‘FLOODING WOULD HAVE DESTROYED MY ENTIRE COLLECTION’
Peter Nelson – former owner of the Cars of The Stars collection in Cumbria – explains to CCW why selling up in 2011 was for the best
een CCW readers may have K noticed a familiar name in last week’s news pages: Peter Nelson. Having spoken to us about his Stimson Mini Bug listed for free online (provided that it is sold off for charity following a restoration), Peter talked about life after Cars of the Stars; in 2011, he sold the museum’s contents to American collector (and Palm Beach Driving Club founder) Michael Dezer following ‘an offer I couldn’t refuse’.
100 cars – including those from Peter’s sister site, The Bond Collection – were relocated to the Dezer Collection in Miami; among other vehicles, Dezer received five Bond Aston Martins, one of the original Chitty Chitty Bang Bangs, a DeLorean DMC-12 promotional replica from Back To The Future, a Ford Anglia 105E used in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, a VW Beetle ‘Herbie’ from Herbie
Goes Bananas and five Batmobiles. TV cars also featured prominently, including K.I.T.T from Knight Rider, Magnum PI’s Ferrari 308GTS and Bergerac’s Triumph 1800 Roadster.
Peter said that Dezer originally misread an article announcing that he was selling his reserve collection. ‘He thought that the whole lot was for sale, when in fact I wanted rid of the cars I had two of,’ said Peter. ‘He flew from Miami to make a deal and I said: “No, they’re not for sale.” He eventually made me an offer I couldn’t refuse, and I had a massive clear out. I understand he’s expanding his museum and promoting it more; not many have seen the cars since they left the UK.’
As it turns out, it wasn’t just the money that came in handy. Flooding devastated Keswick two years after the cars left for Miami, including The Royal Oak Garage, erstwhile home of Peter’s vehicles. He said: ‘The floods would have destroyed my entire collection. I’d enjoyed collecting them, and at least by going to Miami they’d been spared the worst of the Cumbrian weather.’
Peter kept two significant cars – his personal Lotus 7, and the first car he ever bought for the Cars of The Stars, a former Reliant Supervan III used in Only Fools and Horses. He said: ‘It had sentimental value, so it stayed.’
Nowadays he auctions the occasional car for charity, and concentrates ‘on nostalgic pieces, cars I loved in my youth, that sort of thing – like the Stimson Mini Bug. I was a huge fan of Barry Stimson and that’s why the Mini
Bug ended up with me.’