When I was a kid I had a few old mowers. Back where I used to live people would just put them out to the curb for trash pickup (doesn't work like that where I live no so between that and the scrappers its harder to get them). Anyway, I knew very little about small engines back them, but I remember fondly a old Rally high wheel push mower that I would use to mow lawns in the neighborhood. Fast frward to a few years ago, and we needed a mower at the new house. I didn't feel like paying an $300+ for a decent one, so I went on Craigslist, found a Brute in nice shape that needed an engine, got a mower with a good engine, and built it. I enjoyed it so much I started doing more and reselling them. Turns out you can make pretty decent side cash, especially when you make them look really nice and can charge a bit more.
Of course, now my garage is pretty full of the buggers, and I went from having the Brute two eight or so mowers I don't want to part with!
Its a far cry from my basic Rally mower though. My collection today includes a 80's 2-cycle Lawn Boy, a late 70's Simplicity, an 80's Toro with the much sought after 2-cycle Suzuki engine, another Toro with a very rare Briggs and Stratton 2-cycle engine (of which I have 2), an older Craftsman, the Brute, a 90's Poulan Pro, the Wheel Grand Prix, a Honda HRB215, and the Ariens pulling everyday duty.
The older ones are quite rare, while the newer ones I like for various reason. I want to find an even older lawn mower eventually, and there's a few engines (older and newer) that I'd like to have. Is it lawn mower overload? Well maybe, but they take up way less space than cars do!
A lot of ppl go onto Craigslist to find a brute in nice shape that needs something.