Petrolhead family parks classic car collection on neighbours’ drives

A pair of petrolhead brothers have decided to showcase just some of their collection of luxury vintage cars – on their neighbours’ drives.

Inspired by the late Queen Elizabeth II, Shoukat Ali, 49, and his brother Bugsy have a fleet of 100 cars including Rolls-Royces, Bentleys, Nissan Skyline GTR, and Porsches from a bygone era.

They own a dozen properties on Washwood Heath Road in Ward End, reports BirminghamLive, and store some of the motors around the front and back of their property.

They have so many cars they ask tenants to sign a written contract allowing them to park a Bentley or Rolls-Royce Phantom on driveways or at the back of homes. They even took a neighbour out for a spin on his 80th birthday as a thank-you for letting them leave a limousine on his drive.

Father-of-two, Bugsy, 47, said: “We’ve got 100 cars, we restore and sell classic cars at garages. We keep some of them on driveways outside.

“We own around a dozen houses on Washwood Heath Road and we’ve got a contract with some of the tenants to park a car on the driveway. 

“We leave one space and they are happy. They are neighbours from heaven. I’ve got one neighbour called Fred and he’s an army veteran. On his 80th birthday, we took him and his wife out to the local pub in a Rolls-Royce Limousine.

“He said it was the best birthday he had ever had. If they ask to move the car, we will.

“We like being able to see my cars everywhere. We like gazing at them.

“Even the local police are good to us and let us know when the car tax is up. Everyone knows us.”

Bugsy said their interest in motors from the 60s and 70s stems from childhood. “We’ve always been into cars.

“When I was a kid my uncle used to take me out in his Mini 1275 GT and our neighbour on Washwood Heath Road was a funeral director who used to have a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow.

“He used to take me out in it when I was 10-years-old. My uncles were car traders and we used to go to auctions when we were children.

“After the 90s, my uncle got me into keeping a few cars here and there. Everybody copies someone. I’m not copying Tik-Tokers, I’m copying the Queen. I loved her style, the glamour and she rode in a Rolls-Royce Phantom. I’ve got up to 20 Rolls-Royces from the 1960s.

“My favourite is the Rolls-Royce Corniche which I bought for £40,000 around two years ago. It’s elegant and beautiful. It’s got lambswool carpet throughout and you don’t get bumpers like that.

“The Rolls-Royce Limousines are linked to a duke who was the Queen’s cousin but I am not sure. I bought it from a car collector.” 

Bugsy admits he has no idea how much the cars are worth but he is just enchanted by them. He said: “Some of them are going to stay with me for life, others I will sell and then buy something on. I’ve got to make a living.”

His brother Shoukat added: “New cars are just plastic. Old cars are the best. If these were in a garage you would never see them.”

Fred Cartwright, 80, who allows the brothers to park a Rolls-Royce Phantom Limousine in his driveway, said: “They are good neighbours. I will ask him when I’m going out and he moves it. “He took me and the wife out for my 80th for a drive in it.”

Another local Kheizer Javad, 35, is one of the many passers-by who will stop in a day to talk about the motors, said: “I’m fascinated by the cars. They are very friendly and welcoming people.”