Dennis Erickson was two things, a model car collector and a man of faith. As the usher of his church, he donated the house and its belongings to his church when he passed away. When the church members came over to inventory the inside of the house, they were a bit shocked and delighted by what they found — it was model car heaven!
Dennis had been collecting these cars since he was 9-years of age. As an adult, he was a career civil engineer who spent his free time in antique stores, car shows, and online sites to put his collection together. What it amounted to was over 30,000 model cars!
That’s roughly 82 years worth of a car a day. Dennis passed at the age of 69, so that’s far more cars than days he lived to enjoy them. This is quite possibly one of the largest collections of model cars in the world.
The house is covered in every inch with cars on display. Cars on shelfs, in cabinets, on the floor, and even on the bed. From mini models, to larger pieces, the collection seems endless.
It’s not all model cars though, Dennis also housed some full size cars. His three left to the church are a Ford Model T, 1959 Edsel, and a 1966 Rambler. In addition to the cars themselves, he also cataloged thousands of pieces of literature, from ads to sales brochures. He also logged every automotive encounter he had, from changing the oil on his cars, to putting tire shine on the tires; he was truly in-love with the idea of the automobile.
Dennis Erickson left the house and the collection in the hands of the church because those were the people he considered to be his family. Now his collection will go on to greatly benefit the church he loved so much.
Elizabeth is hardcore horsepower enthusiast with unmatched intensity for making things faster and louder. She wakes up for power and performance and only sleeps to charge up for the next project that’s heading to the track. From autocross to drag racing, Elizabeth is there with you, so stay tuned for her unique perspective on horsepower news, builds, tech info, and installs — with her, it’ll never be boring!
