At first glance, one would never expect thousands of dollars in twisted metal to be buried under Dmitry Lomakov's dust-covered canvas tarps. But a second look reveals that's just what is there.
In the corner of his dank garage sits a black luxury sedan, none other than the ZIS-110 limousine given by Josef Stalin to Patriarch Alexy I as thanks for the church's support during World War II.
Two meters away, under a pile of old car seats and paint jars hunkers a Katyusha, the revolutionary military vehicle that surprised German troops in World War II with its rapid-fire rockets. Lomakov's Katyusha is one of only two originals left in the world. The other sits in the Ford museum in the US.
They are just a few of the 85 antique cars and motorcycles to be displayed in the soon-to-open Moscow Museum of Antique Cars and Motorcycles -- Lomakovka. After nine years of wrangling with Moscow city authorities, Lomakov and his family's cars will be open for public inspection as early as this September.
"To have these treasures, to know what they mean and what they are worth to enthusiasts, to spend the time to renovate them to their original state, and then to keep them in a garage, it's upsetting," said Lomakov, 31, sporting jeans, a button-down shirt and a sizeable belly. He would not say how much the collection is worth because, he said, "I don't need the mafia around making a mess of things."
The Lomakov family's collecting dates back to 1964 when Lomakov's father, Alexander, happened upon a Horch, the German equivalent of a Rolls Royce. Not knowing that it was a valuable antique, he sold it cheaply. A few months after selling the car, Alexander Lomakov realized what the Horch he had sold really was and went back to the man to whom he had sold it, only to discover the car had already been sold and resold several times. Finally, he traced the car to the Pskov region where an old farmer had already cut it to pieces with a blowtorch and made it into a tractor.
Alexander Lomakov returned to Moscow to look for another Horch. After a few months, he found one -- a 1935 Horch-853, a special issue that had been named "automobile of the year" in Paris. Thus started the Lomakov family collection.
Dmitry Lomakov, also president of the Russian Club of Antique Automobile and Motorcycle Lovers, himself started collecting when his father gave him a beat up motorcycle for his 12th birthday. Now, he works full time at collecting and renovating. To pay the bills, he rents his cars out for film shoots, some of which include the Soviet classics "Variant Omega" and "Greetings! I'm Your Aunt." The centerpiece of the nascent museum's motorcycle collection is a1970 Harley Davidson military-issue bike, which alone took nine months to fix up.
"I was going to sell this one when my brother needed money a while back, but I couldn't part with it," Lomakov said. "No, I'm keeping this as proof of the work we can do. This Harley is my business card."
In 1988 he proposed opening the museum with the city government and since then he has been in what he describes as a bureaucratic hell of filling out paperwork. "My family was offering them our collection as a state treasure, something the entire city could show off and be proud of," Lomakov said. "They should be paying me!"
But a few months ago, one of his dozens of letters landed on Mayor Yury Luzhkov's desk, and in black-inked resolution Luzhkov wrote in large letters, "The automotive museum will be in Moscow!"
Dmitry Lomakov was adamant that the museum bear his name. "I fought so that the politicians wouldn't be in charge, wouldn't own the museum. ... What do they know of art, of the appreciation of elite culture? They would burn the place to the ground with mismanagement."
Now, Dmitry Lomakov has possession of a plot of land near metro Lyublino big enough to accommodate the 560-square meter exhibition hall. Add to that $140,000 in sponsorships, and Lomakov said he has the funds necessary to open the museum.
For more information on the museum, call 356-7995.
In the corner of his dank garage sits a black luxury sedan, none other than the ZIS-110 limousine given by Josef Stalin to Patriarch Alexy I as thanks for the church's support during World War II.
Two meters away, under a pile of old car seats and paint jars hunkers a Katyusha, the revolutionary military vehicle that surprised German troops in World War II with its rapid-fire rockets. Lomakov's Katyusha is one of only two originals left in the world. The other sits in the Ford museum in the US.
They are just a few of the 85 antique cars and motorcycles to be displayed in the soon-to-open Moscow Museum of Antique Cars and Motorcycles -- Lomakovka. After nine years of wrangling with Moscow city authorities, Lomakov and his family's cars will be open for public inspection as early as this September.
"To have these treasures, to know what they mean and what they are worth to enthusiasts, to spend the time to renovate them to their original state, and then to keep them in a garage, it's upsetting," said Lomakov, 31, sporting jeans, a button-down shirt and a sizeable belly. He would not say how much the collection is worth because, he said, "I don't need the mafia around making a mess of things."
The Lomakov family's collecting dates back to 1964 when Lomakov's father, Alexander, happened upon a Horch, the German equivalent of a Rolls Royce. Not knowing that it was a valuable antique, he sold it cheaply. A few months after selling the car, Alexander Lomakov realized what the Horch he had sold really was and went back to the man to whom he had sold it, only to discover the car had already been sold and resold several times. Finally, he traced the car to the Pskov region where an old farmer had already cut it to pieces with a blowtorch and made it into a tractor.
Alexander Lomakov returned to Moscow to look for another Horch. After a few months, he found one -- a 1935 Horch-853, a special issue that had been named "automobile of the year" in Paris. Thus started the Lomakov family collection.
Dmitry Lomakov, also president of the Russian Club of Antique Automobile and Motorcycle Lovers, himself started collecting when his father gave him a beat up motorcycle for his 12th birthday. Now, he works full time at collecting and renovating. To pay the bills, he rents his cars out for film shoots, some of which include the Soviet classics "Variant Omega" and "Greetings! I'm Your Aunt." The centerpiece of the nascent museum's motorcycle collection is a1970 Harley Davidson military-issue bike, which alone took nine months to fix up.
"I was going to sell this one when my brother needed money a while back, but I couldn't part with it," Lomakov said. "No, I'm keeping this as proof of the work we can do. This Harley is my business card."
In 1988 he proposed opening the museum with the city government and since then he has been in what he describes as a bureaucratic hell of filling out paperwork. "My family was offering them our collection as a state treasure, something the entire city could show off and be proud of," Lomakov said. "They should be paying me!"
But a few months ago, one of his dozens of letters landed on Mayor Yury Luzhkov's desk, and in black-inked resolution Luzhkov wrote in large letters, "The automotive museum will be in Moscow!"
Dmitry Lomakov was adamant that the museum bear his name. "I fought so that the politicians wouldn't be in charge, wouldn't own the museum. ... What do they know of art, of the appreciation of elite culture? They would burn the place to the ground with mismanagement."
Now, Dmitry Lomakov has possession of a plot of land near metro Lyublino big enough to accommodate the 560-square meter exhibition hall. Add to that $140,000 in sponsorships, and Lomakov said he has the funds necessary to open the museum.
For more information on the museum, call 356-7995.