(April 15, 2012) DOWNINGTOWN, Pa. — Charlie Mallon has been acquiring Chevrolet items for 40 years — Chevrolet signs, racing flags, coffee table books, soda cans, hats, belts, shirts, playing cards, drinking glasses, posters, tractor trailers, a biplane and miniature cars — lots of miniature cars.

The 54-year-old auto dealership consultant hopes to soon add a Guinness World Records title to his collection.

Mallon laid out 2,181 different Chevrolet items Wednesday night at the Downingtown West High School in an attempt at what would be a newly created Guinness World Records category for “Largest Collection of Chevrolet Memorabilia.” Most of Mallon’s collection centers on the Chevrolet Corvette, a car he’s admired since he was a child.

“I appreciate all cars, but there’s something special about the Corvette,” Mallon said. “It’s the look. It’s the sound. It’s the mystique. Everything about the Corvette makes it the American sports car.”

Mallon has thousands of miniature Corvette cars that he put on display at the local high school gymnasium. He also owns a 2005 Corvette coupe and previously owned a 1965 Corvette Coupe. “Corvettes have always turned my head,” Mallon said.

He decided to go for a Guinness World Records title after realizing just how many items he had collected over the years. Whenever he went on a vacation or business trip, he would always make time to find another piece of Chevrolet memorabilia.

In order to qualify for a record, Mallon had several witnesses, including a certified public accountant, verify the number of items in his collection and will submit a formal application to the Guinness World Records organization for review.

He wanted to set a world record partly out of curiosity about whether he did have the largest collection and partly to “validate my insanity to my wife,” he said. He might not know for weeks whether he has the record, and he admits someone else could try to break it. Either way, he wanted to make an attempt at setting the first Guinness World Records title in this category.

“I guess it’s just a personal challenge,” Mallon said. “It always blows people away when they walk into my basement and see all the items. I’ve been collecting so long that I wondered if I had the most.”