When tiny cobwebs start to appear on the mudguard of one of his future vehicle projects, that's a sure sign Canberra collector Darrell Leemhuis is car-rich, but terribly time-poor. Subscribe now for unlimited access . Login or signup to continue reading $ 0 / $ NaN /year All articles from our website & app The digital version of Today's Paper Breaking news alerts direct to your inbox Interactive Crosswords, Sudoku and Trivia All articles from the other regional websites in your area Continue "Will people think I'm a bit mad, having all these?" the self-confessed car nut asked, with a laugh.
"But you know, I really don't care what people think. This is my thing. I just love cars.
All cars." However, owning a multimillion-dollar, driveable and road-registered collection of this size - around 35 in all - comes with its own down-to-earth issues. Such as: in the depths of a subzero Canberra winter, how do you keep 35 car batteries charged up? "You wouldn't believe how many [battery] trickle chargers I went through until I found a brand that was super reliable," he said.
His goal is to find the time to enjoy his collection more. Picture by Gary Ramage "And then I bought a heap of them." So all the way through his significant garage are extension cords with chargers plugged in and gently feeding the batteries with voltage to keep them prepared for their regular start-ups to warm their collective oils, valves and seals.
Some are so old they need a squirt of oil across their exposed v.