Lansing Man’s Incredible Car Collection: Replicas, Classics and More
Lansing's own Aaron Anthony Aikman has quite the collection of cars that includes his own recreations of iconic vehicles from popular culture including the "Mystery Machine", "The Batmobile" and more!
About Aaron Aikman
Aikman lives near downtown Lansing and says he's been in love with cars since he was a kid and has a feeling that love started from his dad being a mechanic.
Unfortunately, his dad passed before they could ever bond over cars but when he was 14 a neighbor moved in who raced cars at Spartan Speedway and Aikman was able to help him build three racecars.
He got his first car of his own that he says was "the ugliest foreign car you ever saw" but eventually saved up to get what he really wanted, 1975 Oldsmobile Cutlass.
Aikman then went on to graduate class of 1990 from Eastern High School and furthered his education with an associates degree in auto and diesel technology from Indianapolis' Lincoln Technical Institute.
He returned back to Lansing, and that's where the collection and the builds began.
The Passion For Building & Collecting Cars
"My inspiration for building these cars are they are vehicles that I want in my collection," Aikman said. "I have a wish list of over 150 cars I want in my collection!"
He started checking off that wish list and building the cars when he wanted to help his cousin who had been doing a haunted house in the area since 1975. He started to build "the Reaper's ride coffin car" and in the process, found a hearse that would be given new life...instead of, you, know.
Let's take a look at how that collection has grown over the years:
Lansing Man's Incredible Car Collection
What's To Come For Aikman
In our correspondence, Aikman's love for cars was apparent. He even shared about how he and his wife had a full-on, automotive-themed wedding in 2016 at the Oldsmobile Homecoming Car Show.
"We used my 1981 Cadillac Eldorado that I built back in 1997 as the backdrop of our alter space for our ceremony and then had 6 other beautiful Oldsmobiles surounding our guests," Aikman said. "I built several oddities out of engines for the wedding such as piston candle Abra's for the alter and a piston table for our unity candle, took my huge remote control escalade and turned it into our card box for at the reception!"
As far as what is to come next for the lifelong car connoisseur, Aikman is not slowing down any time soon!
He said, "I have two definite cars I really want in my collection but they are very expensive so it may take a while I want to build a general Lee from the dukes of Hazzard but it's at least $20.000 for the 1969 dodge charger and that needs to be restored first!"
The second dream car, Aikman says, is "the 'Back to the Future' DeLorean but it's $30,000 to $50,000 just for the DeLorean!"
If you are interested in meeting up with Aikman or seeing some of his incredible collection, you can stop by the Lansing Historical Museum this weekend, on July 24.
Aikman also says he doesn't get much money out of bringing these cars out and primarily brings them for free to charity events.