If you worked hard, made lots of money, and found yourself in a position to acquire lots of cars, what would you hunt down?The Aston Martin Lagonda probably doesn't come to mind—unless you're Roger Duddling.
His personal collection of cars now spans over 500 vehicles, making it one of the biggest known collections in Europe. Perhaps what's most impressive about the collection, though, is that Duddling managed to track down 25 Aston Martin Lagondas.
The Williams Towns-designed car has clearly taken hold of Mr. Dudding's heart (and wallet). He made his first fortune by inventing that automatic ticket dispenser that supermarkets often use at their meat and deli sections to keep their queues organized. He then bought 10 lock-up garages located in South London, which he rented out, and would grow this number to more than 14,000 over the years.
While collecting all of that rent money, Dudding was keen to spend it, too. He began purchasing all sorts of automobiles and somehow those 25 Lagonda sedans found their way into his collection. They're all housed together with the rest of Dudding's collection at a facility called Studio 434, located about 18 miles north of London.
The site was recently overhauled and expanded to include extra storage space for cars, as well as a large film studio, an event space and conference rooms all for hire. Dudding even provides access to his cars, which serve as museum pieces, props for movies, and rentals.
The collection has vehicles dating back to 1911, specifically to a Vulcan 15.9 HP, through to 2017, with the most recent model being a 2017 Rolls Royce Wraith. It's diverse, yet focused in that it's primarily British cars. Interestingly, Dudding also has the world’s largest collection of the largely unknown Clyno marque, a British built range of cars, vans and motorcycles manufactured in the 1920 and '30s but now largely forgotten.
