We meet in a modernist house from the late 1940s and early 1950s. It is a family heirloom, full of unique items; every one of them remembers a time before World War II. Each could tell us fascinating stories that we rarely hear today.

The history of the house is no less turbulent than the fate of the BMWs gathered in the Bonaventura Classic Collection. Suffice it to say, because of a confluence of events, the family sold the house and the purchaser remodelled it, changing its shape completely and destroying its architectural style and beauty.

The founder of the Collection promised himself that the day would come when he would buy the house back. This is where his grandfather lived, this is where the BMW was once parked in the driveway, thanks to which you now hold this album in your hands. The promise he made has finally come through. Painstaking work undertaken to restore the previous form of the building has resulted in its present look – the same as its gifted architect intended in the 1940s. So, the house has once again become an elegant villa, worthy of having a conversation about dream cars in it.

Car collecting is a disease. It starts innocently enough with one thing – the fulfilment of a dream. The host-collector tells me a personal story about the rise of his fascination.

In my case, first there was a specific idea: I wanted my grandfather’s car. It was a 1969 BMW 2000, which I liked very much. I was only a couple of years old in the early 1970s, but I remember that this car attracted so much attention, as if it were a space vehicle.