Local Automotive Enthusiasts Are Building More Than Collections,
They’re Building Communities Writer // Janelle Morrison • Photography // Submitted
We were pleased to speak with Mike Simmons, founder of SILO Auto Club in Indianapolis, Jay Farmer, a principle of The Motor District in Westfield, and Chris Diasio, president of Putnam Park Road Course in Greencastle. All three of these automotive enthusiasts have something in common besides being enthusiasts and collectors—they are building a community that is bringing together current and future automotive collectors in a fun and unique way.
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immons, Farmer and Diasio are thrilled to be sponsors of the 15th year of Artomobilia—Indiana’s premier automotive event featuring a weekend of exhilarating experiences and its flagship event that is hosted in the heart of Carmel, Indiana. We spoke with each of the three aforementioned sponsors about their respective properties and the enthusiast/ collector culture that they are building.
SILO Auto Club – Indianapolis
What started out of necessity for car storage became a passion for bringing car enthusiasts together for a more social aspect of car collecting. Simmons moved from Zionsville to downtown Indianapolis and wanted easy access to his collector cars. He purchased a building that was more space than he needed, and the SILO Auto Club was soon after established. Today, the club has evolved into a vibrant and hip social club for its members. “We ended up building out the club, put in a kitchen and got a liquor license,” Simmons shared. “We’re a private club for car people. We’ve got members from the Lockerbie area and throughout downtown
that have relatively expensive real estate but no room for car storage. We also have folks from Fishers, Carmel, Zionsville, the southside and from all over who keep their cars at the club. We also host a number of events at the club on a regular basis.” The SILO is hosting a new series, “The Pitz’ Stop with John Pitz,” in collaboration with Artomobilia co-founder John Pitz. “We’re starting to do more events with music, and we asked John [Pitz] to help us out,” Simmons shared. “He’s such a great guy, and we’ve started a monthly series kind of thing where we’ll do car-oriented panels and interviews. The first one was with John and Paul Page, which was a lot of fun. We might do some around vintage racing, rallies and around [car] collecting. So, the series will be an automotive enthusiast-themed topic every month as we go forward.” The SILO Auto Club houses 60–65 cars in its main facility, and Simmons shared that they have recently expanded into another building just down the street that can house an additional 40–50 more. “We’re looking at potentially expanding the building and looking at other storage options there in the building,” Simmons said. “As we come out of COVID, we’re beginning to think about [expanding] a little bit more proactively.” For more information on SILO Auto Club, visit siloautoclub.com/silo-auto-club-conservancy/.
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