I bought first car aged 11 – now I'm the ‘Duke' dealer with garage full of 90s Ferraris & iconic Bentleys worth millions
The star owns several iconic cars, including Bentleys and Ferraris, which he sells from his high-end facility in West London.
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Merlin McCormack admitted to Top Gear that he had been lazy at school, before discovering that he had a gift for sales when he started selling tobacco.
That spiralled into a love for cars, with the future collector buying his first before he could even drive - a Peugeot 205, which he bought for £32 at the age of 11.
When he finally was able to drive a moped, he began selling cars.
Now, the star shows off his incredible collection of cars on Instagram.
His stock of vehicles includes 1990s Ferraris, Fiats, Aston Martins and even American classics from the 1960s - which have a collective worth of millions of pounds.
One Aston Martin V12 Vantage retails for an eyewatering £54,995 on his website.
A glamorous 1973 Fiat 124 Sport Coupe sells for £17,750 and car lovers could take the 1980 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow II home for £19,995.
Previously, the car dealer has sold a sleek, red 1992 Ferarri 512 TR LHD and a 2011 Bentley Continental Supersports.
Merlin stores his cars at a discreet location in West London, in an office he described as looking as though Terry Tibbs had decorated it.
The collector is known as the Duke of London, in a reference to the title awarded to Churchill after he saw the capital through The Blitz in World War Two.
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He added: 'Because he was humble and I guess haunted by war, he politely declined it.
'But I was arrogant enough to anoint myself as Duke of London.'
The name became his Instagram handle too, when Merlin realised he needed something 'catchy'.
He has now racked up a staggering number of followers, with 73,800 following him on the social media platform.
However, he admitted that his friends find his love for selling cars 'weird' before he became successful.
Merlin said: 'They thought it was weird.
'And they still do to be fair.
'But we were the weird kids at school anyway... we made a little bit of money but then we'd reinvest it and lose it or waste it – it wasn't until the market started picking up around 2012 we saw an opportunity, and that's become Duke of London.'
Now, Merlin wants to expand his empire even further and is already refurbishing his storage space to accommodate a car meet-up venue and even a cafe and restaurant.
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