Video: a secret stash of old BMWs

Meet ‘The Collector'. If he wasn't so genuine, so nice and so damn proud of his enviable stack of BMWs, he'd be easy to dislike.

But in the video above, he makes that an impossibility. For starters, the California-based chap doesn't want his name or face to be aired, claiming he's 'not a show-off'.

His collection comprises 45 BMWs built between 1960 and 1988, and not just the tasty, tricoloured M Division stuff either: there are plenty from the more prosaic ends of each model range, too.

"We're looking at preservation," he says, "finding cars that have been unmolested."

The cars all look gloriously original - keep an eye out for a fleeting glance of an old-school M6, and pore over the doubtless very valuable E30 M3 in the closing frames - and Mr Collector even keeps all the original keyrings of the cars he acquires, declaring them an important part of previous owners' history.

The most intriguing car the video sheds light on? His 700 RS racer, one of only two built, and far and away the curviest BMW you're ever likely to see. If the seeds of jealousy are threatening to germinate, then let our nameless friend assure you he buys these cars for entirely the right reasons.

"I buy the cars because I want to enjoy them - not just from a visual perspective, but for driving them." Top gent.