Garage Style Magazine Issue 20

magazine

Spring 2013

On stands until April 2013

Jack’s Auto Crib

Examining PremierGarage XKs to the Unlimited Rescue Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

1

2

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

3

contents 20

34

features 20

Jack’s Autocrib

24

Outlaws in Oregon

28

Mario’s Tackle Box

30

Putting the Sty in Style

34

The Indian Bay Garage

38

Tailored Living Featuring PremierGarage to the Rescue

42

One Man’s ‘Cars of Dreams’ Garage

46

Garages in History

30 4

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

departments 6

Publisher’s Note

8

Lance’s Column

10

Phil’s Column

11

Personal Notes

12

Garage News

18

Office Profile

50

Automobilia Outlook

52

Barn Finds

54

Personality Profile

58

Grub in the Garage

Dispatches from the Ultimate Garage Tour

58

John Hannukaine

Meet Chris Duke

Business Profile XKs Unlimited

68

64 64

Artist Profile

66

Unique Artists

68

Automobile Review

70

Book Reviews

72

Buyer’s Guide

78

Matt’s Column

80

Garage Meanings

82

Garage Bazaar

Roy Putt

Al DiMauro Breck Rothage Peter Hearsey

2013 Morgan 3 Wheeler

Uncle Sol’s Garage

David Ochser

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

5

Publisher’s

note Growing Up Garage

G

rowing up, I was all about cars. My favorite books were all about cars, likely my favorite being Richard M. Langworth’s “Complete Book of Collectible Cars 1940-1980.” My nose was in that book a boatload more often than any school book – likely why I knew so many stats and figures about cars built well before my time. By the time I was 15, I had a book collection to rival many car collectors triple my age, and it’s likely I still have each one. But, no matter how interesting my book collection was, it’s amazing to me today how many slick garages surrounded me at such a young age.

My Scoutmaster, Walt Wood, and his uberorganized garage proved it didn’t have to be cold to be organized. He and his family designed and built the cabinets and drawers and benches and so on of pine, lending a warmth to the garage. Large overhead fluorescents lit the space up like New York at New Years, and his dedication to using every square centimeter ensured that each tool had a home, each canoe had a place, and every dirt bike was placed properly when not in use. But it never looked cluttered or filled.

Then there was a friend of the family, Bob Brinkman: a major businessman in the town I grew up in who owned more real estate in the city than the city itself. He had a car collection that’d make your jaw drop, and he was super quiet about it – he enjoyed it, he let his friends enjoy it, but he never made too big a deal about it. The warehouse in which it was kept was a 1920’s brick building that someone told me originally produced doors for homes. It was a typical playboy pad, and I think it might have influenced me more than even I wish it had – lots of amazing vehicles and tons of toys, a massive casino collection, gourmet kitchen, no rhyme or reason, and lord knows what else. During high school and part of college, I got to work for Bob keeping the cars clean and the garage somewhat tidy, tasks I might have done for free just to be around all those cars. He had three of my favorites: a double white Lamborghini Countach, a Rolls-Royce Silver Spur coined ‘Mauve Lace’ by its former owner, cult leader Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, due to its custom paint depicting a lace pattern atop a mauve background, and a dark blue Mercedes 300SL Gull Wing. Beyond that, he had a number of cars that became favorites such as a pink 1956 Lincoln Premier convertible, a black-black 1988 Ferrari Testarossa, a 1988 Porsche 911 Turbo, and a 1990 Corvette ZR-1 to name a few.

The garage at the house in which I was raised was pretty neat too – nothing really special, a basic two-car garage with stalls separated by a wall. Built in 1920, it was more of a storage garage than a car garage – Model Ts could fit, but not much more. Made of wood, it was drafty, and leaned a bit to the left so the two double doors didn’t often close all that well, but I do recall spending a lot of time in there during my teen years and early 20’s with friends tinkering on the latest jalopy or some project or other, or just alone listening to whatever the radio would pick up on the air.

When I got my first apartment it came with a single-car garage, complete with an electric opener that my 80-something year old landlady said was, “state of the art.” I didn’t care so much about that – I had my own garage, and that was the important thing. My Fiat, Mustang, and Toyota 4x4 pick up each at one time or another called the garage home. The Lincoln Mark IV and Caprice had trouble fitting in the space, so they normally stayed outside, under a cover, usually at Mom and Dad’s house.

When you weave all the garages together, to me, it makes an interesting tapestry. Walt’s garage was the organized, workabee place, a place where anything could be done because everything was in its place; Bob’s garage was the collection, a place for everything, no matter what it was, with no rhyme or reason; the garage at Mom and Dad’s was the all American jumble, a place for extras and necessities, a place that had a lot of heart; the college garage, a single-car space with just enough space for one vehicle and a couple odds-and-ends, but a first start for a guy just out of M&D’s. Put them all together and we have the ultimate garage – a place to keep organized all your worldly possessions, a place to work, a place to collect, and a place to “be.”

I suppose everyone has a garage tapestry – what’s yours look like?

Happy New Year, Don Weberg Editor-Publisher

6

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

Garage style Editor-Publisher Don Weberg

magazine

Art Director Web Designer – Coordinator Kari McDaniel Business Development Manager Michele Weberg Columinists Lance Lambert Phil Berg Matt Stone Arts Editor Jeremiah McDaniel Contributors Robin DePry Bob Estrada John Gunnell Iain Curry Steve McCarthy Dr. Rick Rader Bill Nakasone Terry Doran T. Byrd Specialized Photographers Booker Dale Quinio Brittney Kincannon Tim Sutton Bruno Ratensperger Editorial Intern Ariana Spero Advertising – Public Relations Cindy Meitle 480.277.1864 | cindy@garagestylemagazine.com Advertising Doug Holland 910.398.8307 | douglas@hhpr.biz Carmen Price 714.276.5285 | cprice291@yahoo.com Subscriptions – Address Changes GSM P.O. Box 18479 Anaheim, CA 92817 800.999.9718 Garage Style Magazine is Published Quarterly by Weberg Media Group, Inc. 271 W. Imperial Hwy. Suite B La Habra, CA 90631 www.garagestylemagazine.com Not responsible for undelivered issues due to late change of address.

Not responsible for issues delivered damaged.

All rights reserved by Garage Style Magazine, Inc. Printed in the United States by American Web Printers

Lance’s

column

Grub in the Garage By

Lance Lambert

F

or many of you, the garage is a place of peace and pleasure.

Within it you repair your classic car, build your hot rod, display your treasures, and enjoy laughter with your friends.

Have you ever considered using your garage to help charities?

For the past few years, the Lambert Garage has been the location for several gatherings. I have hosted car club potlucks, held a bachelor party, barbequed burgers for the neighborhood motor heads, and let a photographer use it for a pinup model photo session. Twentysix television commercials have been taped in the garage and actor/musician/comedian Ken Boynton used it for a production that was broadcast on MTV. The most fun use for the garage is to help raise funds for various charities. The Pinup Angels used it to help raise money for military care packages and the Mustangs Northwest car club used it twice to raise funds for a local food bank and Children’s Orthopedic Hospital.

Occasionally I have had the opportunity to be the auctioneer at charity auctions. It occurred to me that some of the auction patrons might enjoy

8

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

an evening dining amongst the neon signs, gas pumps, and dealership displays that occupy a lot of the garage’s square footage. At an auction a few years ago, I offered to provide a bountiful barbeque for the winning bidder and nine friends. The bidders decided this was a desirable item and bidder’s hands began to raise. Hundreds of dollars had been bid by the time the last hand was in the air. The same thing has happened each time the “grub in the garage” gathering has been offered.

Upon arrival, the auction winners are treated to hors d’oeuvres and a tour. Dinner is then served and my wife Jan and I do our best throughout the evening to cater to all of the guest’s requests. The various items on display encourage them to share their own automotive memories. The laughter grows as the evening progresses and additional auto adventures and misadventures are shared. We have also offered to accommodate guests overnight if they feel that it would be best not to drive after the party.

Do you enjoy showing off your garage? Do you have any favorite charities? Have you considered combining the two? Garages from simple single-car structures to multi-story palaces can be turned into charity fundraising machines.

If there is enough space for a table and a few chairs, then you have all that you need to help a charity by offering to host an event in your garage. Be it an evening of hot dogs and hot rods or caviar and Classics, opening your garage and your heart will be appreciated.

Phil Berg’s Dispatches from the Ultimate Garage Tour

What Makes the Best Garage?

Museum, Store, Display Case, Workshop-A Piece of Each is Necessary

“T

railer Queen” is a special term that guys like to use to describe a car. The general population thinks the label refers to either double-wide community Diva or a flamboyantly dressed parade entertainer.

As a car, a Trailer Queen is something like a low-mileage classic Mercedes with the letter K in its name, or a Duesenberg with a J, one that has been so painstakingly restored that Mayo Clinic surgeons wearing latex gloves are not allowed to touch its door handles – research and Watergate lore shows that surgical gloves are so thin they sometimes leave fingerprints. The Trailer Queen is therefore only driven in order to get the automatic chassis lubrication pump to oil the suspension bushings, never to get dirty by covering silly fast miles on a clear road. Most of us don’t like Trailer Queens.

So, is a garage full of Trailer Queens really a garage? Or is it a display case? Sorry, loaded question.

To the converse, the original factory for the famed Cosworth racing engine empire began life as a dirt-floor blacksmith shop. In fact, a lot of pieces of precision machinery from famous classic and desirable automobiles have been milled and lathed in dark and damp barns so sodden with moisture-saturated wood that you could probably press your thumbnail into the interior side of the unfinished siding and it would leave a depression a quarter inch deep. Nobody who has ever spent time in such a structure has never contracted bronchitis. You cannot store an oily screwdriver in this type of environment without it rusting. But this is our automotive history.

Your Uncle Ed may have a similar place, where about four old lawnmowers await restoration.

We don’t like these places for our cars, no matter their heritage.

A third type of structure that can be called a garage, of course, are places where we all grew up spending a lot of

10

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

time: dealerships, independent repair shops, and fuel stations (not C-stores), where a lot of fully-stocked rolling professional tool boxes surround heavy-duty lifts. Here, there are always shop lots filled with two types of cars parked. First, there are some very nicely running versions of Jaguar E-Types with funny-colored paint that run spectacularly well. Or Mercedes SL roadsters with steel wheels. They’re great to look at, and to examine for the small details such as heavily chromed ashtray surrounds, or neatly rounded valve covers on too-long six cylinder engines. Yet these cars are temporary, mere commodities of a professional mechanic trying to flip cars to bolster his living.

And parked right next to these fullsize Grand Touring machines there are some neat little Bugeye Sprites or Opel GTs that are not for sale, but are the mechanics’ homely, irrational daily drivers. But that’s it. A commercial garage is kind of like a brothel: only fun to look at once while you figure out there’s nothing there you should have.

Finally, there are garages where stanchions and foam-board signs are leaned up against the bumpers of all the cars inside. These are museums, which are places of education, of learning, where you would bring a third grade classroom.

Museums are fantastic places to see cars you’ll never see out on the road, the same as a giant display case for Trailer Queens. You can visit, but you can’t touch. And that’s great for oil paintings and abstracts, but not for cars.

So somewhere in the middle of these extremes are the environments that we call our ultimate garages, and they contain a piece of each of the four places described above: tools, cool gadget displays, cars or bikes you have listed on eBay, and a prize machine that you don’t let anybody touch.

The best garages have a few of each.

Garage

news

SEMA Show Boasts Thousands of Great Garage Products Text and Images by Bill Nakasone, Chad Conrad, and Don Weberg

Garage Style Magazine staffers and volunteers converged in Las Vegas, Nevada to conquer the 2012 SEMA Show. As usual, it was a blast, but maybe more so this year than some others due to the ride. Publisher Don Weberg and his lifelong friend, Chad Conrad, travelled from Southern California to Vegas by way of a new Fiat 500 Abarth. Packing a 160-horsepower, 1.4-liter, turbocharged and intercooled inline-4 with a 5-speed (yes, 5) manual delivering power to the front wheels, the Abarth proved more than a competent ride, it proved fun, solid, serious, and even comfortable. Sprayed in arrest-me Rosso with white sport stripe and matching wheels and a black and red leather interior, the test car was fully loaded – portable TomTom navigation, Satellite radio, and massive glass moonroof to take in all the glittering lights towering each side of the strip all added up to a much more enjoyable car than average. And speaking of average, we calculated a sweet 30mpg average.

Once at the show it was all business – sweep the halls and meet the people who make the great products we all know and love. Below are a few that we found of particular interest.

For more pictures of SEMA, visit our website at www.garagestylemagazine.com.

Moduline Neonetics

12

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

Pit Stop Furniture

Covercraft

Ferrari Club of America Celebrates 50 Anni di Passione (50 Years of Passion) Text and Images by

Nika Rolczewski What better venue than sunny Southern California for a gathering of prancing horse enthusiasts?

As the home of the 2012 Ferrari Club of America National meet, Palm Springs, known as the playground for the Hollywood elite, became the playground for 115 cars and 300 plus club members from across North America.

For 50 years, the Ferrari Club of America has been in existence, 18 in the Southwest, bringing together cars and more importantly, people to ride, drive, explore, and enjoy Italy’s most recognizable symbol.

This year’s fun-filled events included a reception and seminars, and always the favorite: “Mercato” where guests could shop for all things Ferrari.

The track days were held at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway – a 2.68-mile driving oasis, hidden in the desert. As in past events, drivers are placed in the run groups they are most comfortable with. Coaches and staff were available to assist the rookie or the seasoned racer to commander the 17 turns and improve their driving skill.

The Rally was for those guests that love competition but also for those that just enjoy scenery and a spirited drive. The

local hills provided the backdrop with switchbacks and desert scenery that was picture postcard perfect. The day finished under the shadow of Marilyn Monroe in downtown Palm Springs.

Coming to this Ferrari Mecca, the one event not to be missed was the concours. Where else can a guest view some of the rarest Ferraris ever produced? From the Ferrari 250 GTO to the exclusive Ferrari Enzo super car, the chrome and carbon fiber dazzled under the hot sun.

Palm Springs has a rich history with Ferrari – the marquee won nine of the 14 main event races including top three finishes at the 1953 Palm Springs race.

In 1956 legend Carroll Shelby raced a 410 Sport to victory twice including a nail biting battle against another well known name, Phil Hill.

This long weekend was not just about the cars that Enzo built. It’s the camaraderie amongst the oldest car club of its kind in North America. The passion has been around for 50 years and will certainly only grow in the future.

Gabriel Voisin Exhibit Opens at Mullin Having amassed the largest collection of Voisin automobiles ever displayed, the Mullin Automotive Museum opened the exhibit honoring Gabriel Voisin and the works related to his namesake. Some of the most advanced and luxurious cars from the turn of the last century, Voisin automobiles today are largely unknown, yet represent a pinnacle of engineering achievement and deco design. Peter Mullin, founder of the Mullin Automotive Museum, has spent a sizeable portion of his life seeking out Voisin creations, and has done a remarkable job assembling a collection of vehicles and memorabilia charting the works and life of Gabriel Voisin. In all, there are 17 Voisin vehicles on display, including a motorcycle, and numerous photographs, and historical artifacts. www.MullinAutomotiveMuseum.com

ReadyCase Introduces New Multifunction Case for iPhone 4/4S/5 People who love functional and handsome design will appreciate the new ReadyCase. Not only does it encapsulate and protect iPhones from dirt and debris, it also contains some exceptionally useful tools. A clip to keep headphones closeby and tangle free, an 8 or 16 gig thumbdrive that doubles as a kickstand to allow hands-free viewing, and of course, data storage on the go, an attachment for iPhonespecific lenses to enhance photo and video gathering, and a

multi-tool are just a few of the benefits the new case offers.

“If I’m going to carry something around, it should be useful,” said ReadyCase’s co-founder Tony Vallone.

Made of aerospace-grade composites, it’s lightweight, thin, and strong. To boot, ordering a ReadyCase also benefits charities with Indiegogo.com. Within the first 21 days, nearly $50,000 had been raised through the sales of ReadyCase multifunction cases.

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

13

Maradyne introduces Junior Jet 150 portable air compressor Long in the business of producing enviable bits of equipment, Maradyne recently brought about the Junior Jet 150 portable air compressor. Designed to supply 150 psi of air, it’s perfect for vehicle tires, bikes, inflatable items, and more. Because it’s portable, it’s perfect for use roadside, in the garage, at the track or on camping.

Maradyne promises low noise and high airflow design to quickly deliver air through a 27-inch high pressure air hose equipped with a quick-release thumb twist valve connector. It has an

average fill rate of 7-pounds per minute on a 16-inch automotive tire.

Equipped with a built-in air pressure gauge rated to 150 psi and a flashlight, they’ve obviously been considering safety and evening usage. Nicely too, the body is constructed of heavy duty materials, and the direct drive motor is both gearless and oil free creating a maintenance-free device. Also, Maradyne has created a number of accessories to accompany the tool, making it more useful for various situations. www.MaradyneHP.com

New Maserati Quattroporte to debut at Detroit North American Auto Show Having gained a successful foothold again in the US market and abroad, Maserati is giving its flagship sedan a gentle restyling. The Trident company has also announced that it will increase production to 50,000 units per year by the end of 2015.

“This growth is a challenge for which Maserati has carefully prepared itself,” said Harald Wester, CEO of Maserati. “This exciting progression will make the new Maserati a true global player with two new production sites in two different continents and a heart solidly planted in Modena, Italy.”

Expect a number of subtle and not-so-subtle changes to be seen with the new Quattroporte, including a revised drivetrain, a restyled body and interior, and a number of driving refinements. In all, the new Qporte will look to the future, but remind through design cues of Maserati’s elegent and storied past. www.MaseratiQuattroporte.com

Milwaukee’s Masterpiece: Car Art in the Park Text and Images by

John Gunnell

A

rt plays a big role in Milwaukee’s vibrant lakefront architecture. There’s the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial – a cantilevered cruciform structure that once housed the Milwaukee Art Center – and the swooping Santiago Calatrava-designed Milwaukee Art Museum that replaced it. And each August, the Milwaukee Masterpiece of Style & Speed unfolds in nearby Veterans Park, giving the city a taste of classic automotive artworks by Gordon Bruehrig, Harley Earl, Brooks Stevens, Alexis deSaffnofsky, William Mitchell, Frank Hershey, Richard Teague, Chuck Jordan, and other greats in car design.

The 2012 Milwaukee Masterpiece took place Aug. 24-25, and celebrated the rich history and beauty of cars, trucks and motorcycles made throughout the world. Participants brought their classic vehicles from throughout the United States, as well as from the Great Lakes Region. The Best of Show winning 1930 Rolls Royce Phantom I Sedanca deVille was shown by Richard Mitchell of Montgomery, Texas, while author and historian Josh Malks stopped in Milwaukee with his 1936 Cord 810 Westchester sedan while traveling from Capitola, California to the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Homecoming in Auburn, Indiana.

Melvin Lilly’s 1917 Harley Davidson Model F side car bike took honors in the ‘Ride with the Wind” class – one of two devoted to vintage motorcycles – after coming all the way from Darlington, Pennsylvania. As for trucks, Concours Motors came only from as far as the Milwaukee suburb of Glendale with its 1965 Volkswagen 251 Microbus to capture the Teutonic Touring & Track Award in class 200.

Special classes at this year’s Masterpiece spotlighted the 1912 Vanderbilt Cup race in Milwaukee and the Mercedes and Fiat marques. An Electric Car class was planned, though it encountered some difficulty in getting a sufficienrt number of vehicles to actually come. There was also a new Post-1973 Exotics class featuring a Lamborghini Countach, Ferrari F599, and McLaren MP4-12C. Marking its 100th anniversary in 2012, the Vanderbilt Cup was one of the most prestigious automobile races in the world when it came to Milwaukee in 1912. The venue attracted the world’s top drivers and racing machines from the United States and Europe. Some say it was and still is the most significant international automobile sporting event to ever take place in Milwaukee.

The special class included cars such as a 1909 Blitzen Benz, 1912 Mercer, 1910 Fiat S74, and 1908 Mercedes Brookland, the latter two on loan from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame. Noted race historian and writer Joel E. Finn of Connecticut was at the 2012 Masterpiece for a special seminar that tried to capture each hair-raising turn in the race. Finn also discussed Milwaukee’s lasting impact on the “great sporting events of the day.”

Ian and Susan Furness own this unrestored ’39 SS100 open two seater.

With Fiat in spotlight, John and Lisa Weinberger brought their ’35 Balilla 508 MM Spyder with Ghia coachwork.

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

15

Black sidewall tires lent an air of authenticity to Tim Dudley’s Derham-bodied ’38 Packard Model 1608 twelve-cylinder Convertible Victoria.

Bill McCauley’s ’56 Mercury Montclair convertible is an orphan car today.

Show Chairman Leon Flagg said that more car clubs than ever before attended Saturday’s Club Day, which attracted members of national hobby organizations, local clubs and one-marque associations. The show’s Sunday Concours d’Elegance honored specially-invited antique and classic, muscle machines and vintage racing champions. Flagg and his class chairpeople circulate through other shows all year long looking for cars to invite to Milwaukee.

This year’s slection of vehicles was probably the highest in quality ever amassed at this event, but it was also a year that Mother Nature chose to bless drought-stricken Wisconsin farmers with much-needed rain on the day of the invitational.

So, while Club Day unfolded smoothly and leisurely beneath Saturday’s sunny skies, the Sunday activities were accelerated, allowing the classic cars to retreat to their trailers while the owners scurried under sturdy, weatherproof tents for eats and awards.

The Milwaukee Masterpiece benefits Jewish Family Services (JFS, Inc.). Since 1867, this organization has provided comprehensive social services through counseling, older adult and exceptional needs services for individuals of all ages,

Irwin Byer’s 1925 Indian Prince was among six vintage motorcycles in the popular “Ride with the Wind” class.

races, religions, and lifestyles. For more information about the 2013 Masterpiece, visit www.milwaukeemasterpiece.com. To see a complete list of winners, visit www.garagestylemagazine. com. GSM

ADVERTISE in

GARAGE STYLE MAGAZINE Garage Style Magazine is THE exclusive publication dedicated to all-things-garage – collections, automobilia, petroliana, personalities, events, equipment, barn finds, and much, much more. GSM boasts a steadily growing global list of enthusiastic subscribers, and is sold through various big-box retailers such as Barnes & Noble, Hastings, Books-A-Million, Safeway, Vons, and many boutique retailers like Autobooks-Aerobooks and gift shops within automotive museums; further, our publication is gifted to participants of many automotive events around the globe.

CONTACT CINDY MEITLE 480.277.1864 cindy@carprusa.com

Doug Holland 910.398.8307 douglas@hhpr.biz

Carmen Price 714.276.5288 carmen.price1@aol.com

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

17

Office

profile

A Financial Planner’s Garage Creep

A perfect work space for any car guy, massive tempered window expands an officious view into the garage. Desk and stainless steel cabinetry are custom.

Text by

Don Weberg Images by

Booker

F

or most readers of Garage Style, creating an office that resembles a garage is a great idea. We love our cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other modes of transportation, as well as the paraphernalia and lifestyle associated with those vehicles. From the neon signs, racing bits, gas pumps, oilers, tin signs, radiator mascots, hub caps, pub tables constructed of rims, coffee tables of glass held up by one engine or another, the list goes on and on. And why wouldn’t we all love it? Not only is it representative of our passion, it truly is artistic decor.

In Southern California is a financial services office belonging to a collector who went a step further than that, he put his offices in a warehouse where his cars could be stored.

“I love my cars, like so many other collectors, and enjoy being around them,” he said. “I work in a pretty stressful industry, managing financial portfolios, so I thought why not surround myself with enjoyable things, my real cars and collection of model cars?”

As such, the owner has renovated a single-story warehouse to suit those purposes. The office section at the front boasts a meeting room, several working office spaces, a kitchen, reception lobby, and a main suite. While the office itself is quite efficient, the art on the walls is entirely car art, and touches throughout alert to a certain automotive feel aluminum detailing, and just enough glass to afford a glimpse

18

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

to the warehouse area in the back in which the owner’s cars and die cast are situated.

“I love being able to swivel around in my chair and look through the glass at the cars,” he said. “And I think my clients like the cars too; they’re a great ice breaker and conversation starter even if they aren’t interested in automobiles.”

The floors have been treated to an epoxy coating while the walls have been transformed into shelving for die cast cars. Above the shelving are more automotive art posters from manufacturer advertising to automotive artist imagery.

“People are always amazed at the die cast,” he said. “I’ve been collecting for decades, and have nearly 2,000 1/18-scale die cast cars between here and my home.”

Toward the rear of the warehouse is a section for light maintenance. Separated from the main floor by triple sliding doors of frosted glass and aluminum, it’s a great space that any car enthusiast would love to have. During our visit a white Ferrari Testarossa was receiving a new set of tires while hoisted in the air. With the lift, work benches, compressors, sink, storage cabinets, and tooling, the room has the ability to help perform exceptional detailing, light work such as fluid changes, brakes, and tire services.

“It’s a lot more efficient to have the work done on premises instead of farming it out, or taking the car to a commercial

shop,” he said. “We can only do minor maintenance on these exotics, but we can do a large amount of work ourselves on the domestic classic cars.”

In the corner of the maintenance room is a dressing room with a full bath, which allows for on-the-go changes of wardrobe, or, a place to hideaway from the world.

“In my business, meetings are frequent, and sometimes they’re last moment,” he said. “Because I frequently bicycle to work, it’s important to have a wardrobe ready to go. In there I keep a couple of suits, some office casual apparel, but I also keep my racing gear.”

Tucked in a section of the working area are many helmets, racing suits, racing tires, bags with all kinds of track gear, and more.

“I don’t do a lot of tracking anymore, but it’s still fun to get out there once in a while in my Lotus cop car,” he said. “All things said, there’s something therapeutic about automobiles to me, I can have a calmer outlook when I’m around my cars, and in that, this office makes perfect sense to me.”

Upper left, Original SL promotion poster and an artists rendering of the late-model Maserati Quattroporte; Upper right, a BMW Z8 lingers in the shadow of a Mercedes McLaren; Center, the inner office and garage merge together seemlessley; Bottom, The walls are flanked with custom-made, glasscovered displays for die cast cars.

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

19

garage

features

Jack’s Autocrib

The Manifestation of Jack’s Mantra, “Method & Reason” Text by

Bill Nakasone Images by

Bruno Ratensperger

Purpose-built Autocrib garage houses illustrious Porsche collection; floors are sealed polished concrete; track lighting highlights art; garage door is custom built for the space; Plexi pedestal and die cast look at home.

D

r. Jack Gish operates an extremely successful dentistry practice in Danbury, West Hartford, Farmington Valley, and Fairfield, Connecticut. His entire working day is consumed with the problem diagnosis, oral treatment, or post-procedure follow-up of his patients.

There is a solid reason and a scientific basis for every professional decision that he makes. The requisite skills to be successful in his profession require both the ability to see the broad overview “large picture” as well as the ability to be detail-oriented. Jack has used this same methodical

20

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

approach to custom build a 6,200 square foot “Autocrib” to house his impressive collection of 33 Porsches.

The love for the Porsche marque started back in 1970 when Jack was in dental school driving around in a 914.

He was enamored by the open air and air cooled driving experience. Flash forward to 1999 when Jack bought a brand new Porsche Carrera, the first era of the water cooled 911.

He clearly loved the car for multiple reasons: it was fast, it handled well, and it was user-friendly. However, he missed the air cooled and open air Porsche experience. Jack then

set forth with acquiring two “bookend Porsches,” a 1965 Porsche 356 C Cabriolet and a 1983 911 SC Cabriolet. The 1965 model was the last cabriolet made by Porsche prior to the introduction of the first 911 Cabriolet in 1983; both are white with black interior and top. Jack then proceeded to procure a 356A and a 356B to complete his evolutionary set of 356 Porsches. Oh wait, he also needed a pre A, so he purchased a 1955 Speedster, an ex-Nicolas Cage owned car which was awarded first place at the Fairfield Concours d’Elegance. As you can see, method and reason have

played a central role in the acquisition of Jack’s Porsche collection.

As his car collection grew, so did the demand for space.

Jack’s first attempt to increase garage space happened in 2000 when he added a carriage style structure to the side of his personal residence to accommodate eight cars. It didn’t take long for maximum capacity to be reached. Zoning restrictions did not allow for any additional buildings on the property so Jack searched elsewhere for a suitable location.

In 2009, Jack was informed that a local nursery school was Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

21

Upper left, a slot car track is always a fun element for any space; Upper middle, an office-den makes for a great quiet spot to work or visit; Upper right, an excellent spot for work and storage; Center left, from outside the building looks more like a home; Center right, Jack and his family; Bottom, from above, it’s easy to gain a feel of the scope of the main garage and the collection of cars.

for sale. It turned out to be the very school that each of his three children attended when they were toddlers (each have grown up to become very successful professionals who still share a close relationship with their father). The sentimental value of his three children and the appropriateness of the structure proved to be too good for Jack to resist. He immediately purchased the building with the sole intention of transforming it into his dream Autocrib.

Jack selected a first rate architect and laid down the functional and aesthetic requirements of the project. In terms of space allocation, Jack wanted the building to be divided into five distinct areas: a gallery space to display the majority of the car collection, a racing showroom to house his competition cars, a workshop area for engine projects and servicing, a memorabilia & conference room for social gathering, and an administrative office. Within a very compressed timeline, Jack’s Autocrib became a reality.

From initially purchasing the property in 2009, it took a little more than two years to receive his “Certificate of Occupancy” in September 2011.

The project was far more ambitious than just a simple facelift. Jack has more than doubled the footprint of the overall structure. This was done in order to create the additional square footage necessary for the two architectural elements that really enhance the building: the display gallery and the tower. This entailed pouring a very large concrete slab. Jack wanted the gallery area to be a large open expanse that was unimpeded by any support columns or load-bearing interior walls. Moreover, he wanted additional ceiling height to lend character to the space as well as provide for passive lighting from windows situated in the upper areas of the walls. In order to make this happen, specially engineered trusses had

22

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

to be designed to withstand the structural loads imposed by such a wide span. The results are stunning. From the outside, what was once a modest bungalow style structure has been transformed into an elegant yet understated visual statement. In typical Jack Gish fashion, method and reason were at the core of the building renovation.

Upon first entering the building, the “eye candy” is the gallery area with over 20 pristine condition Porsches displayed in two rows on a diagonal presentation. In the center row are four water-cooled, front engine, rearwheel drive Porsches. The overhead track lighting uses high-intensity bulbs to enhance the color and paint finish of the cars. The concrete floor has a high sheen with its clear gloss coat finish. The overall effect is reminiscent of a “high end” dealership specializing in classic and vintage Porsches. On the wall of the gallery is the PORSCHE script which is genuine factory issue dealership signage that Jack managed to hunt down and purchase from a local dealership that was closing down. It lends ambience and authenticity to the gallery space.

In the adjacent racing showroom, Jack has a vintage 911 in Gulf livery that he plans to enter in competition events.

Next to that, Jack has a recreation of the famous Ruf “Yellow Bird,” the car that held the top speed record of 211 mph for a street legal car on an open course during the 1980’s.

Throughout the building, there are numerous artifacts of Porsche racing history. He has the racing suits of Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood proudly displayed in one area.

Hung on the walls are a number of collectibles such as a brake rotor off a Porsche 962 race car, the windshield of the Penske DHL Spyder RS racecar, a pair of Mario Andretti’s racing gloves, and various prints and paintings. A slot car track takes center stage in the memorabilia room and scale model cars fill up glass cases throughout the facility.

Although he truly loves his dental profession, time spent in his Autocrib lends counterpoint and balance to his busy life. Says Jack, “I love being here, I’m surrounded by the things that bring me joy.” In the end, the creation of the Autocrib has been the ultimate manifestation of Jack Gish’s mantra of “method and reason.” GSM Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

23

Outlaws in Oregon Parts Obsolete & Emory Motorsports

Top, a treasure trove of Hot Rod, Porsche, and collectibles is jaw dropping; Bottom, a 356 face cut into steel truly sets the Hot Rod Porsche attitude of Parts Obsolete.

Text and Images by

Bill Nakasone

I

n the lush wine country of Oregon’s Willamette Valley lie “Parts Obsolete” and “Emory Motorsports.” This multi-acre pastoral setting houses the headquarters for the father/son combination of Gary and Rod Emory. Gary runs “Parts Obsolete,” a renowned and respected supplier of vintage parts and restoration maestro of classic Porsches (especially 356 and early 911). His son Rod manages “Emory Motorsports,” a race car construction and maintenance facility specializing in vintage racing Porsches. Gary and Rod are a synergistic duo who have each specialized in a different niche of the “Outlaw” Porsche world.

In Porsche parlance, the word “Outlaw” refers to a car that has been modified from stock appearance and performance to suit the individual owner’s taste. In early days, “Outlaw” cars were met with distain by the selfappointed purists of the Porsche Concours world who valued originality and correctness as the benchmarks of pedigree

purity. They considered any Porsche that deviated from stock issue as desecration to the marquee, an attitude that has changed dramatically over the last quarter century as a successive string of Emory modified “Outlaw” Porsches have been created with tasteful changes that have dramatically enhanced the looks, performance, and handling of vintage Porsches.

The Emory “Outlaws” have an unmistakable quality standard. Their cars have been upgraded with changes that Porsche itself would have endorsed had the mechanical and electrical technology and the production processes been available at that given time in history. For instance, many Emoryequipped “356 Outlaws” feature 4 cylinder engines that have been reincarnated from a shortened Porsche 6 cylinder engine. These performance power plants feature twin plug heads, larger displacement pistons, Weber carburation, aggressive camshaft timing, and a high-extraction exhaust

In Porsche parlance, the word “Outlaw” refers to a car that has been modified from stock appearance and performance to suit the individual owner’s taste.

24

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

Upper left, mostly Ford bits and pieces, Parts Obsolete has a cacophony of cool odds and ends; Upper right, several 356s in restorative progress; Center, everyone should have a merry-go-round celebrating their favorite marque; Bottom right, a beautiful Cabriolet undergoin extensive work; Bottom left, during a recent tour, many club members enjoyed seeing such a diverse yet oddly closely related shop.

which literally doubles the horsepower and torque of a stock Porsche pushrod 4-banger. The later style Porsche 901 5-speed gearbox replaces the 4-speed, disc brakes replace drum brakes, 12-volt electrical systems replace 6-volt systems, etc.

Owners of Emory-modified “Outlaw” Porsches are absolutely ecstatic about their cars citing quantum leaps in acceleration, top speed, braking, cornering, handling, ride quality, and overall driving enjoyment. An ironic twist to the whole “Outlaw” movement is that they are now getting the approval and respect of the entire Porsche community.

Many “hard core” enthusiasts now occupy both camps of the

Porsche world owning both prime examples of “Concours” original cars as well as prime examples of “Outlaw” cars.

What really sets the monetary value of an “Outlaw” car is directly tied to the builder/creator. Just like the art world, the works of Picasso, Matisse, Monet, and Rembrandt command high prices. In the Resto/mod Muscle car world, the names of Coddington, Alloway, and Foose bring serious money. In the “Outlaw” Porsche world, Emory is the standard of excellence by which all others are judged. What was initially perceived as an “anti- establishment” counter culture movement has morphed into a respected genre within the Porsche world.

Garage Style Magazine had the opportunity to spend time

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

25

Left, a recent showing of Porsches, many of them Outlaw Porsches; Below, old gas pumps, fuel cans, and more make up the flavor of this unique shop.

with the Emory clan at their annual “camp out” event which takes place each year in June. This event has gone on consecutively for 18 years and draws together Porsche Outlaw enthusiasts from all over the United States. This is a three day event that includes a car show, live music, self- guided shop tours, a barbeque dinner, socializing, and on-site camping.

The Emory compound site is an eclectic mix of themes. The general property and tent-filled camping area looks like a scene from Woodstock. The hand hewn country style buildings next to the donkey/horse corral look straight off the set of “Little House on the Prairie.”

The wood shed workshops look like a scene from the early days of Porsche at Gmund. The steel sheds have a Pacific Northwest county vibe. This place just oozes with character and defies description. I had the chance to speak with Gary Emory, the man who started “Parts Obsolete” in Costa Mesa, California back in 1974. Says Gary, “Parts Obsolete was doing really well in California, but in the early ’90s I decided to move

out of the area. I fell in love with this part of the country and decided to move my base of operations here. I’ve never looked back.” His son Gary officially joined the family business in 1996 when he started “Emory Motorsports.” The Emory clan garage is a special place. It is here where they work, play, raise their families, tend to their animals, pass on their tribal knowledge to the future generations, and entertain their life-long friends. It’s all good car stuff at Emory Outlaws. GSM

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

27

A small warehouse is perfect for creating a sweet garage Mario’s collection varies from exotic to luxury with muscle in between. Art is sparse, but evident and enjoyable. The use of duo-tone paint with a border on the walls adds to the look.

Mario’s Tackle Box From Ping Pong Table to Warehouse Text and Images by

Bill Nakasone

M

ario has always been a car guy. When he was a child, one of his fondest memories was converting his family’s ping pong table into a race track for his Aurora AFX car collection. While the other kids in the neighborhood proudly displayed their baseball card collections, Mario walked around with his tackle box filled with AFX cars. The small compartments in the tackle box were the perfect size to hold the HO scale cars. It was here that he learned the importance of storing his prized possessions in a container that would keep them safe and secure. Likewise, it was also a cool way of displaying the cars when he opened the box and the car filled trays fanned out and presented themselves. These same lessons came into play later on in life when Mario acquired such a sizeable collection of “real cars” that he had to find an offsite location to house them.

Mario is one of those people who operates equally well on his analytical side and his creative side. He is an extremely successful software engineer and an accomplished artist. He is equally comfortable in either “left brain mode” or “right brain mode,” Which explains how he has managed to acquire such an impressive collection of great cars.

28

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

His first significant automotive acquisition was at the tender age of twenty four when he bought a 1972 Porsche 911S. The car was modified in the spirit of the RSR (a lot like the 1973 Porsche RSR’s that ran in the first IROC series) and had flared fenders, staggered 11-inch rear and 8-inch front widened Fuchs wheels, and a race prepared engine. His analytical side was drawn to the Teutonic Porsche engineering and its successful track record in motorsports; his creative side was drawn to the organic shape of this vintage of 911 with its whale tail spoiler and RSR-style front air dam. This first Porsche (which he still owns) led to an extreme Promotiveprepared Porsche modeled after a 935 with twin turbos – it’s good for 700-horsepower.

“This was a scary car that demanded respect,” Mario laughed. “I never got hurt in that car because I never lost respect for its awesome power.”

By this time in his career, Mario was running a successful software consulting company, which enabled him to expand his collection and indulge in other forms of automotive expression. Mario had always been enamored with the GM styling exercises of Harley Earl. He sought out his personal

[Mario] comes to his garage space to relax, unwind from the intensely competitive world of software engineering, get inspired for his latest art project, maintain his car collection, and just chill out. favorites of the Harley Earl era vehicles and has collected four examples of what are considered by many to be the pinnacle designs: a 1955 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible (black exterior with black and white leather interior), a 1955 Buick Roadmaster Coupe (Victoria Blue Metallic and white exterior with a brilliant brocade blue cloth and white leather interior), a 1960 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible (Ice Blue Metallic with white leather interior), and a 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Hardtop Resto-Rod (with a ZZ4 small block engine and 700R4 transmission). He’s also a fan of GM’s Bill Mitchell era and went about locating and purchasing a 1963 Cadillac Convertible (white with red leather) and a 1970 Buick Riviera.

Mario has a penchant for American muscle and decided that a 1972 Buick Stage 1 would be cool addition to his collection. This stock-appearing and numbers-matching Buick is one potent machine and is now packing over 600 horsepower. He also acquired a MoPar for his lovely wife Valarie (who’s a real car nut in her own right), a 1971 ‘Cuda convertible Resto-Rod. His latest acquisition is quintessentially Italian – a 2004 Ferrari 360 Stradale – Rosso Red withblack and red suede interior.

Somewhere along the line, the space for all these cars eclipsed the space available in their three car garage at home.

That was what prompted Mario to purchase some commercial property to house his car collection. Located in an industrial park in Seattle, Mario has found a space large enough to contain his car collection and his personal trophy collection (from winning at car shows). He comes to his garage space to relax, unwind from the intensely competitive world of software engineering, get inspired for his latest art project, maintain his car collection, and just chill out.

Currently, Mario is decorating the interior space of his garage. He found the menu board for one of his favorite restaurants when he was a kid and proudly displays it on the central location of the wall. He also has a great scarf that chronicles the design evolution of the Cadillac emblem, a coat rack that looks like shifters, and other art work peppering up the otherwise warehouse-ish surroundings.

Mario is quick to point out just how gracious he is to have

Top, the 521 Cafe serves up all-things-sweet; Bottom, a stunning El Dorado truly steals the show in The Tackle Box.

found success in life and pays homage to his family and his religion for giving him the support and guidance he has needed.

“My wife Valarie has been a great wife and a great mom, and I’ve got five great kids,” said Mario. “I guess I shouldn’t call them kids, the oldest is 30, but they will always be my kids.”

Mario’s come a long way from his tackle box days and today, the cars and garage are only icing on the cake of a great life. GSM

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013 29

Putting the Sty in Style

Designing to Fit the Natural Surrounds Proves Beneficial Text by

T-Byrd Images by

the

Custom flooring lends a homey, Italianate look to the garage. Colors, window treatments, and furniture placements also lend to a comfortable atmosphere.

30 Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

Author and Booker

R

on and Cherrie rolled the dice when they bought a home and built a garage in Southern California about two years ago, and they came up winners. Their primary home is near Las Vegas. They have been collecting cars (mostly classics) for more than 20 years and had a garage custom built in California to house just a few of their treasures.

Their California garage was built to match the rooflines of their nearby canyon home and the curve of the precipice upon which it sits. “The first question we asked our contractor was, ‘What’s the largest garage we can build in this area?,’ ” said Ron. “Basically,” said Cherrie, “We wanted room for five cars plus a lounge for parties and having fun.”

They exceeded their goals. The garage is about one and a half years old and was constructed specifically for a 1936 Auburn (which won Best of Show in a recent regional competition), a 1955 Chevy, and a 1932 Packard. The Packard has its original Packard trunk and boasts mint-condition original 1932 fitted luggage that has never been restored or altered.

The garage has an Italian-style tower designed to coordinate with the Italian lines of the house. The two structures share a common look in the roofline as well. The building is 2,200 square feet, and although it is home to the three large classic automobiles, it also offers a lounge area where guests relax in the luxury of deep, soft sofas and enjoy the bar area where Ron and Cherrie entertain with California wines and play the blues on a sound system that’s piped throughout.

The décor includes framed enlargements of black and white photos of old Las Vegas hotels from the ’50s and ’60s that include the cars of the era as well. The end tables and coffee tables are sprinkled with old poker chips and other Vegas memorabilia. Nearby shelves house every issue of Automobile Quarterly since the publication began in 1964.

One corner of the garage is devoted to Flying Tigers memorabilia. “This corner is strictly mine,” said Cherrie with a smile. She worked at Flying Tigers for eight years and proudly displays her employee badge and several framed company posters.

Flying Tigers (named after the famous World War II fighting unit) began operation in 1945 and was purchased by FedEx in 1988. It was the first scheduled cargo airline in the United States. Headquartered on the grounds of Los Angeles International Airport, Flying Tigers carried a number of unique cargoes, including SeaWorld’s killer whales and the torch of the Statue of Liberty.

Four framed prints of 1930s and ‘40s cars signed by famed automobile stylist Dutch Darrin hang near the bar. The art includes a print of a roadster built for actor Dick Powell. Powell

Top left, outside the custom-built garage matches the main home, and the pig is a personal touch; Top right, a nostalgic look at an old professional work space; Bottom, a seating area with vintage pictures of Las Vegas.

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013 31

is best remembered as a movie star, a crooner in dozens of Hollywood musicals of the 1930s, and then a film noir tough guy. Another of the prints is of a 1941 Clipper convertible built for Hollywood legend Errol Flynn. Dutch Darrin, the creator of the 1937-1942 Packard Darrin and the Dutch Darrin Dip – a specific car door design that branded the Packard as distinctly Darrin’s – had friends that were legends whom most have only read about – René Mathis of Ford-France, André Citröen, Louis Renault, and Ettore Bugatti.

Although Ron and Cherrie’s garage floor is stamped concrete, they chose a style that is reminiscent of an old barn floor. It is brown, has blackish streaks, and looks like individual planks. The old look of the floor is juxtaposed by the modern colors (terra cotta and yellow) of the walls and has rich creamy white wooden crown molding and baseboards.

“We had the garage built as a display area, not a repair shop,” said Cherrie. “There is no shop area,” said Ron. “I tinker out there some but I don’t keep tools or parts lying around.”

The shape and style of the structure came not only from Ron and Cherrie’s intention to coordinate with their home but also to blend with the environment. As visitors look up the canyon along the route to Ron and Cherrie’s home, they can see the building perched on a rounded ridge overlooking a green California valley. “We didn’t want a typical rectangle of a garage to be placed on a circle,” said Cherrie. The back of the garage is rounded according to degrees of the curvature of the hillside on which it rests. “We also had it positioned for the view,” said Ron. The curved back wall has large windows that afford guests spectacular views of the canyon and surrounding horse ranches.

The front is equipped with conventional rollup garage doors (both single and double) as well as a house door. As a touch of whimsy, the entire structure is guarded by statuary “attack pigs.” The pigs are referenced in “The Rainmaker” by John Grisham and the couple has been collecting them for years. They range in size from a few inches to four feet high. The garage can be explained by a myriad of descriptive words but a “sty” is one word that would never be used. GSM

32 Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

Top, beyond the flank of a custom ‘55 Chevy is a mod-style, Vegas-like lounge; Center, from the road, the garage blends well with the home, surroundings; Bottom, combining seating areas with comfortable colors and whimsical touches lends a very accomodating feel to a garage.

World’s Best Custom Car Covers® Quality Softgoods Since 1965

Best Indoor Protection

Petersen Museum uses DUSTOP™ Custom Indoor Covers by Covercraft®. “A good cover minimizes the risk of damage.”- says the museum manager.

2

Crafted Fit®

Maximum protection against dust

DUSTOP fabric helps assure your vehicle will be just as clean when you uncover it as it was when it was covered. Kimberly-Clark non-woven fabric technology was used to create this 4-layer fabric that provides a barrier against dust. Woven fabrics TM have openings in the weave that Soft Bicomponent Spunbond Layer Bicomponent Spunbond Layer allow fine dust to sift through, whereas bonded non-woven fabric doesn’t allow any pathways for dust. 4-layer construction also Meltblown Barrier Layer Soft Bicomponent Spunbond Layer provides greater ding/dent protection than woven materials.

• Soft But Strong Outer Layers - The two top layers are constructed of a polypropylene / polyethylene composite spunbond. These layers take advantage of the best features of both polymers: the superior softness of polyethylene, with the strength and stability of polypropylene.

• Dust Barrier - A melt-blown polypropylene layer serves as a barrier to most dust, dirt and pollution. DUSTOP’S multi-layer construction provides substantially better dust protection when compared to traditional woven, single-layer fabrics.

• Softest Paint-Protecting Inner Layer - The high-loft polypropylene / polyethylene inner layer pampers and protects the vehicle’s finish.

new

360°ding/dent ding/dent protection for use in all parking situations! ™

• Airflow Fully breathable Spacer Fabric material.

Allows air to circulate.

• Storage and Application Simple and easy to install.

Storage bag included.

• Tight Fitting and Self Securing A strip of impactabsorbing material encompasses all sides of the vehicle with a thick, tight-fitting, self-securing band.

• Can be used with or without a vehicle cover • Patented in the UK / U.S. Patent Pending

Use with a car cover for maximum protection

www.covercraft.com

FREE – standard shipping in the contiguous U.S. with code GSFREE (enter at time of order).

Offer valid thru May 10, 2013.

The Indian Bay Garage Breathtaking Automobilia Display Text and Images by

Lance Lambert

Amazing structure is practically held together with signage.

W

hat would your tire temple look like if you acquired every automotive and petroleum sign you wanted?

And how much better would it look if it was also filled with rows of ancient two-wheeled contraptions previously owned by everyone from delivery men of the 1910’s to a superstar of the 1960’s? Just for fun, throw in dozens of gas pumps, over 100 oil cans and several hundred automotive and oil give-aways from the past 90 years.

The answer: It would look like Art’s Indian Bay Garage.

Art has been collecting petroleum and automotive advertising

34

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

signs and motorcycles for decades. His preference is for American-made motorcycles and graphically appealing automotive dealership and petroleum industry signs.

Art began dreaming of constructing a building where he could display his collection and also have enough room to allow it to continue growing. He broke ground for his two and a half story sign and cycle palace in 2001 and upon completion, began filling nearly every inch of wall, ceiling, and floor space available.

“I have at least 4500 pieces of advertising and 65

Top left, original Bardahl Oil clock sign is extrodinarily rare and valuable; Top left, Bardahl oil display rack and antique motorcycles tug at the imagination; Bottom right, Art with a prized twin-cylinder Polly gas pump that dubs as a night light; Bottom left, one glance isn’t enough - it’s overwhelming.

motorcycles on display,” stated Art. When asked why motorcycles instead of cars, he replied, “I’ve been riding bikes for a long time and they are easier to store than cars.”

Art also loves scale airplanes and there are dozens carefully flying between the signs and gas pumps. Two recently purchased Clipper Oil and Harbor Petroleum signs do a nice job of combining petroleum and propellers.

“I love automotive and oil signs equally,” said Art. Swap meets and auctions are his main source for finding signs. He

Art also loves scale airplanes and there are dozens carefully flying between the signs and gas pumps. Two recently purchased Clipper Oil and Harbor Petroleum signs do a nice job of combining petroleum and propellers.

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

35

Left, hanging among the varied signs are war plane models hiding in plain sight; Above, a shelf of various oils and greases and old marketing makes for amazing visual.

is occasionally the recipient of an addition to the collection that is given to him by a friend or acquaintance. “Sometimes the signs and motorcycles seem to just come to me rather than me finding them,” he said.

Another recent addition is a 1914 Harley Davidson that was previously owned by a motorcycle enthusiast by the name of Steve McQueen. This pair of wheels looks great parked next to a 1916 Pope motorcycle that was also previously owned by this Hollywood icon.

Art offered some advice to anyone that is considering collecting signs. “Stay away from reproductions and only invest in the best that your budget will allow. Anything from Polly Gas continues to be highly collectable. I’m also partial to Beacon Gasoline signs and recently added a 36” neon

Beacon Gasoline sign to my collection.”

Art also has dozens of gas pump globes that add to the incredible beauty of his collection. “I wired the building so a couple of switches turn on everything.” Seeing the rooms radiating from the glow of gas pumps and neon signs is breathtaking.

Art is a gracious host and occasionally makes his collection available to friends and family. “My grand kids love to play hide and seek amongst the collection and I occasionally give tours to other collectors and members of the old car hobby.”

Your author has traveled the country and has seen dozens of sign collections. The Indian Bay Garage is unquestionably at the top of the list. GSM

Picture Moduline Cabinets In Your Garage...

• Residential • Commercial

www.modulinecabinets.com

888-343-4463 AND PREMIUM ACCESSORIES

od

s 911 e h

:R

E

d an ds Ro

• 50 year

rs

K

ou

T 3 nc DA 01 Co E 9, 2 19: TH 1 s | E & m V 18 usto SA AY K M s&

of Porsc

toms us

•

18

g

lebratin Ce

Popular makeover show George to the Rescue worked with PremierGarage to rebuild a garage. Interlocking modular tile floors with a logo tile and Marine logo cabinets are custom touches of PremierGarage.

Tailored Living Featuring PremierGarage to the Rescue Giving a Marine and His Family a Great Garage Text by

Don Weberg

Images provided by

Tailored Living

O

ver the course of the last decade, reality and makeover shows have stormed the television stations by the truckload. And why not? They’re easy to produce, make money, and jerk tears – all great ways to ensure high ratings with the Nielson folks. But, they also inspire and serve a purpose, even if only on a small, one-at-a-time scale, by helping those in need get back on track.

One such show out of New York is George to the Rescue, and this past summer, host George Oliphant and his crew visited the family of Marine Corporal Sherman Watson of Compton, California. Cpl. Watson was assigned to the 3rd Battalion 5th Marines and was the Vehicle Commander for a 38

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

Heavy Machine Gun/Anti-Armor Weapons Team in Iraq. He was injured a total of three times on three separate combat deployments to Iraq. However on his third deployment in 2006, his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in which Sherman suffered a traumatic brain injury, which in return ended his life long dream of being in the Marines; he finished his service with an honorable discharge, and three Purple Hearts. Having returned home to his wife, Kira, and two children, Courtney and Karmen, aged 4 years and 13 months respectively, he worked diligently at school, spending time with his family, and running his organization, The Veterans Alternative. Due to his schedule, injury, and general lack of knowledge, making

necessary repairs to his home was problematic, and George and his crew thought it would be a worthy cause to step up and help out.

“Here’s a guy who’s spent a large portion of his life on the battlefield fighting for freedom,” George said. “He received three Purple Hearts in his line of duty, deployed three times to serve, and has a permanent brain injury. Returning home, he’s immersed himself back into a routine life, spending time with his family and working hard. He’s an inspiration, and we were proud to help him rebuild his home.”

While making over the house is an absolute, it was a real treat when Tailored Living stepped up to the plate to help too. Tailored Living has long been in the business of helping homeowners redesign and update their interiors with custom organization solutions and accessories for closets, home offices, and pantries. As a leader in home organization, Tailored Living bought the esteemed PremierGarage brand to give homeowners access to beautifying every room in their

home, including the garage. Since joining forces, Tailored Living has been working hard at reestablishing the brand to homeowners throughout the United States and Canada.

“It was a great opportunity to bring back PremierGarage,” said Dan Tafoya, Senior Vice President of Business Development. “We’ve been diligently working on adding franchisees to our network across North America. With the acquisition of the PremierGarage brand, we were given the opportunity to bring our skills into the garage and finally offer organizational solutions and flooring for the whole home. The chance to help George make over the home of such a deserving American hero really spoke to us, and we were glad to have the opportunity to recreate Corporal Sherman’s garage.”

To aid in the project’s success, Tailored Living donated the garage cabinetry and flooring, and went to work alongside the crew from George to the Rescue and the various volunteers from the community and assorted veterans organizations. The garage received a new roof, along with major renovations to

Before

Upper left, originally the garage was an open-walled situation with no organizational abilities; Upper right, the crew at work, making a useful space; Lower right, the PremierGarage crew measured and aligned and made sure the cabinets hung well; Lower left, the work space.

“Here’s a guy who’s spent a large portion of his life on the battlefield fighting for freedom. He received three Purple Hearts in his line of duty, deployed three times to serve, and has a permanent brain injury. Returning home he’s immersed himself back into a routine life, spending time with his family and working hard.

He’s an inspiration, and we were proud to help him rebuild his home.”

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

39

After

Upper left, the PremierGarage truck unloads down the driveway; Upper right, the finished product is a perfectt home for a family; Lower right, cabinets and washer-dryer area make for easy care; Lower left, the attention to detail of PremierGarage products are fantastic.

the ceiling and walls inside. The old concrete floor was given a serious cleaning, caulking, and sealing, and an all-black snap together tile floor from SwissTrax was laid over the top complete with a Marine insignia smack in the middle. The walls and ceiling received a fresh coat of semi-flat white, some highoutput fluorescent light fixtures were installed, and two new sets of cabinets lent stylish, strong storage. One cabinet set dominates the back wall and features a Marine graphic print with a Plexiglas overlay, while the second cabinet set in bright red with black hardware was installed on the left wall with the washer-dryer, creating a perfect laundry area. A new garage door and associated hardware was installed as well, giving the garage a sort of final touch. Outside, the garage was patched up, painted, and given a new lease on life.

“I’m still amazed at the work that was done, not just to the garage, but the entire house,” said Sherman. “They’ve transformed our home into a beautiful, safe environment where my family can enjoy one another’s company. The garage was icing on the cake. It’s something I think most guys want, a slick garage to tinker around in, hang out in, and this one is amazing. I’m a little speechless sometimes to know it’s mine, and I can’t thank everyone enough.” GSM 40

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

41

42

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

One Man’s Cars of

Dreams Garage Text and Images by

Matt Stone

N

ew York and Florida mega-car dealer John Staluppi goes big on car collecting (and nearly everything else he does): the bigger and the more horsepower, the better. He also conceives and commissions large, fast, magnificent motor yachts, all of which are named after James Bond films. His latest is a 175 footer dubbed Diamonds are Forever. His Cars of Dreams collection was housed in a former North Palm Beach Home Depot space he bought and remodeled into this dreamlike setting – replete with a Bob’s Big Boy diner, its own drive in movie theater and a bar named Dillinger’s after Staluppi’s pet pup – this place isn’t like any other garage we know. And even though he spent decades assembling it, he just sold it off, every car, train set, and diorama, right down to the merry-go-round.

Staluppi goes in for big muscle, and bought many of his cars at Barrett-Jackson auctions over the years. Every one of them is now in show condition, and he has a runner that gets driven often. But Staluppi chose Canada’s RM Auctions to liquidate his otherworldly toybox, as RM is a specialist at “single site” sales and they really made a bang up job of it. The sale comprised a total of 113 vehicles and more than 60 memorabilia lots, selling out 100% with no reserve,

Cars of Dreams collection was rife with astonishingly rare and beautiful cars; Lower right, the owner has recreated many dioramas within the warehouse to create a realism for certain cars.

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

43

and grossing more than $11 million. Top car sales included a 1956 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible for $299,750 and a 1968 Shelby Mustang GT500-KR Convertible for $264,000 The top selling memorabilia offering was Staluppi’s fullyrestored and operational 1918 Herschell-Spillman 32’ Carousel for $460,000.

44

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

Why the selloff? He’s not suffering health issues, retiring, or getting out of car collecting; it’s all in support of his bigger plan. Mr. And Mrs. Staluppi own a large parcel of land in Colorado, and it has always been John’s dream to build an authentic western style town complex that will include his own ranch, restaurants, bars, his offices, and

Upper left, vintage fire trucks are slick; Upper right, a ‘69 Hurst/ Olds and a 4-4-2 Convertible are uber desirable; Lower left, rare and mint 1969 Corvair convertible is heading to the drive in.

house a new car collection.

“The chase is half the fun,” says the ruggedly handsome, Robert De Niro look-alike, and he wants the thrill of finding,

acquiring, and restoring all new hardware for his new facility. That’s one joint we can’t wait to see and hope we can wrangle an invite to. So far, Staluppi has shown a penchant and preference for the big American musclecars he grew up with; during our visit for this photo shoot, we saw but one foreign car, that being a terminally cute Fiat 600 Jolly beachwagon, most appropriate for coastal Florida.

What does he plan to fill the Colorado collection with?

Staluppi just shrugs and says, “We’ll see.” GSM

Garages

in history

Sears Garage Kits

American Design Ingenuity and the Spread of Automobile Ownership Drive the Market for Garage Kits Text by

Rick Rader

Images courtesy of

A

Rosemary Thornton, www.SearsHomes.org, Sears

h, home ownership! It was, and remains, the great American dream. It represents security, achievement, legacy, privacy, and sanctity, not to mention a place for your stuff. In order to keep up with the pursuit of home ownership in the first half of the twentieth century we saw the emergence of “kit houses” (also known as pre-cut houses,

46

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

mail order homes, or catalog homes). They were a form of pre-fabricated homes enabling thousands the opportunity to become home owners. There were several “catalog home” companies, but Sears, Montgomery Ward, Gordon-Van Time and Harris Brothers dominated the industry.

The Sears Catalog homes (sold as Sears Modern Continued to Page 48

The 18th Annual

Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island The Golf Club of Amelia Island at Summer Beach

March 8-10, 2013

Honoring: Sam Posey Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Porsche 911 and Ford GT40 and the cars of Harry Miller Benefitting Community Hospice of Northeast Florida For Advance Tickets & Event Information, visit: www.ameliaconcours.org Photos by Dave Wendt & Peter Harholdt Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

47

The Sears Catalog homes (sold as Sears Modern Homes) sold more than 70,000 kits between 1908 and 1940. They were shipped via railroad boxcars and included all the material needed to build the house. Many of the homes were assembled by families, relatives, and friends in much the same fashion as barns were built in farmland communities. These were not cookie cutter “look-alikes.” Sears offered more than 370 designs ranging from starter bungalows to multi-story dwellings. The average “kit” contained over 25 tons of materials with over 30,000 parts making Cobra kit cars seem like a “snap-together model.” Many of the Sears homes still exist and there are homes clustered together forming unofficial historical sites.

The Chicago suburb of Elgin boasts the largest collective of Sears’s homes with more than 200 units. Sales of the homes eventually declined due to strict building codes and the Sears kit homes division ceased operating in 1939.

While “home ownership” was the center of the American Dream, “car ownership” was its close cousin. It was in late 1910, only two years after the Sears catalog homes went on the market that Sears offered a specialty catalog supplement of nothing but “pre-cut kit garages.”

This addition was a sensible extension of the changing face of American culture. Automobiles were firmly becoming part of the American lifestyle and an array of affordable models were making ownership a reality for thousands of owners of the Sears homes. Following the pattern of the farm where a detached, free-standing barn provided shelter for both livestock and equipment, the “kit garages” were designed to be positioned behind the home. Eventually, the garages were built alongside of the homes and eventually, attached to the homes.

Garages that were featured in the 1921 catalog included one for $210 (12 x 18 feet) and one for two automobiles, with two doors, (ah, the start of the two car family) at $269 (18 x 18 feet). In the 1938 catalog, the buyer was offered two methods of construction: “Ready cut, with the framing sawed to exact length and ready to nail in place, or sectional, with each section made complete, ready to bolt together.”

One of their selling points was the ease of assembly, and in the Sears catalog of 1919, there was a page (with an affidavit) that a featured garage was, “Put up in five hours and forty-five minutes.”

The garage kits, like the home kits, were not cookie cutter 48

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

models. They offered an assortment of unique designs with seductive names like the Alhambra, the Tudor, the Parkway, the Monitor, the Merrimac (obviously references to the Civil War warships), and the Manor.

The contribution of the prefabricated Sears garage kits cannot be overstated. It represented American ingenuity and facilitated the ability for the emerging middle class to aspire to own and protect cars. The multitude of sizes and designs also signaled the arrival of the age of freedom made possible by car ownership. The unique design offerings also announced that the automobile was a highly revered possession and that it deserved a home of its own. The Sears garage kit movement represents an early link to the appreciation of what this publication is all about, the celebration of Garage Style. GSM

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

49

automobilia

outlook

Tools: Don’t Leave Home Without Them Text and Images provided by

Rick Rader

W

hen I was in college (mid 60’s), my everyday car was a 1952 MGTD. It was simply an old used sports car: not exotic, not coveted, not rare. We considered new floor mats, new spark plug wires, and black tire paint a restoration. We broke down as a result. I never left the parking lot without a box of tools, spare starter motor, extra fuel pump, bailing wire, an extra coil, an extra set of points, a condenser, and a prayer. I made sure I had my brother’s phone number handy; he could fix anything. These days, those 4 cubic feet of mandatory tools and spares can be left home in lieu of a cell phone and a credit card.

In the early days of the motorcar, the owner either had to be a mechanic or had a chauffeur who was also responsible for maintenance. Auto repair shops were few and far between and as a result the cars came equipped with extensive tools to give the owner a fighting chance of getting home or started.

The providing of tool kits, either in leather tool rolls, boxes, or felt-lined trays with form-fitting cutouts was common and the tool kits varied in their complexity. Some were a simple collection of wrenches, screwdrivers, hammers and tire irons while others provided measuring gauges, oil cans, trouble lamps, specialized tools, and an array of spares. Some British cars had two versions of tool kits: simple basic ones for “home touring,” and more extensive ones including head gaskets, spare vales, and pistons for “continental touring.” Most of the tool kits were valued by collectors and restorers because of the specific tools (indeed many cars employed fasteners that were in dimensions other than SAE, i.e. British Standard and Whitworth or metric). This is especially true with wheel hub retainers or valve adjustments. Over the years, the majority of the tool kits and rolls were pirated and tools were lost, broken, or missing.

With the advent of the “concours” car, owners began to display items alongside their cars. We began to see workshop manuals, owner’s handbooks, sales brochures, and tool kits displayed in the hope that they would “sway” the judges and earn extra points. There are some concours that expect original tool kits to be included in the restoration of the vehicles, and

50

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

“I have a thing for tools.” Tim Allen not having them could cost you standing in the competition.

The interest in acquiring original tools led to heightened collector interest and eventually the availability of replica tools including the leather tool rolls and boxes. Among the more popular collector cars like early Fords, Jaguars, and Chevy’s you can virtually purchase entire tool kits. Many of the tools have the name of the car cast into the tool such as the Ford script.

The prices for tools, both original and reproduction, are on the same spectrum as the cars themselves. You can purchase entire tool kits for several hundred dollars (or piece meal for even less) for Model T and Model A Fords and Jaguars, etc. Of course, as you climb the proverbial feeding chain, the price for tool kits can become more than the price of entire cars. One recent internet ad for a mint, unused, and complete Ferrari Daytona tool roll was advertised at $10,000.

Early Fords were provided with tool rolls starting in 1903 while the Ford tool box was introduced in 1927. The tool boxes that were built into the firewall of post war British MG’s were rumored to be surplus US Army ammunition boxes. Of course, following automotive mythology, you wonder why Rolls-Royce provided any tools at all since the “motors” were supposed to be sealed at the factory and only factory-trained mechanics had the special key to gain access to them.

Cranks used to start early automobiles were provided with the car as well as tire irons to remove the tires from the rim. Several cars were provided with trouble lights that had wires that plugged into accessory holes in the dashboard or were located under the hood. Most cars were also equipped with jacks, air pressure pumps, spare bulbs, tire tubes, and grease guns. Many car enthusiasts collect unique or rare OEM tools without even owning the car they were intended for; they make great curious garage displays and serve as tributes to the evolution of the automobile. My brother’s number is now on speed dial ... these cars still need a helping hand and a set of tools. GSM

Auction House Journal Mecum 15-17 Nov 2012 Anaheim Convention Center Original Packard dealership neon sign Sold: $15,000 One of the most popular, well-known sign designs, an original Packard service neon took top dollar. In overall excellent condition, the neon was functional and the porcelain showed minor wear.

Bonhams 8 Oct 2012 Simeone Foundation Museum Peter Helck: Charbaneau with Mors racecar, c. 1960’s Sold: $8,125 Ink and pastel on vellum rendering depicting Charbaneau before his car. Measuring 24 x 30 inches overall, this work was originally featured in the book, “The Great Auto Races.”

Bonhams 8 Oct 2012 Simeone Foundation Museum Original Patterns and Maquettes for the DuPont winged horse mascot Sold: $7,500 Designed and crafted by L. Paul DuPont, this is the only mascot designed for the DuPont automobiles.

It’s rumored that only one mascot was completed and adorned. Lot included one finished mascot missing a wing, two slightly different plasters, several different wing variations, and a DuPont Model G radiator cap.

Mecum 15-17 Nov 2012 Anaheim Convention Center Goodyear Porcelain Sign Sold: $700 A well-used sign with a fair amount of wear, the colors were nonetheless vivid and vibrant.

Mecum 15-17 Nov 2012 Anaheim Convention Center Polly Gas Pump Sold: $4,000 A 1937 Wayne Model 800 with clock face hand built by Jack Webb with steel and alloy construction featured a glass globe, illumination, completely painted by hand with no stickers or fiberglass.

Barn

finds

1953 Cunningham C-3 Cabrio Text and Images By

John “Gunner” Gunnell

U

p and Coming Garage Hideaways—Exceptional motorcars that are up on their feet again, but hidden away in some off the beaten path garage or restoration shop that holds unexpected treasures inside. This car languishing in an “Old World” setting in a small-town Wisconsin shop is a 1953 Cunningham C-3 Cabriolet with a fabulous new handcrafted body.

According to author Leigh Dorrington, the prototype Cunnigham C-2 was S/N 5101 followed by three more C-2 cars; S/N 5102, 5103, and 5104. These were the cars taken to Le Mans.

The C-3 began with S/N 5205 which may also have been

52

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

numbered 5206. The first Vignale bodied car was S/N 5206X (confusing eh?). B. Bruce-Briggs provides a list of every complete car based on B.S. Cunningham Co. work order numbers, confirming each of the 27 total cars. This would bring the S/N to something like 5230 or 5231. The number read off the tag on this car is 5236, which is quite a few numbers beyond the final S/N 5231.

The author also reports there were 20 C-3 Coupes and 5 C-3 Cabriolets constructed at Vignale plus two Palm Beach cars. The numbers have been a source of confusion over the years: the Registry says 25 C-3 cars and 2 West Palm Beach cars.

email: shop@xks.com Specialized Restoration Of All Classic Jaguar, British and European Sports Cars From The 1950s-1960s-1970s

assembly & machine shop complete body shop upholstery & trim shop component restoration

expert mechanics trained technicians all phases of restoration excellence since 1973

850 Fiero Lane — San Luis Obispo, California 805-594-1585 — www.xksmotorsport.com For Jaguar Parts — www.xks.com

Personality

Chris on the garage set of Motorz TV readying a Mustang GT for a new engine.

profile

Meet Chris Duke Host of Motorz TV Text by

Don Weberg

Images courtesy of

Motorz

C

hris Duke is one of those curious souls who will always be tinkering with something. Having earned a job at Microsoft fresh out of high school, Chris’s Mom awarded him a new Honda Civic hatchback to get back and forth to the job. The prodigy of an older brother and a father who each not only loved working on their own projects, but teaching others how to do it themselves, he was determined to tinker with the Civic and enjoy making it uniquely his own.

Like so many others from that generation, he installed a major stereo system bit by bit, from head unit to equalizer, from sub woofers to tweeters.

“I hid the equalizer behind the air conditioning vents in the dashboard because there was nowhere else to put them,” he said. “So, at night, driving around, the vents were glowing, which kind of freaked some people out, but they looked cool.

To protect from thievery, I got a cover for the head unit, so the car looked like it had no radio at all. And outside, it was bone stock; so really, it didn’t attract much attention at all.”

And this was the beginning.

“As the younger brother, I was just holding the flashlight,” he said. “But my dad would explain what was going on, what he was doing, and he told the story in such a way that it was easy to digest. Maybe that’s where I get it from, not only the

54

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

story telling, but the interest in sharing with others how to do something.”

In that spirit, he became an avid early adapter to computers and the emerging Internet. Chris launched the first web board, the original social media not dissimilar to the original Facebook.

Through his tinkering and experimenting with web boards and websites, he built networks to talk about trucks, his interest having broadened from Civic hatches.

“At one time, I was able to visit every website on the net,” Chris laughed. “Today it’d be impossible, but back then, there were only a few, and mostly limited to government and universities and major companies.”

As the Net grew and developed during the 1990’s, so too did Chris’s network of sites. As the majority of the folks “online” at the time were somehow involved in the growth of the Net, most of his sites were informational, delivering news and ideas about programming, technology, and software. During the dot com boom, he sold them off for a very handsome amount of money, and he turned his interests to launching F150world. com, a site he’d launched and used to talk to other F150 owners about their interests, joys, and problems. Within time, however, Chris connected with some people who’d left a major publishing conglomerate interested in building their own media company.

Right, Chris Duke and Olivia Korte work well together demonstrating tools and know how; Bottom, Motorz TV is recorded in Chris Duke’s actual home garage. Modified with special lighting and sound absorbing equipment, Craftsman and Sears helped him create an enviable work space, organized with cabinets and work benches.

Having already launched F150world.com, Chris helped them by changing the name to FordTruckWorld.com and adding ChevyTruckWorld.com and DodgeTruckWorld.com.

“It was a lot of fun working with those guys, building that company up,” Chris said. “It had some growing pains, but for the most part, everything ran smoothly. However, living in San Diego and having to commute to Corona for meetings or to address problems with the server could grow old in a hurry.”

Chris not only ran the websites and blogs, but also tended to most of the installs and tech articles, a task he was not only good at, but enjoyed. He stuck with the company for a few years, but decided the time had come to move on. Parting ways with the magazine company, he went full circle, and built again what he originally had, social sites for truck owners.

“The problem was, most of the community I’d built up before signing on with the magazine company had vanished,” he said. “They’d lost interest in the online community thing, and it was nearly impossible to get it all back together again, so I shut that down and moved on.”

Moving on, Chris began writing installs for websites and magazines, his own and other publishers, and one day it occurred to him that it’d be fun to actually tape an install and make a sort of reality show.

“It would be the un-reality reality show,” he joked. “There’s so little realism with a reality show it’s not even funny. My goal was to bring viewers right into the project with me, explain each step, demonstrate the tools, and really get real. So, we started with the installation of an exhaust kit on a truck.”

With this idea in motion, TruckBlog TV began taking shape.

“Once we taped how to install the exhaust system, we

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013 55

A closer look of Motorz TV set reveals the details seen on the screen, plus the special camera and dolly used to gather the shots.

edited it down, cut it nicely, and showed it to some friends and some people we knew in the automotive industry to gain their insight, and it was more than well received, it was a grand slam. Everyone loved it, they said we’d hit the pulse, that we were on to something.”

Chris began to think how limiting trucks could be, and he wanted to work on cars as well, and therefore changed the name to Motorz TV, and the rest is history. On air now for four years and 70 episodes, Motorz broadcasts to nearly 80-million homes, making it very successful in the eyes of television.

“We never signed on with any of the major networks, and I think that was part of the key to being able to attract sponsors,” he said. “We’re not in one specific channel; we’re on a wide range of outlets, including the Web at www.Motorz.TV and on YouTube.”

Motorz TV is one of those lovable shows that educates first, and entertains second. It gives people an honest, real world, real time glimpse at what’s really entailed on an install – aftermarket exhaust systems, headers, electronics, bed liners, head and tail light kits, and more are installed on the show using real world tools and the basic ‘read the instructions’ how to that’s lost in today’s world of reality TV. “Many times we’ll get letters from viewers saying thanks for showing us how to really do it, and that makes me feel good, that’s what we’re trying to do is show people that yes, you can do this without major tools or know how,” he said.

Crystallizing that statement is the fact that Chris is not a mechanic. He’s not ASE certified, he’s never taken formal mechanics training, and, until Motorz, he’d never really torn down an engine and put it back together. Also, he’s been named the Craftsman Tool Spokesperson for Sears Catalogs, which is an enormous honor, as it’s a title nobody else has ever had. As such, he’s also appeared in the past four Craftsman catalogs.

“I was always doing installs from back in the day, and my personality is such that I just like to figure out how things are done, and make them work,” Chris said.

Chris is more than thankful about his crew, of which he would be hard-pressed to do anything, mentioning that his

technical director, Jason Gilmore, and he are very much alike in that they both love figuring out ways to do things.

“He got more and more involved with the show, and has done engine and transmission rebuilds, and just doing a great job,” he said. “He works for Caltrans, he’s been a plumber, and he’s worked with lots of machines, and he just likes figuring out how things work.”

Maybe most interestingly, especially for readers of Garage Style, is the fact that Motorz TV is entirely filmed in Chris’s personal garage.

“We’ve never had a big budget,” he said. “When we were doing the installs for the websites, we were doing them in the garage, and it never occurred to us to go anywhere else. Granted, when a motion picture camera became involved, we had to clean up the garage a little bit, but it’s been fun,” he said.

Like anything else, Chris put in his time and earned his stripes, and in the process earned the support of sponsors such as Sears, Craftsman, AMP Research, Katzkin, Covercraft, and many more. Motorz TV too has become a more serious entity, gaining a cleaner garage to work in with cabinets from Sears, a nicer floor, great lighting, and, of course a Motorz TV signature sign in the background.

“We had a real problem in the beginning because we needed a cart,” Chris said. “We needed something we could roll around and hold parts, something that we could display parts on for product shots, and just be a general shop tool. So, I did what I always do, I hit the Internet and bought a cheap little roller, and we were in business.”

Now – if you’re reading this and thinking it all seems familiar, it’s not de ja vu. Many people have compared Chris to Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor, especially sporting Olivia Korte as the “Motorz Girl” by his side. Of course, Tim had the “Tool Girl,” but who’s playing with phonetics? Some of the viewer quotes from the website point out fantastic parallels. Roger Greer wrote, “Tool Time – only better!” and Patrice Stroup chimes in, “Similar to Tool Time.” See more of the fun on www.Motorz.TV. GSM

A clean wall listing the show name and sponsors is often seen on the show as a backdrop.

“Many times we’ll get letters from viewers saying thanks for showing us how to really do it, and that makes me feel good, that’s what we’re trying to do is show people that yes, you can do this without major tools or know how.”

56

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

57

BUSINESS

profile

In one of the workshops, an XK120, vintage racing Corvette, and Jaguar Mark II each receive their special services.

XKs Unlimited, Inc. Jason Len’s Coventry Works West Text by

Bill Nakasone Images by

Booker

T

he impact of Jaguar on the world of sports cars and motor racing is an amazing story. Under the guidance of Sir William Lyons, Jaguar is a four time winner of LeMans, the grueling 24-hour race that is regarded as the ultimate test of man and machine. Jaguar has often been at the forefront of innovation being one of the first to use disc brakes, monocoque body construction and aerodynamic body design. All of this emanated from the soul of Sir William Lyons and the tradition of Jaguar continues to this day. Jason Len is the soul behind XKs Unlimited in San Luis Obispo, California, and he carries on the spirit of this great marque that would have made Sir William Lyons proud.

XKs Unlimited specializes in Jaguar cars but in a unique way. The scope and dimension of his services are contained within separate entities on the premises; a mechanical shop, a fabrication shop, a body shop, and a trim shop. Each of these specialized areas is staffed by seasoned craftsman who are passionate about their work.

58

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

A rebuilt engine receives special testing and detailing.

Top left, murals on the showroom wall are surreal - if you’re not paying attention, you might really think they’re mannequins; Top right, the show room is racing inspired, complete with a beautiful E-Type racing car, signs, banners, massive wall mural, and even carpeting depicting the road course; Center left, one of the workshops is filled with cars each receiving one special treatment or another; Bottom left, Jason Len, left, discusses some parts with a friend, client.

XKs Unlimited has the in-house capability to produce a factory-correct Concours restoration, a race bred competition machine, an updated “resto-mod,” or a completely “bespoke, one-off” Jaguar. For example, Jay Leno now owns one of Jason’s “resto-mod” cars. Jason took a Series III Jaguar V-12 2+2, a car that was not highly regarded in its original configuration due to its extended wheelbase and anemic performance, and transformed it by shortening the wheelbase by 9-inches, re-skinning the body to look like the seductive shape of an XK-E Series I, and modifying the engine to produce over 400 horsepower. The finished product is elegant, fast, and beautifully crafted. Simply stated, if it’s good enough for Jay Leno, then it’s probably good enough for the rest of us.

Another project that showcases the talent of Jason Len and his crew is the Jaguar LT-1. This car has an in-house crafted chrome moly tubular space frame that replaces the original Jaguar steel ladder arrangement, and an all-aluminum body fabricated by the XKs Unlimited artisan staff that replaces the factory steel body. The entire suspension geometry has been changed by incorporating an XK-E independent rear suspension (replacing the original live rear axle) and a revised upper and lower A-arm front suspension. This car is a “ground-

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

59

up build” and a testament to the XKs Unlimited fabrication, mechanical, and engineering expertise.

Although Jaguar is the focal emphasis of Jason Len’s operation, he is always ready for a challenge involving other marques. This is best exemplified by a recently completed 1966 Shelby Mustang clone with a 427 Roush engine V8, 4-wheel disc brakes, 5-speed gearbox, coil over suspension and a limited-slip differential. He also added power windows and air conditioning. Another American muscle car completed by the XKs Unlimited shop is a 1971 big-block Corvette. In addition to Jaguar, you will often see a COBRA, Lotus, Morgan, or AustinHealy in his shop for maintenance, repair or modification. GSM XKs Unlimited 850 Fiero Lane San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 805.544.7864 www.xks.com

The Coolest Accessory in Your Custom Garage Port-A-Cool® portable evaporative cooling units are perfect for your custom garage, shop, pool, patio or anywhere traditional A/C is cost prohibitive or ineffective.

• Lowers temp up to 30˚F • Cools with tap water and 115v • Rolls easily on casters

Visit Our Booth at SEMA Expo For more information, call 936-598-5651 or visit www.port-a-cool.com

Top left, a storage barn adjacent the main building makes for a tremendous place for long-term projects and odds and ends that just need space; Above, the internals of a Jaguar Mark II look daunting to a layman, but to XK’s Unlimited, it’s par for the course.

l’art et l’automobile

Decorating the automobile enthusiast office, home, garage,museum and race track since 1975.

Porsche 356C poster, cutaway illustration 29.75” x 22.5” $195.00

Original WWII propaganda poster

by W. Richards 1942 30.75” x 42.25” $450.00

Free standing double-sided metal advertising sign, c.1960 24” wide, 35” high, 12.5” base $450.00

Original dealer showroom poster, 1956 24” x 29.5” $225.00

Original dealer showroom banner, USA, 1953 37” x 42” $425.00

1924 Record Mondiale bronze trophy/sculpture won by O.M. $11,500.00

Original poster, 1966 Yugoslavian motorcycle races 25.25” x 37” $650.00

1920’s Brough Superior Alpine sculpture by Jim McCoin, USA 12” x 5” base, 7” high overall $1,350.00

830 864-5040

Drawings, Paintings, Posters, Prints, Mascots, Sculptures, Toys, Models, Badges, Objects, Signs, books, Literature and more

Shop our online store anytime at

arteauto.com

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

61

artist

profile

Roy Putt Text By

Jeremiah McDaniel Images Courtesy of

Roy Putt

M

usic defines generations, it inspires people, it even has the ability to change the course of history, just ask anyone from the former Soviet Union about the Beatles. While music can be complex in its structure with rising crescendos and harmonies, the science behind it is fairly simple. Sound waves are caught in the ear canal, those waves vibrate our eardrums, which causes tiny bones called ossiciles behind the drum to vibrate. The ossiciles cause fluid in the inner ear to agitate microscopic hairs, which transform that movement into signals that the brain interprets, essentially tickling our brains. Now I know this is a car magazine and you are probably trying to figure out what music has to do with our artist, but bare with me because music is what defines Roy Putt: it is where he draws his inspiration from, and it is that tickling of his brain that gives us the visualizing stunning works what we now gaze upon.

Putt’s story starts out much like many artists we have featured here at GSM. He was born and raised in England, studied art and graphic design in college, and after graduating, he tried his hand as a graphic designer, but that is where the

64

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

similarities begin to take a detour. His accelerando.

“Like many art students in the 1960’s, I became very interested in music; I learned to play bass guitar and joined a band,” said Putt. “On leaving college I worked as a freelance graphic designer for a while, but then the band I was in secured a recording contract with Decca Records and I became a professional musician,” said Putt.

Art took a back seat to music for a number of years.

Putt and the other members of the band “Room” achieved something that many musicians struggled to do, they made it. Room traveled throughout London, and according to a blog dedicated to the band, they even played with some big names like Pink Floyd and Status Quo. In 1977, Putt decided to leave the Rock-n-Roll lifestyle to concentrate more on his family. He picked up a job at a music shop. His Walking Tempo.

It wasn’t until 1985 that Putt brought his talents back to art, and he says that since then art has been his profession.

His Tempo Primo.

Many of his pieces are done using acrylics, but more recently he has started using oils.

“I now feature more figure work and I find it more suitable for skin tones and clothing,” said Putt.

Putt’s work is often set in the 1920’s and 30’s, but he admits that as time goes by, his own memories and experiences are taking center stage, and more and more, they are portraying the 1950’s and 60’s.

“I love Art Deco and the Hollywood glamour associated with that period. Also post-war American auto design is also very inspiring,” said Putt.

Putt credits artists like J.M.W Turner and Gustav Klimt as his artistic influences, but the graphic designer in him quickly points out that he admires the work of J.C Leyendecker.

While these artists have influenced his work, he says nothing can inspire him quite like music can.

“If I listen to Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys, I am in a dreamy mid-sixties California, which is probably nothing like the real California of 1966, but it produces such a strong emotional effect on me that I want to try and capture the

illusion,” said Putt. “Maybe one day, I will.”

For Putt, painting is about capturing that inner feeling, seeing the lights and sounds associated with a moment and delivering those to a canvas. This may explain why his favorite piece is one called “Circus Cat”.

“I was a child in the 1950’s so it’s a child’s view of Piccadilly, with the excitement of the colored lights at night and the bustle of the city,” said Putt. “I am sure the gritty reality of post-war London was very different.”

It may seem as if Putt works differently than most car artists, using a love for a specific time as a guide, and relying on a car as a defining element of a period, but he harbors the secret that all car enthusiasts do, he is in love with cars.

“I dream about cars, all sorts of cars. In my dreams I have several and I am always finding different ones hidden away in long forgotten garages,” said Putt. “Imagine the effect on me as a teenager from a small town going to the movies to see Sean Connery in Goldfinger with the music of John Barry and that DB5. Those are the emotions I want to capture, but it is very difficult to gather those elements together and present them to others as a painting.”

Despite the difficulty, Putt is able to channel that emotion

and deliver wonderfully creative and enticing scenes of eras past. Many of his pieces like “I Think We Missed the Park” include subjects who convey grace and elegance just like the cars that share the spotlight.

Putt has said that he tries to capture the glamour associated with Hollywood in the early 20th century, and a shining example of this is his piece, “This Year’s Model 1951”.

The woman in the painting looks as if she stepped right out of the silver screen. Putt has given her a soft glow that is present in many early films, but the unique quality of this piece is that he also creates that soft, celluloid feel for the Cadillac. The car looks like it could be a leading lady right next to Greta Garbo.

The silent films in the era that Putt replicates often rely on orchestras to convey the mood and feeling to the audience, and any score director will tell you that music can make or break a film. Putt is the orchestrator in his pieces; he uses the music that resonates in his body to craft a painting that can touch the viewer on many levels. Visually, it connects you with the subjects; aurally, you can almost hear the faint whispers of the people in the crowd or the music in the air; cerebrally, it takes you to the exact moment in time, melding his memories with yours. His Coda. GSM

“I love Art Deco and the Hollywood glamour associated with that period. Also post war American auto design is also very inspiring.”

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

65

Unique

artists

Al DiMauro It’s the little things that set Al DiMauro’s works apart from others: a subtle pinstripe or a reflection in paint. DiMauro’s works capture the essence of the Hot Rod culture, showing it’s more about the process and the people that get you there than the final product. www.ByGraceThroughFaith.net

Breck Rothage Breck Rothage doesn’t build cars the way Detroit use to, or even the way many enthusiasts build them in their garages; he creates using a simple image of a car and turns it into a masterpiece. Taking that image, he strips it down and builds it back up, adding only what he thinks is necessary.

Sometimes it comes out just bare bones, while others just get a polish. www.BreckRothage.com

66

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

Peter Hearsey

Peter Hearsey’s paintings have a dreamy feel; the detail is there, but they are just quite out of focus, which makes them a possibility for everyone. Hearsey’s exploration of color and tone give his work a distinctive and personal quality, while his ability to move seamlessly from the earliest decades of motoring to recent Formula One cars make him what many consider a true international artist. www.HistoricCarArt.net

Find Automotive Books for your favorite car enthusiast! by author, photographer, broadcaster

McQueen’s Machines, the Cars and Bikes of a Hollywood Icon from Motorbooks Publishing or at Amazon.com

Winning!

The Racing Life of Paul Newman also with Preston Lerner, with Foreword by Mario Andretti from Motorbooks Publishing or at Amazon.com

Matt Stone My First Car Motorbooks Publishing or at Amazon.com

Histories Greatest Automotive Mysteries, Myths, and rumors coauthored with Preston Lerner Now available from Motorbooks Publishing

Please visit www.MattStoneCars.com

The Ferrari Phenomenon co-authored with Luca dal Monte BullPublishing.com or Amazon.com

Automobile

review

2013 Morgan 3 Wheeler A Blast from the Past Text By

Bill Nakasone Images by

The Author and Morgan Motor Co.

T

he 2013 Morgan 3 Wheeler is the most fun I’ve ever had in a car with my clothes on. A blast from the past, the 3 Wheeler is essentially a recreation of the Morgan 3 Wheeler which ceased production in 1936. In 2009, the Morgan Motor Company made the decision to recreate this iconic car. It took about three years to bring it from conception to creation with the first finished examples just now starting to arrive into the hands of those customers who signed up on the long waiting list. I recently had the opportunity to test drive the first one to arrive in the Pacific Northwest. Pete Larson of Liberty Motors graciously allowed me a “ride and drive” that can be best described as an “E Ticket” experience. The car is equally entertaining driving in a spirited mode as it is a casual mode (but for two entirely different reasons).

The magic of the Morgan 3 Wheeler is its uncanny ability to transform you from an outside observer into an active participant. In a modern car, you are shielded from the outside environment by a plethora of safety devices set up to protect you from others as well as from yourself. The net result is that you become disengaged from the world and morph into a passive observer of your surroundings when you drive. In the Morgan 3 wheeler, you are exposed to all of the elements and become engaged in what is around you. As I casually motored down the beautiful roads that surround Lake Washington, I was actively engaged on multiple sensory levels. I heard the laughter of the children playing in the park, I smelled the delicious aroma emanating from the kitchen as we passed an Italian restaurant, I admired the reflections coming off the still lake, I gazed in awe at the crystal blue sky, I heard the music of the masculine exhaust note of the Morgan’s V-Twin engine, I relished each upshift and downshift on the silky smooth

68

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

5-speed transmission, and I felt every undulation in the road surface through the seat of my pants. Along the way, people would wave and smile at me. When pedestrians crossed the street, they would throw admiring glances, give a thumbs up, and say nice comments liken“cool,” “neat car,” “what is it?,” and “can I have a ride?” This car puts you in touch with the simple things in life and makes you feel better about humanity. If the EPA set up a new SPM (smiles per mile) rating, the Morgan 3 Wheeler would be the undisputed champion.

When you drive the Morgan 3 Wheeler in a more spirited mode, you are entertained with its narrow contact patch tires and a primitive (yet surprisingly compliant) suspension. It offers a rewarding driving experience if you get three things right.

First, the car does positively respond to carrying momentum.

Therefore, avoid scrubbing off speed with excessive braking.

Second, the steering circle is surprisingly wide (especially considering the diminutive size of the car) so you must learn where the proper point of turn in is. Third, the engine has lots of torque, but do not lug the engine around a corner if you want that “Stirling Moss” feeling of accomplishment. That being said, the car is an absolute blast to drive and is surprisingly easy to operate. The clutch is firm but not stiff. The 5 speed gearbox is delightful – smooth, precise, and positive. The ride quality is vintage 1930’s – a bit stiff with limited wheel travel. This car is no slouch in terms of acceleration and speed. It weighs in barely above a half a ton and has 82 horsepower making for a power to weight ratio of approximately 12.80 to 1. In other words, one horsepower propels 12.80 pounds of weight. The major variable in performance comes down to the weight of the driver and the weight of the passenger.

The Morgan 3 Wheeler occupies a unique niche in the automotive landscape. It cannot be compared to other cars since there are no other cars like it. In actuality, it is considered a motorcycle by the Feds and is therefore uncluttered with mandatory safety devices such as bumpers, air bags, crash zones, etc. It is indeed this raw state of being that accounts for so much of its charm. The car is priced at around $45,000.

Some may consider that to be a bit much for such a single purpose vehicle. Based on my personal law of economics, owning a Morgan 3 Wheeler could prove to be a self-funding proposition. If I were to drive a Morgan 3 Wheeler twice a week, I could eliminate other expenses from my budget. I would no longer need my weekly visit to the therapist. This could free up $6,500 per year ($125 per weekly session * 52 weeks = $6,500).

I would also no longer need to attend my week long meditation retreat and could save an additional $2,500. This adds up to a $9,000 savings per year which could pay off my Morgan 3

Wheeler in five years. Yeah, driving this car is a therapeutic and spiritual experience that makes you feel good about being alive.

Liberty Motors is the sole dealership for the Morgan 3 Wheeler in the state of Washington. They can be reached at (206) 5686063 or www.morgan3wheeler.us. For dealerships in your area, visit www.morgancars-usa.com. GSM

Book

reviews

RACE MAN – Jim Travers and the TRACO Dynasty Review By Bill Nakasone

For those of you enamored by what is considered by many as the golden age of American racing (1949-1974), “RACE MAN – Jim Travers and the TRACO Dynasty” is a “must read.” TRACO was a small but legendary shop that built race prepared engines for the intensely competitive series of the USRRC, the Can Am, the Trans Am, Pikes Peak, and the World Manufacturers Championship. The name was derived from its two founding owners (Jim Travers and Frank Coon= TRACO). The author of this great story is Gordon Chance, an active participant in the 1960’s and 1970’s racing scene.

This book is really three stories interwoven into a single text. The main story is about Jim Travers, the man who partnered with Frank Coon to create TRACO in 1956.

The life of Jim Travers is traced back to his childhood, his relocation to California from Nevada during his youth, his high school years (where he met Stu Hilborn and Frank Coon), and his military service in World War II. The post war years of Jim Travers take him to Indianapolis, where he teamed up with Howard Keck, Frank Kurtis, and Bill Vukovich. This powerhouse trio experienced the “thrill of victory” at the brickyard with two consecutive first place finishes in 1953 & 1954. Sadly, Bill Vukovich would tragically die just one year later in 1955. In 1956, TRACO was formed and a new saga in American racing would begin. TRACO would supply engines to the kings of the sport and would dominate the winners circle from 1958-1974.

The second story intermixed with the Jim Travers biography is the life and times of the author himself, Gordon Chance. Gordon was a young car guy growing up in Southern California who was blessed with a God given instinct for engine science. In 1961, (at the young age of 17) Gordon started working at Maserati of Beverly Hills where his specialty was tuning and adjusting Weber carburation setups. He became so adept at this pursuit he was nicknamed the “teen tuner.” He got the “racing bug” when he and friend / mentor Max Kelly prepared a 70

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

type 61 “Bird Cage” Maserati for Bill Krause. This would lead to a stint with Bill Harrah working as a mechanic/tuner for his Western States Ferrari Distributorship.

Two years later, he reunited with Max Kelly to co-design and develop the “Hussein,” a Chrysler Hemi-powered sports racer that they built for John Mecom. It was at the Mecom racing operation where he met Jim Travers, which ultimately led to working for TRACO in 1965 & 1966 and again in 1967 & 1968. The gap in time at TRACO was employment with Carroll Shelby as a mechanic on the GT 40 program in their pursuit of the World Manufacturers Championship.

The third story is the vivid description of the Southern California car racing scene of the ‘50’s and ‘60’s. Gordon paints a colorful tapestry of the cast of characters who were at the heart of the racing culture. Throughout the book, there are anecdotes and sidebars that tell a unique tale. Each of them adds richness and humanity to the story. Gordon was both an active participant and an active observer during this time. His candor and lack of political correctness is refreshing. His writing style is unique and he uses a lot of “shop slang.” He refers to many of the central characters in the book by their “nick names” (like Crabby, God, and Davy Crockett), refers to TRACO engines as “strong mothers,” describes the shop shenanigans, talks about the after-work “bench racing” sessions at the bar, elaborates on the management style and shop culture of each of his employers, and pays special homage to those individuals that he held in high esteem (especially Bruce McLaren and Mark Donohue).

This is a unique book written by an insider. Like a fine whisky, it is to be savored in small sips (one chapter at a time). The story goes beyond the facts and takes you into the inner circle of the greatest quarter century of American racing.

“RACE MAN – Jim Travers and the TRACO Dynasty” holds a special spot on my bookshelf. This book can be ordered for purchase at www.racemanjimtraversandthetracodynasty. com or through Autobooks-Aerobooks.

Alfa Romeo – A Century of Innovation

Schiffer Publishing 610.593.1777 | www.SchifferBooks.com A comprehensive look at AR’s 100 year rich past, present, and future, this hardbound book is full of great information, little-known facts, color pictures, specifications, diagrams, and many more little nuggets of knowledge. A must for any Alfaholic, and most any car enthusiast.

Rockin’ Garages – Collecting, Racing & Riding with Rock’s Great Gearheads Motorbooks International 800.458.0454 | www.MotorBooks.com Rock and cars have always gone together, and it’s not a far stretch to include garages. How many bands lit up in a garage for the first time? How many rock songs filled the walls of a garage while friends hung out, or people worked on their projects? Infinite. As such, Motorbooks offers a glimpse into the private automotive lairs of some of histories most storied rockers.

TALBOT-LAGO GRAND SPORT THE CAR FROM PARIS Peter M. Larsen with Ben Erickson

The Talbot-Lago Grand Sport was an automobile destined for the grand cru sportsman and chic Parisian society in equal measure. It was a grand gesture, and the final flowering in France of the great tradition of the truly custom motorcar.

The chassis was built to carry coachwork that was the last expression anywhere in the world of grand style and luxury.

The Grand Sport was outrageously exclusive and something for the very few. Not just because of its price, which was stratospheric, or its limited practicality, which was irrelevant: this was a car that was chic, ritzy, aristocratic, and sharp as a knife all at once.

Volume I tells the story of how the Grand Sport was born in the bleak post-war years. It is the story of how Talbot-Lago came into being, and the incredible tale of Anthony Lago’s life with his rise from refugee to penniless car dealer in London and finally luxury car maker in France. The post-war history of the marque is dealt with in great detail; additionally, there is an indepth discussion of the chassis and its components.

A large section is devoted to a history of every single carrossier who bodied a Grand Sport chassis.

Volume II contains a detailed chassis by chassis history of every single Grand Sport laid down by the factory.

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

71

buyer’s

guide

Ultimate Furniture For the Car Enthusiast

I

t’s fun to decorate from treasures found at junkyards and yard sales and swap meets, but sometimes, it’s the new things that are necessary to complete a certain look. Here are a few ideas to get you going!

MotoArt

Famous for having created some of the slickest functional art out of discarded airplane pieces, one of Moto Art’s most interesting bits is the DC-9 Wing Desk.

Crafted of sturdy, tempered glass atop a polished aluminum wing, the desk recalls aviation’s storied past and makes for a fantastic conversation piece and attention-getter. One of the more popular desks from MotoArt, each takes roughly 120 hours to craft from acid-washing to sanding to buffing to final assembly. www.MotoArt.com 310.375.4531 (w) | 301.806.6029 (e)

ItalyDesign

Made of carbon fiber, magnesium, aluminum, leather, and suede, the Aston Martin chaise lounge is sure to be a future classic. The padding is comprised of polyurethane foam and boiled wool, and the leather coverings are available in virtually any color. Perfect for the home, office, den – anywhere a high style, robust craftsmanship chaise lounge might come in handy, and help make a statement about its owner. www.ItalyDesign.com | 510.420.0383

72

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

Pit Stop Furniture

Another racing-inspired piece from the good folks at Pit Stop, this stylish bookshelf is sure to spice up any room it’s in. Situated upon durable racing-tire casters, the four glass shelves are affixed to bowed aluminum legs with slick die cut circle and slash designs. Sure to lend an industrial, racy edge to any room. www.PitStop.Intro-TechAutomotive.com 866.319.8500 (USA) | 916.933.8500 (Int)

RaceChairs.com

Imagine being able to sit each day in a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Corvette, or virtually any other kind of seat. Perfect for the office, the RaceChair brings your love of cars right into the workplace, giving people a glimpse into your weekends. The Ferrari 360 seat shown features the RaceChairs.com custom, transformable base to lend to virtually any height, recline, etc. www.RaceChairs.com | 267.632.5003

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

73

California Car Cover Company

Featuring a variety of shifter styles and patterns, this could well be the ultimate coat and hat rack. Made of aluminized ABS, the rack comes with all the hardware and instructions you need to assemble. Not only a great piece of décor, but functional as well. www.CalCarCover.com | 800.423.5525

AUTOart

Everyone needs a desktop business card holder, and AUTOart has one that’ll grab attention and do the job – a V-10 engine. Made of polished and anodized aluminum, cards sit between the flutes, while below is a storage area to keep more cards. www.AutoArtModels.com

Summit Racing

Everybody needs a refrigerator, but for car enthusiasts, Summit Racing provides the Tool Box Fridge. Complete with tough plastic shelves, Dispense-A-Can can stacker, interior lighting, locking casters, and much more, it’s a great way to keep beverages and lunch cold. www.SummitRacing.com | 800.230.3030

74

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

The Rolls-Royce Owners’ Club of Southern California

40 Anniversary Concours d’Elegance th

West Coast’s Largest Gathering of Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motor Cars April 20, 2013

This prestigious 40th Anniversary Concours d’Elegance will be held on April 20, 2013, at Santa Anita Park. This exquisite venue located in Arcadia, California, is one of the world’s premier Thoroughbred racecourses. This extraordinary event is reminiscent of Derby Day at Ascot Park in England. All members of the Rolls-Royce Owners’ Club are invited to attend this spectacular Concours. The diverse representation of cars on display spans the entire century of Rolls-Royce and Bentley production. Magnificent Pre-War to current sleek and high-powered motor cars will be on display while exquisite thoroughbreds run swiftly past us.

Your Rolls-Royce or Bentley does not have to be judged or even be in show condition to participate in this fantastic event. Each exhibited car and driver will receive a participation ribbon, a goody bag, and a limited collector’s edition 40th Anniversary car badge.

All drivers and paid guests will enjoy a lavish buffet lunch, raffle tickets, and a special gift from Santa Anita Park. There will be an exciting raffle with sensational gifts where everyone has a chance to win. Outstanding trophies will be presented to the special award winners and 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place class winners. All special awards and 1st Place winners will receive a 5-gallon bucket filled with Mothers® Car Care Products.

If you are already a member of the RROC or would like to become a member of one of the most exclusive automobile clubs in the world, contact Robert or Nancy Ratinoff at 818.907.0226 or email rrocsoca@gmail.com. So prepare your pride and joy to be part of this memorable day.

Visit our website: www.rroc-socal.com

Thank You for

Supporting our advertisers!

They have all your garage needs...

Tell them you saw them in magazine

Matt’s

column

Uncle Sol’s Garage By

Matt Stone

M

y late Uncle Sol was a fine guy. He met and married my favorite Aunt Anne later in life, and was nothing but great for her. She was partially disabled, so good on him for taking on a woman that presented considerable physical challenge and some limitation. They were a wonderful couple, always happy and engaged with whoever was around them.

Sol was also one of the cheapest skinflints I’ve ever known. I’m all for saving money, but he would give you three cents before he’d give you a nickel. He would buy the absolute cheapest tickets available for any given Hollywood Bowl concert – forget binoculars, you needed the Hubble Space telescope to see anything from the seats he always got.

He was a retired science teacher, and every home project of his seemed to be another experiment. I’ll never forget his hot tub – he got a used fiberglass tub from who knows where, and then built his own heater. You think I ever got in that thing?

No way – I feared electrocution far too much to ever stick a toe in that tub.

And Sol was the ultimate scrounger; since he was retired from teaching, he scrounged full time. He would take long walks every day, up and down the residential alleys near his West LA home, looking for anything that anyone threw out that he felt could be repurposed and reused. I remember one night; he called me and asked me if I needed any PVC pipe. He was walking in the alley and found several six-foot pieces of PVC “that somebody just threw out – can you believe that!” I never heard him so excited. As you likely know, small diameter PVC costs just a few cents a foot, so I never keep a stock on hand.

When I need some, I figure out the length and diameter for the job and I go to the hardware store and buy it.

Sol and Anne’s house was a nice but utterly average three-bedroom, one-bather with a conventional two-car detached garage. Although after he lived there for nearly 50 years – scrounging all the while – there was nothing any longer conventional about his garage.

78

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

This precisely-curated, densely-packed 400-square foot space resembled an odd cross between a junkyard, a pawnshop, and Dr. Frankenstein’s lab: the original Fibber McGee’s closet. I’d pay a million bucks just to have a photo of it now.

Put a car in this garage? Sure – a Matchbox car, maybe.

Only if it was a 1/64th scale Isetta or Fiat 500. But a real fullsized running car – never. Sol never gave a crap about cars, other than as transportation. To him they were four-wheeled, gasoline-fueled toasters – mere appliances.

You didn’t walk into Sol’s garage, you toured it. It was an expedition in organized junk. Every square inch was occupied save a very narrow footpath, and you went through it like walking through a maze, entering at one point, just hoping you found your way through and out the exit. Some day.

And the stuff: Conduit, extra telephones, miles of wire, the aforementioned PVC museum, extra tubes for ancient televisions and radios he no longer owned, spare tires and wheels, bikes and bike parts, furniture he planned to restore, books, spare parts for the sprinkler system, tools, and more wire from countless alleys. And this treasure was everywhere: precariously packed in the rafters, hung from the ceilings, stacked on the floor, stacked upon itself as needed – thousands of pounds of unmitigated junk. I don’t know how an earthquake never brought it all tumbling down.

When Sol passed away, and my aunt went to sell the house, she and my cousins had a free garage sale: that’s right, they threw open the door and invited attendees to take as much of anything as they wanted, not daring to ask a penny for any of it.

Please demonstrate better Garage Style than my Uncle Sol and: Don’t Do This At Home.

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

79

Garage

meanings

In the Garage with Cindy Meitle

David Ochser Garage Enthusiast David Ochser lives in Scottsdale, AZ. He’s a child of the 70’s and collects cars from the era. He has developed a strong fetish for movie cars with examples including the Smokey and the Bandit car, Herbie the Love Bug and the General Lee. He has given each of his cars its own pet name. The 2,000 sq. ft. garage was built to look like an old warehouse inside with a storage area and full bath that looks like a service station.

Cindy: What is your favorite item in your garage and why?

David: My 1978 Corvette Silver Anniversary billboard because I received it as my 17th birthday present. I asked for the car, but got the billboard instead. I’ve been waiting a long time for a wall to hang it on. It is the main focal point of my garage.

Cindy: What is the one item you have always wanted in your garage that you hope to one day acquire and why do you want it so much?

David: I already have it and this is a most bizarre thing.

I wanted a 1978 Corvette Silver Anniversary for my first car in 1978 when I first got my license. I did not get that for my first car.

I received a full size billboard of the car measuring 9 feet tall by 22 feet wide that my parents purchased for me for $11.50 from an advertisement in an auto magazine. Here’s where it gets bizarre. My wife, Nancy, my kids, Julie and Gregory, and I were vacationing in Las Vegas. I was up early one morning and saw a curtly-worded ad for a 1978 Corvette so I called on the ad and went to see the car. It was a 1978 Silver Anniversary. I drove it and took Nancy back later to purchase it. The owner said he did not have any paperwork but we purchased it anyway and after looking in the rear compartment I found “all” the paperwork. Ready? We looked through the paperwork and found the car had only 20,000 real miles, and was sold in

80

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

Albany, New York the day before my 17th birthday. One year later, with 567 miles, it sold again “on my 18th birthday.” The car had every piece of documentation and still only has 21,000 miles and wears its original paint and interior.

Cindy: What’s the strangest item in your garage? How did you acquire it and why does it remain in the garage?

David: I have a lot of strange items, but one of my favorites is one you would never figure out. In 1974, the Oklahoma prison that manufactured license plates burned down. As a result, all the license plates were destroyed and never issued. They started to use renewal stickers instead. On our travels to California one year, we stopped in the little town of Quartzite, Arizona in the middle of the desert. I was looking through license plates at one of the outdoor vendor tents and the vendor asked if I was interested in a very unusual license plate he was certain I’d never see again anywhere else. I have one of those unissued Oklahoma burned prison plates.

Cindy: What are you doing most of the time when in your garage?

David: I’m usually cleaning and polishing my cars while listening to music. If I’m not doing that, I’m unboxing and hanging the many carts of memorabilia I have accumulated since I was a teenager and the many items I have been purchasing at swap meets.

Cindy: Did you spend much time in the garage growing up? What are your memories?

David: No, we lived on Long Island and my parents had a 2-car garage with a huge ceiling and a basketball hoop in it so we played basketball when the cars were moved out. We did have a large basement that had all my cars in it including a huge electric racetrack that we kept building and adding to until it took up most of the basement.

Cindy: Can you give us a quote about what the garage mans to you?

David: My garage is my sanctuary; it’s just a casual place to hang out and enjoy spending time with friends and family.

Back yard mechanics to world famous car builders and traditional hot rods to multi million dollar classics are all featured on “The Vintage Vehicle Show”. Lance Lambert, the show’s producer and host, has been taking you on four wheeled adventures since 1993 and “The Vintage Vehicle Show”, broadcast nationally and internationally, can be enjoyed every week on your TV and computer screens.

Check your local listings for times and topics, or log on to www.vintagevehicletv.com

MAGIC HAPPENS A reader at the recent Mecum Auction in Anaheim, California, spotted this family enjoying the excitement of an auction.

What a day!

Garage Style Magazine and SEMA encourage you to take a kid to a car show! Share the passion and enjoy time with one another in a great setting!

Send us your youth-related car show stories and an image to info@garagestylemagazine.com.

Garage

bazaar

Architecture/Design/ Construction

VintageAutoPosters.com www.vintageautoposters.com Wall Words 888.422.6685 www.wallwords.com

Security Secure It 562.677.3777 secureit@ngcia.com

Mr. Cartoon Sanctiond 855.672.2786 www.Sanctiond.com Save-A-Battery 888.819.2190 510.471.6442 www.saveabattery.com

Tailored Living featuring PremierGarage 866.590.8604 (USA) 866.311.8915 (CAN) www.garagestylespecialoffer.com

Auctions

Travel/Leisure/Dining

Mecum Auctions 262.275.5050 www.mecum.com

Flanagans Restaurant-Pub 831.625.5500 www.flanaganscarmel.com

Port-A-Cool 800.695.2942 www.port-a-cool.com

Art/Automobilia/ Collectibles/Media

Heritage Auction 800.872.6467 www.ha.com

Tools/Equipment

Zymol 800.999.5563 www.zymol.com

Bonhams 415.503.3248 www.bonhams.com

CoverCraft 800.4.covers www.covercraft.com

Moduline 888.343.4463 www.modulinecabinets.com

Shure Garage Equipment 800.227.4873 www.shureusa.com

Griot’s Garage 800.345.5789 www.GriotsGarage.com

Rally Legends www.rallylegendsrc.com Via Corsa Guidebooks www.ViaCorsa.com

Mike Gulet http://MyCarQuest.blogspot.com

Automobile Restoration/ Maintanence

Matt Stone www.MattStoneCars.com

Wheelsmith 800.854.8937 951.898.4563 www.thewheelsmith.net

Ruckus Rod and Kustom 805.388.7310 www.RuckusRods.com

401k Restorations 714.993.401k www.the401kclub.com

GarageArt.com 800.708.5051 www.garageart.com

Custom Auto Service 714.543.2980 www.customautocervice.com

GT Racer www.gtracertv.com

Clothing/Accessories

Vintage Vehicle Show www.vintagevehicletv.com Petroleum Collectibles Monthly www.pcmpublishing.com Autobooks-Aerobooks 818.845.0707 www.autobooks-aerobooks.com Art Era www.arterasigns.com Ultimate Garages www.ultimategarages.net Spirit of Speed USA 760.580.8005 France 33.603.461.031 www.spiritofspeed.com Arte Auto 830.864.5040 www.arteautoauction.com

Private Listings

LuxVelocity www.luxvelocity.com

Flooring BLT www.jumbo-floor-tile.com

Furniture/Electronics

1940’s Neon sign made by Arkansas Neon. Porcelain sheet metal all original. Sign had wings originally but missing when found. Wings fabricated as original and added. Neon replace with all modern components. $10,000 Free delivery within 50 mile radius of Yorba Linda, CA. Contact Jim Gilliland 714.701.0771.

PitStop Furniture 866.319.8500 www.intro-techautomotive.com Custom Auto Sound 1.800.88.TUNES www.custom-autosound.com

Insurance Heacock Classic 800.678.5173 www.heacockclassic.com

Museums

CBT Lighted Signs 858.536.2927 www.cbtsystems.tb

Mullin Automotive Museum 805.385.5400 www.mullinautomotivemuseum. com

Kit Car Builder 866.Kit.CAR1 www.kitcarclub.com

Petersen Automotive Museum 323.930.CARS www.petersen.org

82

Advertise in the Bazaar!

Spaces are just $42 per quarter.

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

Original “OK Used Cars” double-sided neon sign. This sign has not been restored other than the neon lights have been replaced. The sign has great patina for its age. Sign comes with a custom made roll-around stand. $12,500. Contact Tommy at 803.669.1010 or email Tommy at palmettoclassics@yahoo.com.

Can we help you sell it?

Advertise your automobilia, petroliana, literature or other related treasures in Private Listings.

40-50 words, plus a picture, $90 PrivateListings@garagestylemagazine.com

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013

83

84

Garage Style Magazine Spring 2013