Major fan … Deer Park’s Andrew Irvine has a mini collection but there is nothing small about it. 57410 Picture: SARAH MATRAY
By Belinda Nolan
As a six-year-old, the Deer Park resident fell in love with the miniature car after being given a model as a present.
Now 46, Mr Irvine’s passion for collecting is in danger of spiralling out of control, with more than 400 minis to his name.
“It’s always been an obsession of mine,” Mr Irvine said.
“I guess you could call it a fetish.
“I have minis on every scale from the very smallest to the largest. I’ve got one that is as big as your little finger and I’ve got a real one and everything in between.”
In an attempt to rein in his hobby, Mr Irvine’s wife inspired him to sell some of his models to whittle down his collection.
So Mr Irvine opened up his own hobby shop, which has been trading in Ballarat Rd’s Deer Park shopping strip for the past three years.
“It got to the point where my wife put her foot down and told me I was not allowed to have any more cars in my collection and I was going to have to start selling them,” Mr Irvine said.
“And it just snowballed from there.
“I’ve been married for 18 years and my wife has to be one of the most understanding women in the world.”
Now, Mr Irvine’s shop has become a meeting place for other collectors, some of whom are even more car crazy than he is.
“I get a lot of regulars and some have more in their collection than I do,” he said.
The car enthusiast’s fervour for his favourite four wheels extends to the road with the Deer Park resident getting around in, you guessed it, a mini minor.
“I’m on my fourth one and I travelled all the way to Dubbo to pick it up.
“You can call me crazy but I just love my minis and I’m pretty serious about them.”
