Collecting seems to be an obsession. My mom had the collecting bug too. There are theories about why people collect, most likely it fills some psychological need. Even as a kid I'd collect rocks, minerals, feathers, coins, you name it. I figure it's harmless enough and keeps you out of trouble, though as you get older it can get expensive. Look at Jay Leno with his hundreds of classic cars, though I guess he can afford it.
I had a few friends who were into car collecting and restoration. One guy had British sports cars that he restored, and he was a walking encyclopedia on every aspect of those cars, every nut and bolt. He had several Jaguar XKEs, a Sunbeam Tiger (the car seen in the intro to the Get Smart TV show), and a Triumph TR-250.
I remember seeing a Ferrari 246 Dino for sale back in the 1970s for $8500. At the time that was a lot of money, and it needed some work, but I always regretted not jumping on that deal. Today a nice Dino at auction goes for between $300 K and $600 K depending on condition. They aren't that rare, but as the prices of higher end Ferraris have skyrocketed, they've all gone up -
I remember a much bigger opportunity back then was a Ferrari 275 GTB I saw for $17,500. Today those are in the millions -
The king though, is the Ferrari 250 GTO. Nick Mason of Pink Floyd has/had one of these, which now go for 10s of millions -