PHOTO BY JIM LENNON
influence was there early on. “I had a hundred of them really early, since age four. Solidos, Corgis, Dinkys … so many names.” He blames his obsession on his older brother Joe, who took him to his first Can-Am race at age 10. “Joe and I went to Westchester Hobbies every weekend and bought built models and kits. Ten when I was about 16, I went to Europe with my parents, and I came back with at least 30 or 40 models. Filled up my luggage!” Greg also built kits, but admits they didn’t turn out so well.
Not surprisingly, the types of cars he had in toy form affected his choices in cars as an adult. “Tey certainly did influence me,” he says. “I had lots of Ferraris and other sports cars. Eventually those led to the real cars. When I could afford the full-size models I had Lotuses and then Ferraris, and, well, you know the rest.”
One of his favorite cars in his 1:1 collection is the McLaren M23, as is evidenced by the three different custom-built models he keeps in his home, from 1:43 to a big 1:8 piece. Greg still has some of the toy cars from his youth, and today he actively collects new model cars of all types and scales, but not the old toys. As with the McLaren, what he looks for now are mostly models of cars he owns or has owned. Tat should keep him busy for a while.
DON OROSCO is a commercial real estate developer and president of DBO Development Company, which he founded in 1975. He also oversees restorations of his cars at his own facility, Orosco Racing. His collection includes several hot rods, a woodie station wagon, two Scarab Formula 1 cars, the Scarab Mk 1 sports racer and, to carry them all, the Scarab Race Transporter.
Orosco credits the toys of his youth with his passion. “I have lusted after many of the vehicles that were modeled in the 1950s and ’60s.” One such model was the Scarab, of which he has an original Strombecker plas- tic model kit. “I have now managed to restore, own and race the real thing.” His interest exploded around age nine or 10, when he was able to take the extra money from his paper route to buy and build model kits made by companies like Revell, Strombecker and AMT. Don was infatuated with Model Ts back then and remains a heavy Ford fan today. He was always building model cars. “I lived vicariously through them,” he says. “Tey lighted my imagination.” Unfortunately, none of those early builds have lasted, and many
of his childhood cars are gone. “I once had a collection of nearly 200 early tether cars, which reminded me of the Offy Midget I once
Most gearheads can trace their roots to racing toy cars across the floor and as adults often stick with what they know and like, as evidenced by the miniature (and full-size) collections of Ray Minella (opposite top), Greg Galdi (above) and Don Orosco (right).
PHOTO BY ROBERT BLAKEMAN
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