Hot wheels! Grandfather spends 30 years and £20,000 painstakingly rebuilding his beloved 200-piece toy car and Scalextric collection after it was destroyed in a house fire
- Mark Callegari, 51, lost impressive collection after fire caused by gas explosion
- He hopes to expand out of spare room of ex-council house in Ashford, Kent
- The petrolhead learned to drive when he was 13 and has owned 50 real-life cars
A car-mad grandfather-of-two has spent 30 years and £20,000 painstakingly rebuilding his beloved 200-piece toy car and Scalextric collection after it was destroyed in a house fire.
Mark Callegari, 53, from Ashford, Kent, started collecting again shortly after the blaze, caused by a gas explosion in 1990, and keeps it in the same room of the ex-council house.
The carpenter, who has been driving since he was 13 and has owned 50 real-life cars to date, first became interested in Scalextric and slot cars when he received some as a birthday present in the 1970s.
Mark Callegari, 53, from Ashford, Kent, has spent the last decade rebuilding his childhood Scalextric and toy car collection
His original collection was destroyed in a fire, caused by a gas explosion, at his ex-council house in 1990
The carpenter first became interested in Scalextric and slot cars when he got some as a birthday present in the 70s
He now dreams of expanding his lifetime’s Scalextric collection beyond the cramped spare room of the house that he shares with his partner, Karen, 49, but admits his long-suffering full-time housewife won’t let him.
He said: ‘The room where I have my new collection of cars is built directly on top of the room where I had my old Scalextric collection.
‘I was absolutely gutted when I lost my collection all those years ago. I felt like I was never going to start collecting again.
‘But then Christmases and birthdays came and people started to slowly rebuild my collection for me and eventually I decided to build it back up bigger than before myself.
He had hoped to expand his collection outside of his cramped spare room but his wife will not let him
The petrolhead has collection more than 500 cars which is estimated to have cost him around £20,000
When he lost the original collection he did not plan to start again but soon got the collection bug again when friends and family began buying replacements for birthdays and Christmas
‘I’m a car nut through and through and with the Scalextric there’s the benefit of having a car you can use and have fun with rather than just having it sit on a shelf and be looked at.
‘If left to me the house would be full of Scalextric but the other half has a say in the matter.
‘I’m still thinking of converting the garage to house my collection, because there’s more space there.’
The petrolhead wasted no time swapping toy cars for the real thing, learning to drive on the farm where he grew up just three years later at the age of 13.
His passion for cars does not stop with toys, Mr Callegari has owned 50 real-life cars in his lifetime
After his passion for cars started to grow he became interested in real life ones, learning how to drive at the age of 13
Today his sprawling collection of toy cars includes a £300 limited edition Mercedes Fly truck and a replica of the first toy car he bought, a Mini Clubman, having lost the original in the house fire.
And despite owning more metres of Scalextric and toy cars than ever before, Mr Callegari is nostalgic for days gone by when slot cars were not a collector’s item and fans like himself could pick them up with loose change.
He said: ‘The most expensive slot cars can reach into the thousands of pounds.
‘You used to be able to pick up slot cars with pocket money but now that kids don’t play with them and they’re a collector’s item it’s harder to get cars for cheap prices.
‘My grandson George is five now and at an age where he can understand Scalextric and he always asks ‘when are we going to grandad’s room?’
‘Despite my collection, I prefer real cars to slot cars. Slot cars are a pleasure but real cars are a necessity.’
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