THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN COLLECTION

Every once in a while, you happen across someone or something that is so dialed into what is desirable, that you have to stop and take note. In my case, several of them. This is what happened when I visited Exotic World Motor Cars of Addison, Texas near Dallas.

My journey began when I was looking for an air-cooled Porsche 911 to shoot and possibly test drive for a later blog. CAFFEINE GT is visiting the great state of Texas and you know me... I always find a way to shoot a rare or exciting set of wheels.

Author's note: You may be surprised at how difficult Air cooled Porsche’s for sale are to find. Anyhow, I found one within driving distance and one early morning, I decided, I'd take the 45 minute drive to the dealer where the 930 resided.

The drive through the expansive Dallas- Forth Worth highways was exhilarating and my finely tuned exhaust provided the soundtrack. Ok, maybe I played a little Aphex Twin as an accelerant.

As I pulled up to the address that British accented Siri so politely guided me to, I wasn't entirely convinced that she'd led me to the correct location. Before me, stood a well kept albeit surprisingly un-ostentacious building. In all honesty, I drove by it on the initial pass. I circled 'round and pulled into an immaculate parking stall donned my CAFFEINE GT branded Covid mask walked up and curiously pulled the door open. I was I’ll prepared for what I'd see on the other side.

I'll preface it this way. I've been to my fare share of luxury car exhibitions, tuner shows, dealerships, swap meets and motorsports events. While, I've loved them all, you always being to know what to expect. Murdered out Audis and JDMs under a back drop of dubstep At tuner shows and early model V-8 powered American steel accompanied by a rockabilly band covering Doo Wop At classic shows and so on. In luxury dealerships, you'll typically see the latest models of everything said dealer can afford to inventory, coupled with music that leaves you feeling just older than you really want to feel.

In this dealership, I can't quite remember what was playing, if anything at all. That is because the visual was entirely consuming. To my left was a mint Z32 Nissan Z with 17,000 miles on the clock. I debated mentioning this one because I secretly want it for myself.

Just before the Z, was a pair of shining black McLarens (one of them a 570S with 6,000 miles). Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I saw a vintage Corvette Stingray and of course a new C8 in white. The C8 in person is an absolutely gorgeous car.

Somehow, the proportions all workout and you're left with a sense of awe that American muscle can now be found in the middle of the car.

That wasn't it. Amongst the Ferraris was the fabled Testarossa, and by now, you may have guessed... a Taycan. By now, I'm hoping you can understand why my mind was blown. I've seen some of these cars before and other's never before. They're simply too new. And I haven't seen a Z32 that showroom fresh since 1991. And of course, there were the pair air cooled Porsches that I'd originally come to see. They were two of just a handful of air-cooled Porsches within a day's trip.

It takes a man of means, persuasion, confidence and taste to assemble such a cast of unicorns automotively speaking. And these weren't just auction house specials. These were pedigreed vehicles with service records and low owner counts. So, who was this Willy Wonka of the Texas car world? Meet Ash Hussein. Owner, collector and purveyor of on of the most spot on, eclectic collections I've ever laid eyes on.

Meet Ash Hussein. With over 20 years in the automotive business, Ash emerged from his office with a cautious friendliness you'd only expect from a man charged with protecting such an expensive and rare flock of metallic sheep. As we spoke and exchanged car'isms, Ash, dove immediately into the topic of specialty cars and you could tell that rare and beautiful cars is a real passion of his. Not just a business. I learned that the Exotic World Motor Car dealership has been under new management for about a year and the premises will be undergoing a modernization and expanasion. As for curation... that's Ash's gift. Perhaps in a dream, I've waltz'd from JDM hero, to next gen Corvette, to Ferrari icon. But in real life I must admit, this is the first time I've seen the real thing(s) within hopping distance of one another. Who does this, you ask? One Ash Hussein. A man I hope to meet again.. along with his cars.