This website has been 18 years in the making. It is a tribute to the passion and dedication of one man; my Dad; Alan Searle. He spent many years building various modes of transport. My earliest memories involved the conversion of our dining room in our council flat into various Hornby railway diorama's. Hours spent watching, learning and being in awe of the skills my Dad possessed. From railways he moved to Airfix planes, again an activity that we'd often do together. In later years he began to collect Dinky cars "The worse, the better". He'd travel up and down the country visiting toy fairs and exhibitions much to the dismay of my Mum, who initially thought he was mad paying good money "for toot".
But my Dad knew better and proceeded to strip, prime and respray the model cars, adding new decals, axels and tyres to a once neglected old toy and transforming it in to a thing of beauty; a vision of how these models could have looked when they were first produced in the 1950's and 60's.
The collection started to grow, the hours of restoration increased and the standard became greater as did the eye for a deal!
The love of Dinky continued, but he wanted to invest in the future, and so began the acquisition of new, boxed collections to add to the fold. There were three main types of collectibles that Dad focussed on. These were Herpa trucks, Tekno trucks and a series of Exclusive First Edition coachwork. The trucks were a familiar site to Dad; having been a transport controller, the size and designs always appealed.
When Dad first became ill in 1998, he still tried to keep up the travels to expand the collection, the restorations became fewer, but the boxed lorries and coaches became more; as did the number of display cases in their house!
He must have known that the end was in sight as he maintained that the collections were to be an inheritance. Sadly, Dad passed away in October 2000. The collection being a permanent reminder of my hero. Over the years since, various council works have meant that the collection has ended up wrapped and stored in boxes. It was only when my Mum had to move that the collection made it to my house.
I have started this website as a memoir, I intend to document my memories for my children, and hopefully provide a story that resonates with other enthusiasts along the way.
I am in the process of cataloguing the collection, and items will be made available for sale. Some will make it onto the blog, but I shall never part with as the memories are far too precious to pass on.
Please do take a look at the collection, and if there are any questions please do get in touch with me.
Thank you for being part of my trip down memory lane, Daryl