own research into the market is advised when buying or selling model cars.
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