Issue 23 by Garage Style Magazine

magazine

Winter 2013

On stands until February 2014

A Home for Auto Bijou

2013 Monterey Revisit

RM Auctionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Los Angeles Office Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

contents 20

features

departments

The House of Cars

Publisher’s Note

My New Garage

Lance’s Column

Memories Aplenty

Phil’s Column

Monterey 2013

Personal Notes

Garages in History

Garage News

Office Profile

A good buy or goodbye

Time Management

An Office I’d Happily Live In

24 4

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Barn Finds

Business Profile

Artist Profile

Unique Artists

Roadster Salon

Nicola Wood

Automobile Review

Book Reviews

Holiday Buyer’s Guide

Matt’s Column

Garage Meanings

Garage Bazaar

Gold Plated DMC-12

Who’s Next?

John Gunnell

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Publisher’s

note

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

Recovering from Monterey August is always jam season here at GSM. This past season was no different – we prepped to be at two events, plus host our annual Monterey Peninsula Garage Tour on the Monday kicking off Car Week. Each year it gets busier and more difficult to meet deadlines and successfully accomplish everything that needs to be done, all the while ensuring the details are dealt with. The devil is in the details, and if you lose sight of them, it’s easy to lose your entire ensemble. This year, I’m pleased to report, was our most successful so far. The Tour was attended by nearly 70 people, the garages were in typical fabulous fashion, and the weather couldn’t have been better. Also in typical fashion, a lot of people showed up with slick cars ranging from a new Ferrari F12 to a Rolls-Royce Camargue to a Z06 to another Gary Wales Beast creation. The Tour is a car show unto itself, and I love it. For those who’ve never been on the Tour, check out the post-Monterey coverage in this book, and check out the video link on our Facebook and in our E-Newsletter. If you’re not receiving the Newsletter and would like to, drop us a line on NL@garagestylemagazine.com, and we’ll sign you up. Just say, “Sign me up!” and provide the Email you’d like it sent to. It’s free and usually monthly, and quick and sweet. We’re edging up on the end of the year, and that means time with family and friends, stories aplenty, and I hope a few of you have planned a little get together in or around the garage. It’s a fabulous and unusual place (for most people) to meet up and it tends to remove a lot of psychological barriers – people tend to speak more freely in a garage, which may or may not be a good thing. But, regardless, I do hope you’ll spend some time in your garage as this year ends, and another begins. Also, check out the Last Minute Holiday Buyer’s Guide in this issue, and remember the Garagalogue in the previous issue for some great shopping ideas. Also – the May issue boasted Gallery G, a special section of artists specializing in the automotive art trade. If you’ve ever thought of investing a little bit of money while having a spot of fun, buying art is a great way to do so. These artists will produce a one-off, commission piece for you, or sell something from their stock of images. We’ll see ya next year – I hope you enjoy this issue, and that 2013 leaves you with some special memories while 2014 brings you wonderful events and successes aplenty. Thanks for stopping by. Happy Holidays, Don Weberg Editor-Publisher

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 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 | carmen.price1@aol.com David Jollif 510.307.6283 Debra Lee 818.762.8902 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.

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Printed in the United States by American Web Printers

Lance’s

column

A good buy or goodbye?

Tokheim ’39 Gas Pump

• Stands 6 feet tall • An authentic reproduction of a roadside classic • Illuminated globe and face panel

• Working temperature gauge; zoomie-style vents • Stainless steel burners and cooking grate • Stand and cover included

FFP-TK39R .....................$1,395.97 each

HGG-HRG350 ..................$699.97 each

Corvette C5 Neon Sign

Personalized “Cast Aluminum” Garage Sign

Garage Pad

• Fit up to 12 letters on top and bottom • Double-sided sign includes bracket • Available in black, blue, red, and silver

• Transform oil-stained and cracked ﬂoors • Ribbed design installs in 30 minutes • Available in multiple sizes and colors

OTE-260096.....................$429.97 each

WHP-14162 ...................... $99.97 each

BTL-GF55RB822_ .............$259.97 each

3D Spark Plug Sign

The Complete Book of Shelby Automobiles

Pitstop Desk and Grand Prix Ofﬁce Chair

MBG-CUCV-CU103 ............ $89.97 each

MBK-780760335789........ $49.97 each

IAI-PFD2000_ .......... $399.97 desk, each IAI-GP1000_ ...........$399.97 chair, each

Lance Lambert

oaming through a swap meet and discovering a desirable sign for a reasonable price is one of the joys of collecting. More convenient, but perhaps less fun is strolling through a web site and placing the winning bid on a sign. Either way the end result is a “new” grungy or gleaming sign being displayed in your garage. Sometimes the opportunity to buy a sign comes to you. A few weeks ago my friend Greg contacted me to see if I was interested in purchasing an old Gates fan belt sign that he was removing from his collection. He offered it for a “friend discount” price of $150. The sign didn’t really excite me, and friend or no friend, I felt the market value was about $150. I passed on his offer and told him to go ahead and list the sign on eBay. A week later the winning bidder clicked the “bid” button and then sent Greg $600 for the sign. A 42-inch round double-sided Oldsmobile dealership sign offered at a garage sale seemed too expensive at $500 so I passed on the opportunity to add it to my collection. It was likely worth at least $2000. At another garage sale my offer of $100 for a 5-foot long Shell sign was not accepted. The seller said yes to my offer, but his wife said no and I didn’t raise the offer. Do I regret not offering more in these and similar situations? Yes. Will I have other opportunities to make the same mistake? Yes again. Am I upset about it? Only a little bit. For many of us the amount offered or spent is what we can afford, not what the sign may actually be worth. For others the cost is not a consideration. A friend of mine will pay any amount for a sign if he decides it needs to be added to his collection, even if the purchase price is in the upper five figure range. Another friend that works for a collector has been given the assignment of finding specific signs. The collector’s instruction to him is to pay any price necessary to purchase these signs. Recently he spent $16,000 of the collector’s money for one small sign. Why do many of us willingly pay reasonable or unreasonable amounts of money for what our friends outside of the hobby consider items that should be tossed into a recycling bin? Most garageophiles agree that the people asking the question will not understand the answer. For some it is the beauty of the signs, and for others it is the future profit potential. Most collectors enjoy both the graphic

and financial appeal. Many of us react like we’ve stepped into a fantastic museum every time we walk into our garages. When entering the garage I always take a few seconds to glance from wall to wall and ceiling to floor. What appears before me is a burst of bright colors and lights. The neon glow is breathtaking and the carnival of colors always brings a smile. Even friends that care nothing about automotive related memorabilia seem to at least appreciate this kaleidoscope of colors and light. The children and grandchildren of friends seem to be just as impressed as the grown-ups. A good example of this was when a friend brought his 5-year-old grandson with him for a tour of the garage. The young boy took a long look around the garage, paused and then said, “You have a lot of toys!” The youngster was especially impressed by the model airplane that I’ve rigged to fly across the garage when the door is opened. I am always looking for my next addition to the garage. Tomorrow my wife and I will be leaving for a couple of weeks of knocking around France. I’ve promised her that our itinerary will not be dictated by the location of any car shows or automotive museums. One item that is on our agenda is to visit a huge never-ending rummage sale in Paris. Several publications and many friends have recommended spending several hours roaming through the items being offered, and that is what we plan to do. I wonder if there are any automotive memorabilia vendors there and if my wife will agree that a Renault or Citroen sign will look great hanging from our garage ceiling?

Hot Rod Pedal Car

• Perfect for sidewalk and driveway cruises • Steel body and 5-position pedals • For kids 3 to 7 years old

TPL-68706404460 ..........$299.97 each

Crosley iJuke Deluxe Jukebox

• AM/FM radio, CD player, and 30-pin iPod dock • 2:3 scale replica of an iconic Wurlitzer • LCD display, color shifting LED lights

MMI-CR12-2I ................$1,099.97 each

Ford Mustang Pub Table and Bar Stool

• Turn your garage into a gathering place • 27" diameter acrylic table top • 30" high padded vinyl swiveling stool

APD-FRD-42302 ......$149.97 table, each APD-FRD-42201 ...$89.97 bar stool, each

Cast Aluminum Gas Barbeque Grill

• Adds warm glow to any room • Hand-formed glass tubing • 31" wide x 20" tall

• Personalized with your name • Made from 24-gauge steel • 14" wide x 36" high, bows out 3" from wall

Bone Creeper

• Covers Cobras, Mustangs, GT40s, and more • 256 pages; 350 photos • From author Colin Comer

• Shift your work into high gear • Adjustable seat; glass tabletop • Available in red, black, and silver

Cabinet with Fold-Down Work Tray

• Stay comfortable during garage work • Glides over rough ﬂoors, cords, hoses, and clutter • Professional grade and made in the USA

• Extra storage for garage, laundry room, or trailer • Made from aluminum; supports 20 lbs. • 3 shelves, paper towel holder, work tray

DAE-6031 ........................$116.97 each

ITD-2021 .........................$179.97 each

1969 Camaro Shelf

• Put your collectibles on a 3D car nose • Cast resin; tempered glass shelf • 20.7" wide x 8.7" high x 7.9" deep

SBL-7580-12..................... $74.97 each

Hundreds of gifts under $50 • Gift Cards available from $25 to $500

Join Genuine Hotrod Hardware’s exclusive “opt-in” e-mail news list anytime by visiting GenuineHotrod.com/email

Genuine Hotrod Hardware is a Summit Racing Equipment Company

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Mag_1311GS.indd 1

9/6/13 1:53 PM

Phil Berg’s Dispatches from the Ultimate Garage Tour

Time Management The biggest problem with an ultimate garage is what to do when you get there

he Motor City is located in a unique geographic place – it’s on a peninsula, meaning for the most part everyone here sought residence deliberately. The remainder of the country enjoyed a westward migration that produced a healthy cross flow of new ideas progressing toward manifest destiny. Here everyone had a different idea: Cars are king. Few outlying suburbs even have sidewalks; walking is frowned upon, cars are king. Europeans arrive at the Detroit airport asking at the information booth where the train is, and they are told to rent a car, cars are king. People revere cars here, people worship carmaking. Motor City folks collect cars with an intimate connection to the people who designed, built and sold them. For example, Lawrence Hale, who toiled for General Motors in Motor City for 40 years straight until the late 1990’s began amassing a collection of buildings several hours north of Motor City in the early 1990’s. He needed them for the cars he began collecting in the 1970’s. In the 1970’s Hale’s son Jeff was in high school, and like all high school kids in Motor City, he had the chance to choose his brand new muscle car to drive. Such was the prosperity that a life in the Motor City factories guaranteed. Jeff’s father was passionate about his co-workers’ crafts and creations, and he began buying and not selling Oldsmobile Cutlasses. His father bought a new one each year, a convertible, from 1964 through 1971. “Over the years he collected old cars, when I got to 17, we were looking for a car and the Cutlass convertible was my car. You go to a junkyard and there would be like 30 of them, you could get parts all over the place,” says Jeff. Now, after a 25-year advertising career, the younger Hale spends every waking moment working on the garages, the cars, the outdoor tiki bar and the acre-size yard dotted with mature trees. “When I was down-state we had much more time to get stuff. Now that I’m up here, I just don’t have the time to do any of the things I thought I had time to do,” he realizes. “If I had the means I could stop right now and work the rest of my time just getting things done the way I want them to be done. Part of my problem is I get particular of how I want things done. Like the fire extinguisher had to be an IH fire extinguisher, the 8-track had to be an IH 8-track. That takes time.” With a big, huge smile, he adds, “It’s so challenging.” 10

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

personal

notes

I loved your winter 2012 issue. I read with interest about Hernado’s Hideaway because I drove a 1960 Chrysler Newport convertible in High school. It is not often that you see a Chrysler at car shows today. The article was informative on Hernado DeSoto the Spanish Explorer. However, as a child of the ’60s Hernando’s Hideaway will always be a ’50s song by Archie Bleyer: “I know a dark secluded place; a place where no one knows your face; a glass of wine, a fast embrace; it’s called Hernando’s Hideaway Ole!” Long time subscriber, John Croffy Thanks for the note, John – kind of funny – Hernando’s Hideaway is kind of the opposite of the Cheers theme song. “Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name…” ED I was reading in your magazine -page 19 of the last issuethat the readers could send pictures about their “sanctuaries.” I feel my garage is far from the great places you show in GSM, but for me it is nice, and I spend a lot of time there playing with my toys. The garage is at home, and every day I have the opportunity to have a look at it, and check if all is in its place, because my children sometimes “visit” the cars, and especially the model cars, where I have collected more than 700 units. I’m proud to keep some units (scale 1:1) of the PTV, a Spanish (Catalan in fact) vintage microcar, made here by my father, my uncle, with Mr. Perramon and Mr. Vila (PTV stands for the capital letters of their names). The PTV was the third most well known Spanish microcar in the ’50s. If you need to get information about Spanish cars or car collections, don’t hesitate to ask me, I’m the president of a large club where we can obtain information, www.classicmotorclub. org. It will be a very big pleasure to see one of my pictures in GSM. Warmest Regards, Toni

Toni, Thank you for connecting with us! Great looking space, you have nothing to worry about – your Garage Style is fabulous, and I’m sure every reader will attest to such. ED I look forward to reading each and every issue of your magazine. From the few times we have met there is no doubt that you are passionate about your magazine and always strive for accuracy. In the current issue (Fall 2013) there is an article on page 10 by Phil Berg about a new “country club” for car buffs that is being planned for a former GM site on Woodward Ave. in Pontiac, Michigan. The article incorrectly states that, “Larry Smith, former Meadow Brook honcho and owner of the areas highest rated auto body shops,” is associated with this new, yet to be built, facility. It would have been nice if Mr. Berg would have confirmed this before it went to press. I am not involved with this project. There is another “Larry Smith” who is an attorney that is the person he should have referred to in the article. Best regards, Larry Smith President Autometric Collision Larry, Thank you for bringing this to our attention. It’s a small world, and mistakes are made, but it’s how we keep ourselves in check. We hope the article didn’t inconvenience you or the other Larry Smith too badly! ED

Please send letters to: info@garagestylemagazine.com or Personal Notes C/O GSM PO Box 812 La Habra, CA 90633-0812

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Garage

news

Operation Appreciation adds the Middle East to itinerary Summit Racing Equipment and Armed Forces Entertainment (AFE) have announced the itinerary for 2013’s Operation Appreciation. Summit Racing and Harley-Davidson racers from AFE will annually visit the American troops stationed overseas. After three years of visiting American personnel based in Europe, Operation Appreciation will be going to the Middle East to visit troops in Kuwait, UAE, and Bahrain. “We’re looking forward to this year’s trip,” said Jim Greenlead, Summit Racing Motorsports and Events manager. “Our troops in this part of the world work right next door to areas of conflict like Syria and Afghanistan, and in an environment that most of them have not experienced before. We hope bringing them a little slice of home will let these people know that they are appreciated.” The trip is scheduled for November 18 through 22, and is made possible by the Army Special Forces Association Chapter 64 which is being led by the SFA’s Sfc (retired) Wayne Reed. Learn more at www.OnAllCylinders.com and at Summit Racing’s Facebook page.

Blackhawk Museum launches Wheels for Wheelchairs program On September 26th, the Blackhawk Museum launched the new Wheels for Wheelchairs program with a benefit advance screening of the movie RUSH. The sold out fundraiser began with guests enjoying a reception among the cars in the Museum, before making their way to the theatre. The Prickly Pear Cantina hosted the reception, and David Bull of David Bull Publishing contributed a number of Hunt vs. Lauda books to support the Wheels for Wheelchairs event. These books are available for purchase through the Museum Store. The Wheels for Wheelchairs program will enable the classic car community and automotive industry to support the further donation of wheelchairs through the museum’s mobility partnership with The Wheelchair Foundation to those in need through a car donation program. www.BlackHawkMuseum.org

Chapman Design Group receives SCHBA Pinnacle award for energy efficiency For a project entitled “Three Birds, One Stone,” Chapman Design received the Pinnacle Award from the SC Home Builder’s Association for the Best Achievement in Energy Efficiency. Involving a combination of a twobedroom guest house, a six-car collector garage, and a 2,500 bottle underground wine cellar, the entire project was designed to resemble an age old farmhouse. A five-person firm specializing in architecture, renovation and interiors, Chapman Design is owned by Donald Chapman, a Certified Master Builder, and his wife, who also owns Icon Construction of SC, LLC which constructed the project.

VINCheckPro.com goes live, available on mobile Full motor vehicle reports are available through VINCheckPro.com allowing used car shoppers and dealers access to information to help make informed purchasing decisions. Members of the website community can research a VIN from their personal cåomputer or mobile device.

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

“VINCheckPro fills an important role in the used car market by providing the information consumers and dealers need to make good business decisions,” said Emily R., PR manager for VINCheckPro. “Members can learn everything they need to know about a vehicle to determine whether a purchase is really the right choice.”

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

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

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expert mechanics trained technicians all phases of restoration excellence since 1973

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Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

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

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Office

profile

An office I’d happily live in One company pushes the workspace envelope Text and Images by

Matt Stone

’ve never been to the offices of a classic car auction house that I wouldn’t happily move into. To-Day. Be it BarrettJackson or Bonhams or Gooding & Company, every auction house HQ I’ve ever been to is cool, and would be a heavenly working-living space Nirvana for us car fools. Long before it opened a little more than a year ago, I’d heard that RM Auctions was taking over a particularly cool space in nearby (to me) Culver City, California. I attended its grand opening party and nearly wept. The compact, tasteful, immaculate two-building complex is part office, art gallery, library, and showroom/salon. Some walls are brick, others clean white plaster, others glass. The ceiling is of the open industrial beam variety, all finished in 18

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

warm, natural surfaces. The floors? Shiny polished concrete of course. Evocative automotive art decorates some of the walls, and the automotive specialists and other staffers share a large open, and ultra comfy space. Rob Myers’ wife, and thus Shelby Myers’ (who manages the west coast facility – recall that RM is based in Blenheim, Ontario, Canada) mother, is a gifted artist and some of her original works also decorate the front office area. Shelby’s only semi-private office is filled with automotive books, his idea of sculpture often being a Ferrari or Ford GT40 engine on a stand. I like this place. The back “conference room area” of the main building is dedicated to showroom space, often filled with cars that’ll soon be offered at an RM auction. Across the patio is another showroom/salon building, decorated with a few vintage automotive signs, and thankfully more cars. Shelby Myers admits that the property was in much this condition when the company took possession, and that a major remodel was not at

all needed; not surprising as the property was formerly occupied by one of LA’s wealthiest and most philanthropic family foundations. Naturally the entire place is protected by an impressive security system. Visits are strictly by appointment or previous arrangement only. Don’t expect to drive up, bang on the door, and just walk in. But I suspect if you are serious about buying or consigning a car, you’d get an appointment. Besides the classy and luxuriously industrial surroundings, one of the most enjoyable experiences of visiting of this amazing space is to be sitting on a comfy chair, having a chat with one of RM’s affable staff, and hearing a Cobra or competizione Ferrari V-12 fire up in the back room, echoing its music throughout the facility; a rare occurrence in your average accountant’s office. Hmmmm….now which part of the space to make my bedroom….and where to put the Jacuzzi? GSM

Show us your sanctuary We love garages, offices, and dens - anywhere you can show your passion for all-things-automobilia! Got a room decked in vehicular style? Send us some pictures, and let's have a look! Maybe we can feature it in an upcoming issue of GSM! Email pictures to: info@garagestylemagazine.com

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

garage

features

Top, aluminum walls and columns create a clean industrial look; below left, a bistro helps the owner entertain and provides an excellent gathering spot; below right, upon a mezzanine is a lounge.

The House of Cars

All is not what it appears to be Text and Images by

Bill Nakasone

s I drive down the street, my focus is immediately drawn to a stunning house off to my right. It has clean and modern lines reminiscent of the Charles Eames or Richard Neutra design genre. Corrugated steel exterior panels, purple-blue diamond shaped color tiles, brick toned plate steel trusses, and the expansive use of glass all conspire to make this structure far more than a regular house – this is an architectural statement. The exterior style exudes the successful fusion of strong visual impact balanced by an understated elegance. I’m captivated by what I see and can’t wait to see what lies within. After exchanging introductions and formalities with the homeowner, Paul, I am permitted entry through the two large main doors. As I step into the interior space, I am suddenly in an automotive showroom that houses a 1955 Citroen Traction Avant, a 1967 Citroen 2 CV Charleston, a 1957 Citroen DS 4 door Sedan, a 1962 Fiat 600, a 1960 Fiat 500 and a pair of Messerschmitt KR-200’s. Sharing the floor space with the showroom is a dining area and fully equipped kitchen featuring high end commercial grade cooking appliances. A set of stairs lead up to an overhead mezzanine area that Paul uses to display some of his favorite pieces of art, show off his model car collection, and store some of his book and reference materials. The open floor plan is expansive and devoid of any interior partition walls. This was achieved by using commercial building structural design which places all load bearing on the four exterior walls and a single wall along the width axis that divides the structure into two distinct areas. From the street view, the left half of the building is the showroom area containing the kitchen and mezzanine. 20

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Top, modernly styled, the garage resembles a home; below, floor to ceiling glass, checkered floors, and a restraint of colors and distractions create a true museum feel. Loft houses seating area while a cafe below allows for casual gatherings.

The right half is an upscale residential space complete with a living room, designer kitchen, bathroom and two bedrooms. From the exterior street view, the two different buildings blend harmoniously into a single structure. Paul’s profession is that of an eye surgeon. Despite the intensity and time commitment required to perform at his medical practice, he has actively pursued his two other main passions; architecture and European car design. In terms of architecture, he has collaborated with his friend and architect Roger Newell on a number of ambitious developments including custom homes, multiple condominium projects, a mixed use commercial / residential project, and a large 75 unit building. His 32 years of experience in construction project management and bringing architectural concept to reality is what created this amazing house that showcases his current collection of cars. His interest in cars started in his early youth. Small toy cars gave way to full scale real cars when he turned 16 years old and got his first car; an MG Midget. Other European marques would follow as Paul went through college and medical school including a Saab 96 and a BMW 2002. Always drawn to the European automotive design influence, it was his trip to France back in 1986 where Paul really became inspired by the entire line of Citroen automobiles and made

the conscious decision to acquire his favorite examples. Like all collectors, the sum of his automotive collection soon exceeded his storage space and he began to envision an elegant display and storage solution that would meet his standards of architectural excellence. Hence, the “House of Cars” was designed. To give you a sense of space allocation, the entire structure occupies a total of 4,800 square feet. The showroom area occupies approximately 50% of the space, with the attached condo and downstairs garage occupying the remaining 50%. The downstairs subterranean garage area holds the remainder of Paul’s car collection. Each of the cars in the garage area is equal in quality to those being displayed in the upstairs showroom. Examples of his other cars include a beautiful 1966 Citroen DS 21 Cabriolet (special bodied by Chapron), a 1972 Citroen DS 21 Sedan, a Renault 4CV, a Citroen 2CV, a new Morgan 3 wheeler, an Alfa Romeo Spider, and an MG TD reproduction. Cars will move from the garage area to the display area based on seasonality and Paul’s whim. Cars that he wants to drive go into the garage – cars he wants to display go into the showroom. This is a revolving display that changes when Paul feels the need to do so. The attention to detail and quality is reflected in all of

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Left, a well appointed and well designed workshop space allows various projects to be accomplished; right, no collection is complete with out die cast.

the design elements of the structure (furnishings, signs, art, cabinetry, color palette selection, etc) as well as in the restoration quality of his car collection. Paul’s “House of Cars” is best described as a house that enhances the style

Garages are only limited by one’s imagination… of his cars and a collection of cars that enhance the style of his house. This is truly a museum of industrial design where architecture and automotive design are honored with equal reverence. GSM

Allow us to make your dream garage a reality. Include a Wine Cellar, Kitchen, Game Room, Theater, or Guest Suite, all while creating a safe & controlled showroom for your collection.

Porcelain License Plate Panels Handcrafted by Bob Peterson

The pairing of fine woodworking and pristine porcelain license plates will become a unique addition to your automobilia collection. Each panel is a complete run of the styles and years for one of 17 states. 

View current panels for sale at www.BPpanels.com

CHAPMAN DESIGN GROUP INC.

ARCHITECTURE

| COMMERCIAL | RESIDENTIAL

We provide full 3D CAD Design and Construction Documents for all projects. 3215 Highway 24

Anderson, SC 29626

864.224.7563

chapmandesign.com

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

sparked up, whether due to the owner’s negligence or just plain old electrics (I have master switches on all my cars for that very reason). I wanted the garage to hold at least four cars with room for all the automobilia I had collected over the past 60 years. That included models, posters, photographs, and a myriad of automotive flotsam and jetsam; The everyday drivers would be kept in a car port environ extending out from the garage. I wanted the garage to double as a party room from time to time; hence, it has a vintage Seeburg 100 juke box loaded with car songs like, “Little Old Lady from Pasadena,” “Little Deuce Coupe,” etc. I added a fabulous Philco Predicta replica television by TelStar (www.predicta.com), and added a small DVD player to run ‘50s television shows…..Jack Benny, Our Miss Brooks, Route 66, and it blows people’s minds. I tell them that TV signals are out there forever, but that you need an old TV to receive them. I actually had someone believing me. I added a flat screen HDTV to play when I do minor work on the cars. For major work, I go to the office where I have two chassis lifts and a roll on lift, along with a welder, an engine hoist and stand, a metal brake, and a bead blaster. To save a little cash, I took the old cabinets out of my wife’s kitchen and used them in the garage adding Corian tops. The garage was designed with a vaulted ceiling of tongue-in-groove cedar and an air conditioning duct painted in flat black running the length of the garage. I’ve got to have “blow cool” in Northern Florida. There were several things that I did, that I would not do again. The main one was that I really liked how the cars at Blackhawk Automobile Museum in Danville, California look on the black polished granite, so I put those floors in the shop at the office and the garage at home. Big mistake. First, it’s almost impossible to clean up oil off the granite and old

MY NEW GARAGE

…and what I’d do differently if I had the chance to do it over again Text By

Bill Warner Images by

Bill Warner and Don Weberg

bout four years ago, I sold a car that allowed me the resources to remodel our house and build the garage of my dreams. I have a shop of about 2,000 square feet in the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance building where I keep and work on my race cars (the Group 44 TR6 and TR8 and the 1928 Simple Piston Ring Special which raced on the beaches of Florida in the late ‘20s and early ‘30s), but 24

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

I never had room at home to store cars and do minor work. I laid out the criteria for what I wanted based on the resources available: The garage had to be separate from the house. The reasons are multi-fold, but two in particular are omnipresent. First, old cars smell of gasoline. Second, I’ve known of several instances that for one reason or another, a fire

Top, a carport keeps the daily drivers safe from the elements; below, a black granite floor provides an elegant overall look while an entire wall of die cast feed the imagination.

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

cars leak….it’s a fact. Secondly, and this applies at the shop, if you drop something it is very difficult to find on a black surface. My friend, Bruce Meyer, has a white ceramic tile floor in his home garage and polished, sealed concrete in his museum in Beverly Hills. Both seem to work well. In any case, if you use tile, use black grouting for obvious reasons. I thought I had plenty of electrical outlets, but you can never have enough. Every car you have should be on trickle chargers, and to that end, I am sorry that I did not put outlets in the floor. All my outlets are along the walls, which is okay, but then you have charger cords to trip over. I used insulated overhead doors, but would have preferred for the doors to go straight up rather than roll up into a 90-degree turn. We have height restrictions in our neighborhood and I was restricted to 15-feet. Had my house been a two story, I could have gone to 30-feet on the garage. In retrospect, I would have put a bathroom and shower in the garage, but that would have required another septic tank, and current regulations require that they be above ground. If you can put in a full bathroom, do it. I would have also spent more money on lighting, as the walls get the most attention. I have track lighting illuminating the model cabinets and concours posters, but the rest of the garage is not as well lit. It is not bad, but not great. As for other illumination, I had transom windows installed, running the east side of the building, but very high up, approximately 8 feet. This lets plenty of daylight in without inviting scrutiny by folks you just as soon not know what’s inside (currently a 2005 Ford GT, a 1958 Cadillac El Dorado Brougham, a 1957 Cadillac El Dorado Biarritz, and a 1971 Ferrari 365GTB/4 “Daytona.”) I also have a security system with cameras monitoring the entrances. Finally, if the money had permitted, I would have

Left, The cast of cars spans the spectrum from sports to luxury; right, who doesn’t love vintage vinyl, especially cartunes?

Top, jukeboxes have always been popular with collectors, but in recent years interest is booming; below, a host of car-related tunes hangs on the walls, while miscelleneous gear shows the garage is more than showy.

increased the size of the building from 40-foot x 60-foot to 60foot x 80-foot as there is never enough garage area. There can also be a penalty you’ll pay when selling your house and dream garage if you make it too big. In that regard, it may be better to have room at home for four to eight cars and an off-

site storage/workshop than a huge building at home. Your lot size and zoning restrictions may determine that. Even if you have 200,000 square feet, if you are a real car guy, you will always have one more car than you have space. GSM

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Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

AND PREMIUM ACCESSORIES

Memories Aplenty Early impressions continue to inspire Text by

Joe and Claire Mascolo Images by

Bruno Ratensperger

dirt with my toy cars and trucks, when all of a sudden I heard this rumble of a motor, unlike anything I’d ever heard before. Following the rumble was a beautiful black 1961 Corvette that pulled to the top of my grandparent’s driveway. As it turned out, my Uncle Norman had just purchased the car. Man, at that time, I thought my Uncle Norman was the coolest man on the planet. He would always take me for rides in that car and I just could not get enough. My father would always say, with a laugh, that he couldn’t understand why I loved that Corvette so much when there were so many nice Fords on the road. My family would say, “He wants to be just like his Uncle Norm,” which I did! My uncle, at that time, was a mechanic and he was also into racing. As a mechanic he would work on some race cars that were being raced as Modified’s at the Plainville Connecticut Track, which unfortunately no longer exists. A Lowe’s Hardware currently occupies the property. In the early 1960’s my parents would take me almost every Saturday night to that race track to watch the races and I just could not get enough of those races either. One of my favorites at the racetrack was Tony Mordino #52. He was one of the best! To this date, I look back when I was a young boy, and realize that I have so many fond memories. I truly believe that those were the best of times. It was a time when kids were able to be kids, people were a lot friendlier and life was much simpler. Families were a lot closer then. I remember those Sunday family get-togethers where all the family would show up. I believe a lot of those values from the 1950’s and 1960’s are gone today, which I feel is very sad and unfortunate. So, with all those little experiences I had as a young child, I guess it’s safe to say that all this memorabilia I have in my

garage, either gas station or diner related, brings me back to those special times and places, that meant so much to me when I was growing up. Sometimes when I have a tough day, or when watching the news and I hear all the sad events that have taken place, or I just want to sit back and relax, I will go into my garage, and relive all those wonderful happy memories. I have been very fortunate through the years that some of my family ties still exist to this day. I have the same values and tastes that my parents have. They also have 1950’s diner style garage. My father, who is 74 years of age, has for the last 20 years, been going with me every spring and fall to Carlisle to attend the swap meets as well as Corvette Carlisle where he and I have purchased a number of the items you see here in this magazine. I have to say, he still keeps up with me, every step of the way, sometimes walking a total of 12 miles on the fairgrounds. But he, like me, just cannot get enough of 1950’s memorabilia. What started me off on building this room was the original Coca-Cola machine that came out of my Uncle Dominic’s restaurant. Ironically, it is a VM-81, just like the one at the gas station we used to stop at when I was a little boy. My father and grandfather found it, in the early 1970’s, in the back of my uncle’s restaurant on a junk pile. My uncle was going to throw it away. My first gas pump came from my brother, Mike. He found it in a dumpster. Mike was the one who told me I should restore it because they look great when refinished. To think, I almost said no. So, because of these two items, my hunger for diner and gas station memorabilia exploded and I have been collecting, as well as restoring items, for the last thirty years. When my wife and I were building our house, people

Indeed, the cafe feel is omnipresent, which is fun and lively.

Joe has spent a lifetime collecting and restoring, selling and trading to amass his automobilia and petroliana. The garage is a trip back in time, like a trek to a vintage highway side diner.

ascination with cars and memorabilia started as a young boy. I remember at a very young age, in the early 1960’s, spending a lot of time with my grandparents. My grandparents were originally from Fall River, Massachusetts so they would take me on trips from Wolcott, Connecticut to Fall River, and those drives were the most memorable to me. I remember pulling into this one gas station, in Fall River, where my grandfather would always stop and get gas. The service station attendant would come out, in his uniform and hat, pump the gas and then wash the windows of his 1958 Cadillac. During that time, my grandfather and I would take a walk to the Coca-Cola machine (the VM-81) that was in front of the station. My grandfather would put the dime in, open the door, and have me try to pull the bottle out, and, of course, I couldn’t. He would then help me pull the bottle out and pop the cap off. I remember that soda always tasting better on those summer trips and oh how I always looked forward to that bottle of Coca-Cola. Those trips seemed like they took forever, even

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

though they were only about a four hour drive, but to a little boy, everything seemed longer when you were in a hurry to get there. On our trip home, we would always stop at this one diner to get something to eat and I remember the diner being all stainless steel on the outside with neon lights all around. I think this is where my fascination for 1950’s style diners came from and part of the style of my garage. I came from a car family. My grandfather loved his Cadillac’s as well gas stations. He even wanted to open up a gas station of his own. My grandfather was an excellent car mechanic. As money was tight, his dream of opening a gas station remained only a dream, so instead he would work on cars in his own driveway for friends and family. My father and uncles were also into cars. My father was a Ford man, and there were no better cars, according to him. I, on the other hand, have a fascination for the Chevrolet Corvette. The Corvette impression came to me one summer afternoon when I was around 3-years old, playing in my grandparent’s yard. I was on top of a mound of

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

used to say, “Do you know your garage is longer than your house?” My wife would always joke and say, “We built our house around this garage.” (Even though my wife does not like to admit it, it’s true). My wife, Claire, and I have had a great time putting this garage together. We would take Sunday drives going antiquing to see what treasures we could find to include in the garage. I have also received items as birthday gifts, Christmas presents, or family and friends would give things to me and say, “I saw this and thought of you.” So this room is a labor of love. Whenever we have a family function or a party, whether Christmas, birthday, etc. everyone seems to gravitate to the garage, and that is where all our functions are now held. Also, as a side note, my mother was the one who decorated their garage, and she loves the memorabilia as well. So I have to say, it is great to know that in some small way, this theme garage is a family affair. I also have some close friends who are now working on their own theme garages. So with all this being said, I want to thank Don and the rest of his staff for producing such a fantastic magazine for people like me who appreciate fine automobiles, the different things in life, and making garages not just for cars anymore. I hope to someday have a garage built right on my property, that looks like a 1950’s Texaco Gas Station, and right next to it have a 1950’s style diner, all stainless steel and neon lights, just like the one I remember stopping at as a boy with my parents and grandparents. As I am now restoring a 1959 Corvette, I will need a place to store this car, so do I see another themed garage in my future?? GSM Top right, a vintage cigarette machine is a rare find; below right, eye candy galore, the space is truly entertaining; below left, a vintage toy calls the counter home; center, a bit Joe built on his property depicting vintage Texaco days.

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

MONTEREY 2013 A summation of exceptional events Text by

Bill Nakasone and Don Weberg Images by

Bill Nakasone and Dale Quinio Logistics by

Bill Nakasone, Robin DePry, Bob Estrada, Cindy Meitle, and Don Weberg

he automotive events that take place during August each year in Monterey, California are best described as “world class.” The Monterey Peninsula is the epicenter for the Classic Car World as participants from around the globe make their way to these prestigious events. The scope and magnitude of this week long festival is impossible to encapsulate into words. This is something that must be experienced. Garage Style Magazine has to deploy extra staff in an attempt to cover the wide range of activity. Rather than try to cover every single event (which would be impossible for any single individual to complete), the staff has put together a compilation of their impressions of the week’s activities.

GSM Garage Tour kick off breakfast at Flanagan’s.

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

n Monday, August 12, 2013, the 3rd Annual Garage Style Magazine Monterey Peninsula Garage Tour was held at various venues along the picturesque Monterey Peninsula. The Garage Tour, or GT as it’s becoming known, is the “opening act” for a series of world class automotive related events that take place during the week of August 13 – 18. This year, International Aero Products, Custom Auto Service, The 401k Club, Packards International Motor Club, Route 32 Restorations, and inTech Trailers sponsored the Tour and Garage Lounges, both of which were highly successful. The idea for this new, but celebrated event, originated from Editor-Publisher Don Weberg. When asked about the genesis of the tour, Don responds, “I wanted to put together a relaxed, interactive, all-day event that represented the soul of Garage Style Magazine and the collective interests of our friends (featured garage owners, subscribers, sponsors, and avid readers). Additionally, I wanted to be able to gather our friends, and socialize in an atmosphere of cars, garages, automobilia, food, and drink.” The day began with a breakfast buffet at Flanagan’s Irish Pub at The Barnyard in Carmel to energize all of the participants for the Garage Tour. Flanagan’s has hosted the Tour breakfast all three years, and it’s always outstanding. From here, the Garage Style Magazine gift bag (co-sponsored by International Aero Automotive Waxes) is distributed with a map and agenda for the day’s activities. The first stop was Don Orosco’s garage in Monterey. Don Orosco is an accomplished driver on the vintage road racing circuit and I remember years back when he was actively campaigning a Porsche 550 Spyder. At that time he was from

Top and center, Don Orosco’s collection was fascinatingly vintage; bottom, the etceterini collection of Denny LeVett brought smiles to everyone.

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

the Fresno area but has since relocated his base of operations to Monterey, California. His Spanish style building complex is best described as having five distinct areas; an administrative area with multiple offices where Don conducts his real estate development business, a showroom area with Don’s collection of historically significant hot rod Fords, a race shop with a complete set of fabrication tools for building and maintaining his fleet of race cars, a sophisticated paint booth area, and a storage area for housing his large inventory of parts. Don is enamored with the SCARAB race cars of the 1960’s. The SCARAB cars were the brain child of Lance Reventlow, the heir to the J.W. Woolworth fortune, who built sports racing and Formula 1 cars. Very few SCARAB cars were ever built because they were intended to be very limited production, and the IRS shut down Reventlow’s operation after just 5 years of existence. Don owns two out of the three SCARAB Formula 1 race cars that were ever built. He and his son actively race these cars at esteemed tracks throughout the United States and Europe. Don also owns a SCARAB sports racer Mark 1. This amazing car won its’ first race at Santa Barbara in 1958 and won its last race at the 1963 Continental Divide USRRC. This is an amazing five year history of success in an era where front engine cars (like the SCARAB Mark 1) were being overshadowed by the new mid-engine sports racers coming out of Europe. Don is also an avid collector and restorer of vintage Ford hot rods. Only cars of historical significance and genuine pedigree make their way into the Orosco collection. He does not subscribe to the “mail order” hot rod method of construction, using recently manufactured “reproduction parts” to create a faux 1932 Ford. Don seeks only those examples with real Henry Ford steel bodies, period correct drivetrain and running gear, and chopped tops finished with the age old method of lead filling (no plastic fillers allowed). Hence, his collection of historic hot rod Fords are bench marks of hot rodding history, and Don proudly displays them alongside his

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Top, the Tour group made a show unto itself at Denny LeVett’s home; center, Justin Aldi’s spectacular old world barn left people speechless; bottom, Flanagan’s Pub is so quiet just before the Tour arrives.

Top, the new Carmel Mission Concours was truly an elegant affair, one well worth attending; below left, Mission Concours was a day in the sun; right, the GSM Lounge was well received, especially after the pop ups arrived.

Top, wrapping the Tour at Talbott Wine’s new motorcycle-themed tasting room; center, in the prep room of Don Orosco, the Tour learns about Scarab race cars; bottom, in Justin Aldi’s barn, a vintage school bus, 1 of 2, sets the scene of the eclectic collection.

SCARAB Formula 1 cars. The next stop on our Garage Tour was Denny LeVett’s in Pebble Beach. The real magic of this residence is the VIEW. Looking out from the living room you get a panoramic view of the fairway greens of the Pebble Beach Golf Course and the crystal blue water of Carmel Bay on the Pacific Ocean. Looking out from the kitchen area you see a small sampling of Denny’s car collection. Due to confined space, the cars that occupy the view area as seen from the kitchen are micro cars such as a Fiat 500, an Autobianchi and a Fiat Topolino (all Italian, all red). The larger garage houses some more examples of fine sports cars including a Mercedes 190 SL, a Ferrari 400i, a Mercedes 220 cabriolet, a Ferrari 246 Dino, and a Fiat Dino Spider. Most everything of Denny’s is red. The house and the garages are filled with display cases featuring Denny’s collection of war history artifacts (tin soldiers, vintage firearms, etc.), colorful posters, and fine art. The architectural backdrop and museum-like staging is no accident. Denny is an owner/operator of many of the sought after hotels along the Peninsula, and his entire living space exudes a quaint but impressive look of a carefully decorated upscale hotel lobby. As the noon hour approached, we all met for lunch at Café Stravaganza at The Crossroads in Carmel for some Italian cuisine. Lunch was served family style with generous portions of salad, pasta, and bread. The Garage Tour crowd managed to fill up an entire wing of the restaurant. The crowd was loud, the food was good, and the lunch hour seemed to evaporate in a nanosecond before we shuttled off to our next garage destination, Justin & Heather Aldi’s in Carmel.

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Justin and Heather are recent transplants from the Los Angeles area and the slower pace and beautiful blue skies of Carmel were just too seductive for them to resist. They have transformed a three acre site that was formerly an egg ranch into an impressive compound with a stunning house (designed by Architect wife Heather), a very large garage (it’s so large calling it a garage isn’t really correct), a large greenhouse area, and a multiple planter-garden areas. The three-acre parcel actually appears to be much larger based on the strategic placement and arrangement of the structures. The house, garage area buildings, and the greenhouses’ all surround the outer perimeter of the parcel leaving a large area in the center. This gives the optical illusion of larger space. The planter areas and lawn provide a lush and colorful counterpoint to the rustic looking buildings on the site. Justin has an eclectic collection of three very different types of vehicles; Triumph sports cars, fire trucks, and all-wheel drive off road vehicles. A Mercedes-Benz Unimog dump truck sits in front of his garage space. Once inside, an immaculately restored 15 passenger Woodie School Bus is parked in the first stall. In the next garage

area, Justin’s collection of Triumph sports cars are lined up in ascending order of production year (from a TR-2 all the way through to a TR-250). Two massive vintage restored fire trucks occupy a wing to themselves, and Justin has purchased a beautiful 1920’s Texaco tanker truck. I was most captivated with the architectural work performed by Heather Aldi. She has done a masterful job of creating a living space that is both elegant and rustic. In addition to the tastefully executed architectural design, there was some major structural engineering involved with the long span opening doors that adjoin the deck area. The last stop of the day was the Talbott Winery. The wine tasting room has been recently relocated to a new and larger building. Like the rest of the Garage Tour, the new wine tasting room at Talbott has been adorned with great motorbilia. Classic motorcycles and vintage pedal cars are the main object of display. The day came to a close with wine tasting in the patio area while all of us looked back on the day’s activities. Like the end of all of the Garage Tours, I ask myself the question, “How can life get any better than today?” Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Top, from the Mission bell tower, the mission courtyard proves an exceptional venue; center and bottom, at the Mecum Auction, cars of all genre were represented.

Restored Original Gas Pumps

Mission Concours a.k.a. the Blessing of the Cars New for 2013, the first inaugural “Blessing of the Cars” was held at the historic Carmel Mission on Wednesday, August 14, 2013. The Carmel Mission is the perfect venue for displaying about 50 premier cars carefully chosen by the Selection Committee for their historical significance, condition and impact on the California culture. The nominal admission fee of $25 admits you to a great car show and unlimited access to tasting the numerous varieties of wine offered by the finest vineyards of the region. The goal of “Blessing of the Cars” is twofold: to provide a good time car experience, and to raise money for the historic Carmel Mission. I think I drank twice the admission value in wine, and I had a great time. This is an event well worth attending. It showcases the best of the Carmel Valley lifestyle; historic architecture, beautiful weather, great regional wines and classic cars, but does so in an intimate, elegantly casual manner. With a harp player on hand, various restaurants offering basic foods, wineries with superb samples, a priest actually blessed the cars, which were varied from vintage Rolls-Royces to GT40 racing cars to GTOs to Packards to Woodys to 356 Porsches. Put this one on your calendar for 2014. Carmel Concours on the Avenue If I had to pick a favorite event of the Monterey Week, my vote would go the “Cars on the Avenue” show that takes place on Tuesday. Why is this event my favorite? First, all of the cars are driven to the event. You hear the cars start and watch them maneuver as they stage the cars for the event. Second, the event is free of charge and yet the cars are all of top quality ranging from premium drivers to all out concours winners. The show is constantly reinventing itself and this year featured five of the cars created by Steve Moal. Steve Moal cars are legendary for merging American hot rodding with European sophistication, impeccable build quality, super attention to detailing, and stunning overall presentation. The

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

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Top, 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 N.A.R.T. Spider commanded $27.5 million at the RM auction. All the money was donated to charity; center and bottom, art aplenty at various venues from the AFAS Tent to RetroAuto. Top, Automobilia Monterey is always an experience; center and bottom, Monterey auctions are car shows unto themselves, and truly enjoyable.

show also had some hard-core and historic Trans-Am racing machines (Smokey Yunick Camaro, Autodynamics Dodge Challenger, AMC Javelin, etc) and a host of other marques including Ferrari, Porsche, COBRA, Maserati, Jaguar, Ford, Chevrolet, etc. This is a show that would be worth paying for (but don’t tell the organizers that I said so). Automobilia Monterey This event takes place on both Tuesday and Wednesday at the Embassy Suites, and is an old friend to GSM, and has been a friend for many of you. But, if you have never seen Automobilia, it’s very much worth a visit. Various automotivethemed collectibles from posters to books, model cars to clothing, tools to paintings, fine art to jewelry, rare auto parts to license plates, etc. are there for purchase by folks who truly know and are passionate about Automobilia and Petroliana. If you have already attended Automobilia in the past, you will probably agree that it’s like a family reunion. Many of the same fantastic vendors have attended in the same spaces annually with little to no diversion since Automobilia’s inception, including many of the products they sell – while that’s oddly comforting, and while we love the camaraderie, products sold and represented there, we’d love to see an expansion or reorganization. It’d be fabulous to see some new vendors and products available, but overall it’s still a fabulous event. Rolex Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca This year’s Rolex Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca paid homage to both Corvette and 50 years of the Porsche 911. Hence, both marques were well represented at the

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

track. The Rolex special marque area was filled with all things Corvette ranging from their historical race cars to their new C7. The soul of Zora Arkus Duntov was looking down upon the crowd as they lavished praise and reverence on the historically significant Corvettes on display and enjoyed meeting Corvette personalities such as Pete Brock and Bob Bondurant. This year there was a change in format to what has been historical practice. The best racing now takes place on Saturday (not Sunday). This change was made in response to many of the racers and spectators wanting to attend the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on Sunday, and for the first time in a decade, the Tour d’Elegance presented by Rolex included a lap around Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca as part of its traditional course that traces portions of famed 17-Mile Drive. Over 200 Pebble Beach Concours entries participated in the run. Nicely too, Laguna Seca still hosts one of the best ‘swap meets’ during Monterey Week. Hundreds of vendors are on hand carrying a variety of motorsports memorabilia and collectibles. For someone looking to build their Automobilia collection, this is a great place to spend some time. Concorso Italiano Just as the name implies, this event is a celebration of all things Italian. The most respected marques from Italy including Ferrari, Maserati, Bizzarini, Apollo, Iso Grifo, Abarth, Fiat, etc are all there highlighting the atmosphere of music, food, and fun. This event will undergo two major changes for 2014, a rescheduling from Friday to Saturday, and relocation back to Bayonet and Black Hills Golf Course. One of my favorite cars of the event was the Apollo, a fusion of an Italian body and chassis mated with an American drivetrain. There was also an outrageous and bizarre “one-off” Ferrari designed by Drogo and painted in brilliant gold hue (with lots of metallic flake). The car was an attention getter and it had to be the winner of the “love-hate” award based on its polarizing reactions from the spectators. An amazing number of fun vendors always bring some zing to Concorso, giving collectors a lot to think

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Top, a line of Cobras at Concours on the Avenue in Carmel; below, Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway hosts some fabulous racing and events all week.

about, but we worry that Concorso’s move to a Saturday venue will create an ultimatum for the people: choose between going to Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway or Concorso. Doing both is possible, and Concorso appears confident that all will be well, but it sure makes for a rush-rush scenario. Because the Raceway is fresh every year, it’ll be interesting to see how many people split their time or just attend one venue next year. Legends of the Autobahn If you like German cars, the Legends of the Autobahn show is automotive nirvana. Lots of Porsche, BMW, Mercedes, and all things German graced the lawn at the Rancho Canada Golf Course in sunny Carmel. This is a “no admission” event and the relaxed and care free atmosphere is in sharp contrast to the competitive nature of many of the other shows going on. This, however, does not imply that the quality and quantity of the entries are anything less than spectacular. This event takes place on Friday, scheduled in the same time slot as Concorso Italiano, the Quail, Bonhams Auction, Mecum Auction and Day #1 of the Rolex Motorsports Reunion, giving it heady competition indeed. This is when the time compression and multiple events require that you make choices of what you want to attend. We recommend taking some time and hitting Legends in 2014 for so many reasons. Bonham’s Automobilia Auction One of the most interesting auctions that I attended was the Friday morning Automobilia Sale at Bonham’s. The collection of items for sale was wide ranging and eclectic. The flavor of this auction is best described by some of objects that were sold: an Ed Roth “Rat Fink’ neon sign for $6,250, a 6/10 scale BMW 328 (powered by a 6-horsepower, 4-stroke engine) for $18,750, a 1/2 scale Ferrari child car (powered by an electric motor) for $37,500, original oil on canvas Mille Miglia painting for $20,625, and a 7-inch glass hood mascot by Rene Lalique for $120,000. Automobilia as an art form has become a very serious business and the bidding atmosphere in the room was intense and competitive. In typical Bonhams fashion, the 42

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

entire experience was sophisticated, elegant, and refreshing, and we recommend attending their 2014 event. Bonhams always represents the summit of investment quality products, and never fails to astonish, not just impress, but astonish. Blue chip takes on a whole new meaning with Bonhams. RM Auctions Buzz quickly spread around the Peninsula after RM sold a 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Spider for an astronomical $27.5 million at the Saturday night auction. This is one of the 10 NART Spiders commissioned by Luigi Chinettti and built by Scaglietti in 1967. The final sales price far exceeded the RM’s estimate of $14 million and one wonders if this particular sale represents the top pinnacle of pricing and an anomaly within the classic Ferrari comparable value index. Although one can argue that this is indeed a Ferrari of both high desirability and low production, the same compelling argument can be made for the Ferrari 250 California Spider that sold at the 2012 Gooding auction for $11 million. That particular 250 California Spider was an all- aluminum bodied example (one of just five ever built) and considered by many to rank higher on the Ferrari food chain. It is not uncommon in the Ferrari world for the convertible Spider model to bring stronger money than its fastback Berlinetta brethren. However, with Ferrari 275 GTB’s trading in the $1.25 – $2.5 million range, it is rare and unprecedented indeed to have the “drop top” model command

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by Bill Perrone) and the strong sales price reflected it.

13-18 times as much money. Time will tell what the market correction will be. Mecum Auction This has always been one of my favorite auctions of the week. Mecum brings in some fantastic Automobilia and Petroliana, selling these pieces off early in the day. Some of the fantastic pieces were pumps and neon, toys and more, and if you’re serious about finding oodles of ‘bilia for your collection, you owe it to yourself to enjoy a Mecum event. At Monterey, the lush greens of the Del Monte Golf Course are a gorgeous venue to inspect and evaluate the cars. There truly is something for everybody at the Mecum auction ranging from entry level collectible cars all the way up to multi-million dollar classics. The star of this year’s show was the sale of a 1955 Porsche 550/1,500 RS Spyder for $3.75 million dollars. The last three 550 Spyders’ sold during the last 12 month period have all sold within the three million dollar range and the sale of this car appears to be market correct. The subject car is serial # 550-0077 and is believed to be the first 550 Spyder to be fitted with the space frame chassis (as opposed to the ladder frame of its predecessors). It is therefore considered be a “transition car” falling right in between the first 550 Spyder (ladder frame chassis with a 4-speed transmission) and the later 550A Spyder (space frame chassis and 5-speed transmission). This car was restored to a high standard by the most highly regarded specialists in the Porsche world (engine by Bill Doyle, paint by Bata Mataja, and restoration assembly 44

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Russo & Steele Auction The gem of this year’s Russo & Steele auction was a beautifully restored 1949 Ferrari 166 Inter Berlinetta Sabilimenti Farina which sold when the gavel hit $1,050,500. This was an exceptionally elegant car whose body lines were far and away better than the majority of ungainly looking Ferraris’ of the 166 Inter series. Another crowd favorite was a competition 289 COBRA (non- works competition car) that sold for $850,000. RM has long been a favorite event for Publisher Don, who long ago used to sit at the coffee shop across the street, corner patio table, watching the cars roll through the courtyard, into the hotel to be sold, listening to the auctioneer wail away. The Rotunda in the back has long been the epitome of Car Week to Don. He loved looking at such an array of cars awaiting sale with the marina backdrop beyond, even through the chain link security fence surrounding the Rotunda. Sadly though, the chain link fence was wrapped with a sheet a while back, likely a ploy to get people to buy tickets to go see the cars instead of enjoying the view for free, and it’s spoiled some of the natural fun that is Monterey Car Week. We hope they’ll remove the unsightly white wrapper next year, and allow people the joy of experiencing the visual pleasure of these great cars. Parents were oft seen with their children looking through the fence, imaginations spinning in the minds of the kids. That’s a big part of what these cars are all about, the joy they bring everyone even just sitting in a Rotunda. Gooding & Co Auction The Gooding auctions are nighttime events held on Saturday and Sunday. They always have an impressive selection of cars and this year was no exception. The Saturday night crowd favorite was the sale of a 1957 Ferrari 250 GT 14-louver Berlinetta at $9,460,000. The Sunday evening top seller was a 1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante which sold at $8,745,000. The quality of the cars offered by Gooding & Co is self-evident with a total of 30 cars that sold with a purchase price in excess of $1-million each. Pebble Beach RetroAuto RetroAuto takes place at Pebble Beach midland between the Golf Course and the Equestrian Center. Being part of the Pebble scene alone sets it apart from other bazaars going on, there’s an elegant overtone to the setting, and a level of aristocracy that exudes from RetroAuto. Nicely, it’s

Winning! The Racing Life of Paul Newman also with Preston Lerner, with Foreword by Mario Andretti from 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

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A set of Corvette racing cars at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway are part of an exciting week, and help celebrate 60 years of Vettes.

not overwhelming or suffocating – it’s a fun event, filled with exceptionally enthusiastic vendors from around the globe offering lots of cool car stuff such as fine art, model cars, books, posters, clothing, etc, some of which is original, some of its new, but all of its enjoyable and collectible. While many of the vendors are repeat vendors, RetroAuto manages to bring in a fair number of new people each year to display and vend, and the vendors often change up their displays and products to keep things fresh. There appears to be a support network in place with RetroAuto, whereby vendors aren’t afraid to try new things, and Pebble seems to welcome fresh ideas, which in turn should continue to help RetroAuto cultivate new visitors and vendors. If you haven’t been, make some time in 2014 – you’ll love it. Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Pebble Beach needs no introduction. This event has set the standard for excellence in the collector car world, and is the main reason Car Week occurs at all. Notice there are no shows held after Pebble Beach – everyone goes home. One of the honored marques for 2013 was Lincoln, and the history of this esteemed manufacturer was represented on the lawn. My favorite Lincoln was the Mark II Continental that was a converted from a coupe into a convertible by the famed coach builder Hess and Eisenhardt, the same people who made the presidential parade limousine for John Kennedy. This car was one of two Lincolns’ that were modified as such. Another sharp Mark II was the car built for Elizabeth Taylor, painted to match her famed blue eyes. Lincoln has recently been using this car in videos and promotions around the country, and appears to at last be building on some of the names that once kept a Lincoln in their garage. Although the eye candy was everywhere, my absolute three show favorites were from Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, and Porsche. The 1970 Ferrari 512S Berlinetta race car was stunning. This is one raw and visceral racing machine that became legendary in its battle for supremacy with the Porsche 917 during what is considered by many as the golden years of endurance racing. The pugilistic Ferrari 512 stood out from the rest of the crowd 46

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

like a heavy weight boxing champion among fashion models. The other show stopper was the Alfa Romeo Superflow IV with body by PininFarina. Arguably the best looking car at the entire show (according to me and some other admiring fans) this car is regarded today as one of the milestone designs coming out of PininFarina. The Porsche 935 that won first overall at the 1979 LeMans was the ultimate representation of the Porsches’ on display. This car was prepared by the famous Kremer Brothers and raced by the infamous Whittington Brothers (Bill and Don) who were later convicted on Federal charges in 1986. Bill Whittington was convicted for marijuana smuggling and tax evasion and served a 15 year prison sentence. Brother Don Whittington served a lesser 18 month sentence for tax evasion. This fabulous Porsche 935 was a car with a storied history both on and off the track. The Whittington Brothers cut their teeth on racing Porsche 935’s on American race tracks in the IMSA series. During this particular time in history, the IMSA series (an acronym for International Motor Sports Association) gained the notorious title of IMSA – International Marijuana Smugglers Association. The Whittington Brothers drove a 935 in the 1984 IMSA series and hired a team driver Randy Lanier. Randy Lanier was later indicted on drug smuggling charges and was given a life sentence without parole. The Whittington Brothers were also racing cohorts with John Paul Sr., another Porsche 935 Driver in the IMSA series who was indicted on charges of shooting a DEA informant. He fled the country but was later apprehended. He served a 13 year prison sentence for attempted murder and drug trafficking and was released in 1999. Just two years later, he fled the country again when he was questioned about the mysterious disappearance of his girlfriend, Colleen Ward. Neither John Paul Sr. nor Colleen Ward have been seen since. No other racing car in history has had more felon drivers associated with it than the Porsche 935. I couldn’t help but reflect on the IMSA series of the 1980’s and its notorious drivers from Dade County, Florida when I saw the Porsche 935 of Bill and Don Whittington on the lawn of Pebble Beach. GSM

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Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Bonhams Monterey Auction A few highlights from their sale An extremely fine and rare ‘Comète’ glass mascot by René Lalique, 1925, clear glass, wheel etched ‘R.Lalique France’ to rear side edge of tail, first introduced August 24, 1925, catalog number 1123 (also etched ‘No 1123’ on bottom), 7in.long Sold for US$ 120,100 inc. premium

A first place gold medal for the Fifth Annual Carrera Panamericana, 1954, awarded to Umberto Maglioli, stamped 750, 29.4 grams of 18k gold, medal set inside a gold ring, a draped goddess holding the lady of Victory in relief, finely detailed and well executed, the reverse is inscribed V Carrera Panamericana 1 Assoluto Anno 1954 FrenDo, in good overall condition, approximately 1¾in. in diameter. Sold for US$ 13,750 inc. premium

A Ferrari 625 LM 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine, 1950s Ferrari engine suitable for 625LM sports racing cars; block stamped 625LM N.1 on bell housing; no other stampings but motor appears complete. Sold for US$ 326,500 inc. premium

Matthews Auctions We sell more Petroliana and Automobila than anyone else Price's Realized from our most recent auction:

A late 1950s era Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa child’s car, exquisitely manufactured and described by vendor as being in all original condition, finished in white with red racing stripe; appropriate Ferrari cavallino rampante hood emblem, aluminum body, plexiglass windshield as well as plexi covered headlights, orange plastic tail light lenses, rubber tires over chrome spoked knock-off wheels, real working suspension, rear drum brakes; interior reveals a burgundy leather upholstery, wood rimmed steering wheel with Ferrari badge in center; electric motor driven with multiple gears, excellent overall condition. Sold for US$ 37,500 inc. premium

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

Lot 244 - $38,500 Lot 252 - $34,100 Lot 258 - $8,250 Lot 236 - $55,000

Lot 249 - $29,700

Lot 268 - $17,600

Lot 275 - $19,800

Prices include a 10% buyer’s premium.

atthews

Auctions, LLC

Lot 284 - $30,800

For more information on Matthews Auctions or to inquire about consigning your items to future auctions, contact us today at 877-968-8880

www.MatthewsAuctions.com

19186 Nokomis Rd., Nokomis, IL 62075 • 877-968-8880 • IL, Lic #44.0000349

Garages in History Number 16 Henniker Mews Text By

Rick Rader Images By

Farrar & Company

unny thing about enthusiasts, time (after living there for 17 collectors and aficionados…. years) to put it up for sale. For they all have a keen interest a cool $4-million you can live in in the “origins” of where the object the pantheon that has become of their passion began. The idea of mecca for Aston Martin owners actually owning the “shrine” or “the and admirers. The garage was birthplace” is obviously just a dream. originally known simply as the, To an Elvis fan, the ultimate would be “Premises of Bamford & Martin the keys to the “shotgun shack” on Old Ltd.” In a nutshell, the iconic Salito Road in Tupelo, Mississippi. name Aston Martin emerged as a To a Lincoln historian what would be result of successful outings at the better than owning the log cabin at Aston Hill Climb, a popular racing Sinking Spring Farms in Hodgenville Roger Carey, chairman of the Aston Martin Heritage venue at the time. Aston relocated (Lincoln’s birthplace)? And to a Trust (left) and David Richard, chairman of Aston to Kensington (London) in 1920, devotee of the Bard (Shakespeare), Martin, at the property in Chelsea, London which was eventually moving to Newport how about having a bunch of friends the birthplace of the first Aston Martin, and is now on Pagnell and, most recently, to coming over to his birthplace on the market. Gaydon in Warwickshire. Henley Street in Stratford upon Avon? The garage and living area I’m afraid all of those “tabernacles” are already spoken for and occupy about 1,200-square feet, and boasts three bedrooms will probably never see a for sale sign out front. including one with ensuite, a large reception room and a kitchen But, things happen. and breakfast room. The premises come complete with a If you’re a devotee of the prestigious Aston Martin marque bronze plaque commemorating the provenance of the garage. you’re in luck. The Chelsea (London) workshop where Aston According to the real estate brokers representing the property, Martin was first established is up for sale. Here’s your chance Farrar & Company, “Our hope is that the eventual buyer is a car to live in the garage where two dreamers, Robert Bamford and enthusiast that continues the use of the car garage, rather than Lionel Martin, first pondered the idea of making a car. They integrating it into further reception space.” occupied the garage on January 15, 1913 and rolled out their For an Aston guy what could be more impressive than to first model, known as “Coal Scuttle” in 1915. have the keys to 16 Henniker Mews dangling from the key fob The present owners of the garage have decided that it’s of a DB4 GT Zagato? GSM

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Barn

finds

1952 TD Text and Image By

John “Gunner” Gunnell

eing in the middle of restoring a ‘52 MG TD that needed many parts, a collector found it hard to ignore a call about a “1952 TD” priced at $500. The “Rot Rod” turned out to be a raunchy roadster with a weird paint treatment, a homemade fiberglass hardtop and a rusty frame. TD no. 2471 (really a ‘50 model) was hibernating in a Wisconsin barn. Being complete and showing 18,000 original miles, the car sparked dreams of a restoration. Unfortunately, a metal fabrication shop deemed the car “unsalvageable.” Yet, the non-floppy pedals and pedal box suggested the low mileage was real. This was supported by a transmission teardown that netted many good parts. 52

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

The car was owned by an older fellow who dreamed of restoring it, then passed away. His wife had to deal with its disposal and gave it to a building contractor in exchange for work on her home. This man also wanted to restore the car and kept it for about six years, before giving up. When a new owner brought it home it looked like this, but during disassembly the body disintegrated. After being challenged by hot rodders who said they had “fixed better cars,” the new owner rolled up his sleeves and started rebuilding the car as a hot rod with a Ford V860 flathead V-8 and some type of still-to-be-determined body work. Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Business

profile

What to do when

Getting into the classic car market can be hairy – here’s one thought Text by

Don Weberg with Ray Marchica

hrough the years, I’ve found car collectors typically fall into two categories: those who buy vehicles as display investments, and those who buy them to drive and enjoy. Regardless of how you fancy yourself, owning a vintage car can be a challenge – especially if you intend to drive it frequently. A few months back, a friend interested in the collector car market, asked me what to look for in an affordable, enjoyable classic. I suggested finding a convertible with attractive lines and decent reliability. I also told him to be patient, because the search for the right car would take time. For him, it wouldn’t be as much of an investment as it would be a vehicular significant

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

other. He would keep and enjoy this car for a while, thus, finding a good one was imperative. I also passed on some sage advice received years ago from a savvy collector: “Two rules: One, buy what you like, so even if it doesn’t appreciate, you can still have fun.” The second rule he said more emphatically. “Two, there will be the temptation to buy a cheaper car in need of restoration, and do the work yourself. Resist it.” It sunk in well. He knew that for every restoration success, there are hundreds of cars started by well meaning enthusiasts who lost interest or lacked the necessary skills to finish them. Even if you’re gifted at repair, your time is valuable. And,

“Two rules: One, buy what you like, so even if it doesn’t appreciate, you can still have fun. Two, there will be the temptation to buy a cheaper car in need of restoration, and do the work yourself. Resist it.” there’s always the question of whether your temperament can withstand the highs and lows of a project car. I can attest to this personally, having restored a few cars through the years. I concluded long ago that professional shops and turn-key cars were the way to go. Undeterred, my friend pressed me for a specific suggestion of what he should buy. He eliminated American muscle cars, as they clashed with his “image.” He wasn’t too interested in exotics or semi exotics either, so my thoughts on a Corvette, Jaguar E-Type, Ferrari 308 or DeLorean were out. German marques, especially Mercedes convertibles, were strong possibilities, but he worried about the cost of maintenance. After some careful thought, in my mind, the only logical choice was a rolling work of art from Italy. But, then, I’m biased. The Italians (just my opinion) are gifted at producing exciting, outrageous, emotional, sensual vehicles. For nearly 20 years, I’ve owned a Fiat 124 Spider, a car that quickly established itself to me as an absolute joy to own. Given the right maintenance it was a solid daily driver through college, a commute around Los Angeles of roughly 60 miles roundtrip through the traffic, speed zones, and potholes the area is famous for. Based on his budget and sanity, I went out on a limb and recommended a 124 Spider. My friend knew my bias, but continued to listen as I stated my case. Five years ago, few experts predicted Fiat Spiders would be big in the collector car market. While no one can dispute the Spider’s timeless Pininfarina design, collectors were ‘Fiat shy’ for a variety of reasons. Today, however, the attitude of both casual and serious collectors toward these little Italian gems has changed. Fiat’s return to the U.S. market, the passing of Sergio Pininfarina, and the huge upswing in Italian classic car pricing has fueled interest in Fiat Spiders to new heights. Professionals now identify the Fiat Spider as the affordable classic to watch in the coming years, particularly the 124. Recently, people have witnessed eye popping prices for Fiat Spiders at classic car auctions, some approaching $50,000 for a truly exceptional example. Even mundane versions can fetch numbers that were unthinkable a few years ago. The resurgence of this pretty little car is personally satisfying, as it justifies my vow to keep my Spider. Feeling confident about the Fiat recommendation, I began looking at the market. The pickings were pretty slim, but one name kept coming up on my computer searches, Roadster Salon. Located near Chicago, they restore Spiders exclusively, and are purported to be the largest in the country to do so. The website was very informative and interesting, riveting actually. Founded by an Italian gentleman some 20 years ago who began restoring them for friends, it’s been passed on to his son, Ray Marchica. Dozens of photos of their work, each of superb quality, were illustrated online; they educated about Spiders, and discussed options on how to restore and build your own through their services – modified, stock, custom interiors – the sky seems the limit. In a way, it’s as close as buying a new classic Fiat Spider as one can get. They specialize in building restored, turn-key cars and actually offer a warranty. I called Ray to learn more, and found out that he runs the

Roadster Salon interiors are hand crafted, taking up to 150 man hours to fabricate and install. Pictured is senior interior tech Rich Pirics.

Upon completion all Roadster Salon Spiders come with a hand stitched portfolio case, made from the same leather as the interior. Inside are books, records and a project DVD.

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Every restoration receives a contemporary sound systems and improved interior materials.

Roadster showroom is all business. Examples of current projects are on display prior to delivery for customer inspection. Interior and some mechanical work are done on premises.

company with the help of his lovely wife Christina, and long time production manager Rob. Each of them is an intensely passionate Fiat enthusiast, interested in their customer’s needs, and seemingly relentless in improving their product. Since the passing of Ray’s father several years ago, he decided to take the company from a hobbyist pursuit to something higher. We chatted at length about their philosophy, new direction and more focused approach. Ray has quite the gift of gab, and if you let him, he’ll wax rhapsodically for hours sharing stories about his family business. “Dad was a great guy. He had two passions in life – my Mom and Italian Cars. I remember having a conversation with him a few years ago over dinner. I told him we had outgrown our old business model and needed to make changes,” Ray said. “When I said we were now the largest restorer of Fiat Spiders in the country, he responded with his typical dead-pan humor saying, ‘If that is true, then it is like being the world’s tallest midget.’” While there may be an element of truth to that, the demand for Roadster Salon Fiats seems very high. About 3040 buildable Fiat and Pininfarina Spider chassis’ are on hand year round, and they complete about three per month. They’re obviously very serious about their craft and in it for the long haul, points succinctly driven home upon learning Roadster Salon uses Ferrari-certified technicians to work on their Spiders. Their customer approach is truly elegant. Roadster Salon assists clients in choosing the best car for their needs and budget; and once all the details are settled, a formal build

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

sheet is comprised spelling out everything prior to starting the project. Options, approximate delivery date, deposit schedule, and warranty are all illustrated. There are no supplemental invoices or additional fees once the build sheet is finalized, the price is the price, and the restoration process takes about 12-14 weeks. According to Ray, the economic downturn actually worked in their favor. “Boys still love their toys. When the economy was booming, guys were borrowing money to buy $90,000 used Ferraris. Now they want to pay cash, and are looking to spend much less,” he said. “The idea of having a hand-built, relatively rare Italian convertible with the Pininfarina heritage for less than half the money they used to spend is very appealing. Our cars have a high level of fit, finish, and exclusivity for the dollar. They are easy to drive, and ladies love them too.” Ray also said that many of his customers have owned Fiats in the past, and remember the car fondly from their youth; but Ray is careful to set realistic expectations with his clientele. “We are re-creating a memory. Our cars are built to a customer’s exact specifications, and frankly, our paint, body and interior work is done to a higher standard than originally offered,” he said. “Roadster Salon Spiders still have great quality and can be driven daily. But we still need to remind our clients that no two restorations are alike, and occasional glitches are to be expected.” Ray said they’re not building trailer queens for shows, but making more reliable cars compared to other classics. Re-

engineering them to a contemporary standard isn’t in the game plan. “To make a Spider completely new would cost well into six figures,” he said. “While that kind of project is within our capabilities, it misses the mark for what our customers are looking for, a fun car to be enjoyed for a reasonable price. The upgraded materials and options are a bonus.” Rob echoed those sentiments; “Trying to make it brand

new would be impractical, but we make it as nice as possible. The devil is in the details. Ray and I spend extended time behind the wheel of every restoration before releasing it to a customer. Sometimes the shake down period can last several weeks.” Roadster Salon offers multiple price points for different budgets, with both classic and high-end Spider versions available. Updated creature comforts like contemporary air conditioning, premium sound, power windows, and heated seats are available upgrades. There’s also a stunning Lusso limited edition incorporating cosmetic elements from late 1960’s Spiders combined with the reliability of later fuel injected models. “We have toyed with the idea of doing an entrylevel model, and even offered one briefly but there were no takers,” he said. “Our customers usually look for a thorough, well-appointed, more fully-sorted car.” Showing my friend their website, he was impressed by their facility and abilities. The website alone speaks highly volumes for Roadster Salon. The possibilities are incredible. Once in touch with Ray, things moved along nicely, and my friend was eager to begin building his own 124 with their help. He bought the most valuable version of the 124, the limited production 1985.5 Pininfarina Spider. Less than 50 of these cars are estimated to remain in existence, and the fact that Roadster Salon actually had a couple on hand was mind blowing to a 124 aficionado. Stay tuned for when we do a profile on his completed car. Meanwhile, check out www. RoadsterSalon.com or call Ray directly on 847.769.7880 and find out what’s new with Fiat’s old 124. GSM

Roadster Salon customers can choose from a variety of standard and custom interior options. Production Manager Rob Baird (seated right) with customer are pictured discussing leather samples.

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

The 19th Annual

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Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

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!

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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, BooksA-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.

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Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

artist

profile

Nicola Wood Text By

Jeremiah McDaniel Images Courtesy of

Nicola Wood

estled in a tiny enclave near Beverly Hills is a sort of artist’s mecca. It may not be somewhere known to every artist in the LA area, and it isn’t generally full of people, but for Nicola Wood it is a Mecca. She has turned her dream into a reality in this small space, fought great battles both internal and external, and produced magnificent works of art. This place is her home as much as it is her gallery and studio. As you enter the faint sounds from the busy street carry though the door, you can’t help but notice the numerous works of beautiful art littering the walls. Make your way through the dimly lit halls lined with her favorite pieces and exit through the kitchen into the backyard, here past the Birds of Paradise lies her garage. For many the garage becomes a haven, a place to seek refuge from the struggles of the outside world, a place to find your niche, a place to get lost in the things you love, it’s what this magazine your reading is based on. Woods garage started out like all others, four walls a roof and a person with a passion, but overtime it has transformed into a place where anything was possible. Her original garage has long been removed and replaced by a studio, custom tailored to fit her needs. Wood doesn’t build cars in the classic sense, so she doesn’t have a need for toolboxes and oil drip pans, instead she has traded them out for light boards, easels and color palates. While gearheads trade their cement floors for checkered tiles and line their walls with air hoses and fitting, Wood too has chosen to make alterations. The massive skylight in the ceiling allows the perfect amount of natural light in. Even as the sun sets details in the paintings hung throughout the room are perfectly visible. Tubes of oil paint litter the space and brushes replace

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

the wrenches that no doubt once called this place home. Make no mistake however, blood, sweat and tears have been poured into this space and the result is just as magnificent as the growl of an engine. Long before this garage would take on its new life a very young Wood lived in a small town in a tiny house in the countryside in England. “All I did at home was draw. It’s not like today with computers and IPads, we had to entertain ourselves and I did it through drawing,” said Wood. Her knack for drawing was recognized by an art teacher and that one moment propelled her to become the worldclass painter she is today. From there her storybook rise to prominence takes her to the Royal College School of Art on a Scholarship, and then a Fulbright Scholarship to Parsons School of Design in New York. During this time Wood says she always loved cars, but they weren’t represented in her work. In actuality she says she was kind of forced to take up more feminine artistic outlets. “I always wanted to be a painter, but at 15 they pushed me into fashion and textiles being that I was a girl,” said Wood. As a student at Parsons she was given a lot of freedom, and that freedom allowed her to explore many different styles of art. To make ends meet she started designing book jackets for authors like Tennessee Williams, and advertisements for CBS. “When I look back I laugh, I was a young unknown English girl trotting up and down Madison Avenue in Stiletto Heels.” After graduating she returned to England and started business designing fabrics and wallpapers. The German textile company Raschtapen Fabrik put Wood under an

exclusive contract to design wallpaper and this opened up the world for her. “They gave me the freedom to do my work from anywhere, I just had to go to Germany once or twice a year.” Despite having unlimited freedom Woods pursuits still felt empty, and it took the death of a close friend to push her to buck the conformities that had been pushed on her and finally do what she wanted. “That [death] made me think about life and I didn’t want to die not doing what I was put on this earth to do. That really put me over the edge. How awful to die not having fulfilled your dream,” said Wood. Wood decided to take two years, live off her savings and see if she could make it. She says one day during her two years a 59’ Cadillac parked outside her apartment and she was mesmerized. “I saw the Cadillac and did a couple of water colors of it and I’ve never looked back. English cars were very conservative, the Royals Royce doesn’t hit the heart,” said Wood. Fame was much harder for wood to find as a painter and she attributes some of the struggle to the fact that she studied in England and is working in the American market. “Artists feed off of each other, and it’s often a question of who you know. I didn’t know anyone because I didn’t go to school here,” said Wood. She also says some of her struggles come because she is a woman painting in a male dominated medium. Much like when she was a child and pushed to pursue textiles, consumers of art and specifically automobile art have a certain idea of who is the best person to create it. Woods work however propels her above any stereotypes, and anyone who has seen her paintings can attest to that. It was her talent that got her an invitation to join the Automobile Fine Art Society, where she continues to this day to be the only female member. It’s also that talent that has earned her two Peter Helk awards, five Pebble Beach Awards of Excellence, and three selections a Featured Artist.

Wood paints on canvas using oil paints and her pieces almost always feature a masterfully painted car. One of the most astounding things about her paintings is the amount of detail that is put into them. The cars are meticulously crafted with every detail represented; reflections -even the most subtle- can be seen warping as the fenders wrap around the wheel, but the details don’t stop there. The minutest details can be seen in the background, from a bird’s shadow, to the reflection of a woman in a window on a building talking on a phone. I played a sort of ‘Where’s Waldo’ game looking at all the details in the backgrounds. Cars are inherently manly. Fast, loud, dirty; they trigger some primal urge in all of us to be the best, and lets face it the guy with the coolest car always gets the girl in the movies, think James Bond. Converse relationships can disprove any rule, and if you describe cars as beautiful, elegant, and sleek they take on characteristics of a woman. As men we even take to calling our cars by women’s names or just her. Even in the world of automobile art the idea that cars are a mans domain holds true, but much like the converse disproves the rule, Nicola Wood is standing out among her male counterparts. GSM

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Unique

artists

Bob Miller Bob Miller likes to capture what he calls the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Golden Ageâ&#x20AC;? of auto design. His works illustrate a time when cars were simpler, and so was life. Concentrating on the simple things allows him give new perspective to age old classics. www.bobmillerwatercolors.com

Victor Fung Graffiti on the side of an overpass may not be your cup of tea, but when done right it can be magnificent. More and more graffiti artists are taking center stage in the art world and their bold colors and alt-modern styles are quickly becoming hot items across the world. Victor Fung is an artist stepping out of normal graffiti confines to deliver brilliantly commissioned pieces all around the world. www.ny-graffiti-artist-for-hire.com

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Automobile

review

Gold Plated DMC-12 Text by

Don Weberg Images by

Michele Weberg

hen the DeLorean automobile debuted in early 1981, it was a shock to the system. The stainless steel exterior, ultra low-profile roofline, and edgy, angular design took the world by storm – as if that weren’t enough, gull wing doors accompanied the mix. There was truly nothing like it in the world. It borrowed heavily from Lotus Esprit and was designed largely by Giugiaro of ItalDesign fame to meet mass production standards and cost effectiveness measures. The interior leathers were by Bridges of Weir in Scotland. The tires were supplied by Goodyear, and they were staggered sizes for better handling. The car had a lot going for it out of the gate, and the effort of building a new car company from scratch was exemplary. The product of John DeLorean, the car company was mostly financed by the British government which, through the Northern Ireland Development Agency (NIDA), helped establish a factory in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland, just outside of Belfast. NIDA also assisted in recruiting a willing workforce and angling other British businesses to perform work for the new company, thusly stimulating British economy. Other 66

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

investors included Sammy Davis Jr., Johnny Carson, and Roy Clark, but in the end, it came to a dramatic, tragic, somehow very typical 1980’s end in 1982. John DeLorean became the target of a complex drug trafficking entrapment scheme which was fueled largely by the British government breaking their agreement to fund the company as needed to a certain amount. In 1984, DeLorean was acquitted, but he asked the media, “Would you buy a used car from me?” But, for a moment in time, things were good. Very good. DeLorean worked hard at creating an image to accompany his car, a lifestyle so to speak, something that worked well for his marketing of the Grand Prix, GTO, and Firebird back in his days at GM. People were buying into the DeLorean lifestyle, so much in fact, that American Express wanted to use the fresh DeLorean image to spice up their Christmas Catalogue. The somewhat outrageous, yet oh-so ’80s idea was to offer 24k gold plated DMC-12s to AMEX gold card customers for $85,000 a piece. In the end, only two were sold. VIN 4301 was sold to Roger Mize, the president of Snyder National Bank in Snyder, Texas, where the car resides in a glass vault. VIN

4300, the car on these pages, was sold to William Harrah. Mize’s car features a black interior and an automatic. It’s been said that a third gold car was in the planning, even partially assembled, carrying the last DMC-12 VIN, and built in Ohio by Consolidated International, the company that originally bought the majority share of DMC from receivership. It’s also been said that another gold DMC-12 was built by a private owner. But in the end, DMC and American Express really only built two special cars for AMEX gold clients, and DeLorean himself discusses this in his book. This particular car is VIN 4300, dated as built in September, 1981. Currently in the care of the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada, it’s covered less than 1,500 miles since new, is in immaculate condition, and arguably wears the 24k gold plating well. The beige interior was a sort of pre-production deal as DeLorean considered the color as an option for future cars. Even the wheels have been treated to the gold. Worth a king’s ransom, especially

in today’s market, when the cars were new, they were impossible to insure as a door ding could cost as much as $20,000, just about the sticker price of an entire standard stainless DeLorean. This DMC-12 is so original that even the struts that hold the doors open are original and, of course, non-working; the Goodyear NCT tires still strap the rims like new; the seats have no creases or wrinkles, which is par for the course with DeLoreans. It’s truly been pampered its whole life, and why not? It’s 24k gold plated and one of a kind! The campaign was a flying success, even if they only sold two cars. The image of a golden DeLorean added a lot of zing and zest to the catalogue and ad campaign, and in the end the effort helped further embed the DeLorean image, and make a special edition of an already rare sports car that went down in history with one of the most riveting tales. GSM

The Car Design Book Guatam Sen

Book

reviews

Innovators, Heroes and Iconic Cars The Cars of Vel Miletich and Parnelli Jones Jim Dilamarter

For most of the last century, the symbiotic relation that car design has had with modern society goes beyond being a barometer of human conditions: it has been a catalyst for economic change and a reflection of ‘human’ industrial history. This book is all about that: the history of car design and how it has changed over the decades; coachbuilders, who as scalpel wielders, have shaped the design evolution of the automobile; the star designers who have played a very significant role in influencing the world of design, both automotive and otherwise, and finally, the cars themselves: the bold, the beautiful, the intriguing. Plus, the stuff made of dreams: the dream cars and concept cars that are a fascinating window to the future, a periscope to a life beyond the here and now. 136 pages with almost 400 photos!

From the original sponsorship of Parnelli Jones’ humble early racing career, to the pinnacle of motorsports – back-to-back Indianapolis 500 race wins and three consecutive United States Auto Club National Championships – Vel Miletich and Parnelli Jones and their Vel’s Parnelli Jones (VPJ) Racing team of drivers, engineers, designers, fabricators and mechanics dominated American automobile racing in the 1970s.

Corvette Stingray Genesis of an American Icon Peter Brock Sting Ray… even the word has a special quality that transcends the popular image of America’s best known sports car. Who created it and how? What was the unusual combination of personalities and events that enabled its production? Peter Brock knows the story intimately as he was part of it. Just 19 and fresh out of California’s prestigious Art Center College of Design he had little idea that corporate circumstances far beyond his understanding would deliver the opportunity of a lifetime; a chance to interpret the vision of William “Bill” Mitchell to create the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray.

Dean Kirkland and Auto Effigies were commissioned to photograph and produce this superb photographic history of the VPJ team.

The Epic 1971 Formula 1 Season HUNT VS. LAUDA Paul Fearnley In Hunt vs. Lauda longtime racing journalist Paul Fearnley delivers a riveting account of the 1976 season and the two rivals who made it so memorable. Illustrated with hundreds of rare photographs taken at the track and behind the scenes, this is the ultimate, real-life account of one of motor racing’s greatest years. For readers who have just discovered the Hunt-Lauda story from the movie Rush, the book will reveal new facts and details of the real-life story that inspired the film.

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

50 YEARS OF THE 911

Feature length documentary from EverdayDriver In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Porsche’s icon, a dozen variants of the Porsche 911 were gathered for a full comparison. This nearly 90-minute feature documentary is the result! See amazing footage of these cars on incredible roads and join the guys as they discuss the refining of the 911 through the years. The Blu-ray has over two hours of material, including interviews with a dozen 911 owners. Plus – a review of the ultra rare GT3 RS 4.0 is only available on Bluray!

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Buyer’s

guide

GSM’s Last Minute Holiday Guide Some easy-to-get gift ideas for the St. Nick ‘O Time Covercraft

In honor of the Ford Mustang turning 50 in the Spring of 2014, Ford created a custom logo to memorialize the occasion. Only 50 companies will be licensed to sell the commemorative products with this special logo, and Covercraft is proud to be one of them. For a limited time they’re offering Mustang custom-patterned car covers and UVS SunShades with the option of this special edition Mustang 50 Years logo with and without a border. www.CoverCraft.com | 800.426.8377

The Early Public Garages of San Francisco

An Architectural and Cultural Study Mark D. Kessler A fascinating look at some of the most interesting public garages in San Francisco, California, Professor Mark D. Kessler examines in detail the various architectural styles from 1906 through the early depression, an era when motoring was booming, particularly in a major city like San Francisco. Many black and white images and illustrations depict the garages then and now, and each section is identified by addresses, making it easy to scout these garages if you’re ever in San Francisco. It’s written in a familiar, conversational tone which can be both easy to follow or not – it’s a book that sort of needs to be read from the beginning. However, give yourself the time to read the chapters and you’ll be glad you did – the information provided within regarding city planning (then and now), architectural goals, interesting bits of information about garage specifics (this garage had an elevator instead of ramps, for example), and more create a truly well-rounded read. McFarland www.McFarlandPub.com 800.253.2187

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

The Essential Buyer’s Guide Ford Mustang First Generation 1964 to 1973

Matt Cook Filled cover-to-cover with colorful images, informational charts, and oodles of useful information about the popular Mustang from 1964-1973, The Essential Buyer’s Guide is a must have for anyone thinking about buying a Mustang. Even a seasoned Mustanger can benefit from it’s information – afterall, who knows everything? No one – and who can use more information? Everyone. Printed on high quality paper, it’s sure to stand well through the test of time. Cook lists off things you’ll need to take with you on an inspection, provides a checklist for things to look for and in what condition the bits are in, and much more. Not interested in Mustangs? Check out Veloce’s line of Essential Buyer’s Guides on their website – use their search feature seeking Essential Buyer’s Guides and you’ll find a few interesting marques to whet your appetite. Veloce Publishing www.Veloce.co.uk sales@veloce.co.uk

Mike Brewer’s The Wheeler Dealer Know How

Mike Brewer Anyone who’s watched the show, Wheeler Dealer, will quickly recognize host Mike Brewer on the cover. The book is just as entertaining as the TV series, with tons of profiles on the cars they’ve bought and sold, as well as the various points to look for on each make – prone to rust, hard to find parts for, expensive… etc. Mike takes readers on a journey through various modern classics he recommends like the VW Rabbit convertible and DeLorean and Bentley Turbo R as great investments because they’re enjoyable, desirable, and not horrid to repair when things need doing. The entire book gives readers an easy way to discover information on what’s worked for Mike in the past including tips on how to buy a car from a dealer, private party, auction, and from abroad. Veloce Publishing www.Veloce.co.uk sales@veloce.co.uk

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Automotive Mysteries, Myths and Rumors Revealed

Preston Learner and Matt Stone The back cover says it all: Did you know that after James Dean’s death behind the wheel, parts of his car were sold off and cursed their owners? Did you know Bonnie and Clyde almost exclusively stole Ford V-8s as their getaway cars because they were the fastest cars of their day? And Clyde Barrow even wrote Henry Ford a thank-you card? Did you know that a monkey named Jocko Flocko won as many NASCAR Grand National races as Mario Andretti, Buddy Shuman, and Mark Donohue? Did you know that a Ford Pinto could fly? Did you know that one of the Aston Martin DB5s James Bond drove in Goldfinger and Thunderball may have been thrown from an airplane and dumped in the ocean off the coast of Florida as part of an insurance scam? Did you know the Edsel could have been called the Utopian Turtletop? Did you know that oil heiress Sandra Ilene West is buried in her beloved Ferrari? If you love mysteries and cars, this book should really give you hours of enjoyment and make you feel like a kid again living through the latest detective novel. www.Motorbooks.com

Greenlight Collectibles Who doesn’t remember Charlie’s Angels? One of those fabulous shows that turned cars into characters, Greenlight has taken a moment to make a 1:18-scale die cast of the most outlandish of the three detective rides, the ’76 Mustang Cobra II used first by Jill Munroe (Farrah Fawcett) and then Kris Munroe (Cheryl Ladd). While Mustang II has long been a sort of forgotten Mustang, the Cobra II was made famous by the popular series loved by both men and women alike, and the Greenlight die cast truly aims to please with superb attention to detail inside and out. www.GreenLightToys.com | 317.287.0600

Automobile Essence – A Portfolio of Artistry Artwork of Breck Rothage Containing much of his best work spanning about seven years, Breck Rothage has compiled some of his most interesting pieces into a truly ingenious package, a TrueFlat book. The TrueFlat design allows the book to be completely flat when open regardless of what page is being viewed. A fabulous way to enjoy the work of Breck, it contains what amounts to $3,350 worth of artwork for a fraction of the cost. Glossy and rich in saturation with extremely high resolution, the book will astonish and amaze and become an heirloom bit. The TrueFlat feature alone is a fantastic conversation starter. Made to order, a turnaround time of about 7 days is required to fulfill an order – the best things come to those who wait? www.BreckRothage.com | 714.928.6111

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

GarageArt.com

The work of Michael Irvine has long struck a chord with collectors and enthusiasts, and GarageArt.com has one for each of the Big Three ready to go. Whether you’re buying for a Chrysler, Ford, or GM guy, these latest prints from Irvine are impeccably illustrated, and strike at emotions with ease. A perfect gift. www.GarageArt.com | 800.708.5051

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Genuine Hotrod Hardware John Bell Red Letter Girl Series Stickers

Crafted out of the love of the road trip, John Bell designed a series of stickers reminiscent of the 1950’s and 1960’s Pin-Up Girls combined with a heavy hot rod influence. Currently nine variants of the Red Letter Girls are available, each of die cut vinyl construction with nine color UV inks, they’re available directly from John Bell on his website. Take a trip back in time – perfect for that retro ride or somewhere in the garage. www.JohnBellStudio.com

Who can’t use a good clock? Especially one that looks like a high-performance racing brake, everyone loves a good clock. Known as functional art, the brake clock features a drilled and polished aluminum rotor face, and has an overall diameter of about 14-inches. Twelve Allen cap screws affix the clock face to the rotor and double as the hour markers while a day-glow second hand is backed by a precision quartz movement. www.GenuineHotrod.com | 800.575.1932

Stanley

Standing at the workbench and doing projects can be a pain – literally. And if you have joint pain or back pain, standing on a hard concrete surface can only aggravate the condition, discouraging time in the garage. The Stanley Utility Mat aims to relieve some of the problems with Comfort Made Tough technology, an engineered balance of cushion, support, and durability designed to relieve pressure and soreness on feet, knees, ankles, and the back. With a 20-year warranty, it’s hard to go wrong. www.StanleyUtilityMat.com www.Amazon.com www.HomeDepot.com

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

International AERO

Combining six of their top-selling interior and exterior products into a convenient, embroidered, canvas travel bag, International AERO’s Mini SixPack Traveler includes everything needed to keep a ride clean at shows or on road trips, including AERO’s 300GSM microfiber towel. www.InternationalAeroProducts.com | 800.337.9274 (WASH)

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Matt’s

column

Who’s Next? By

Matt Stone

lthough this has little to do (directly) with garages, please let me share with you a little story, that causes me modest concern. Two young dudes were hanging out in the driveway. Dude One, leaning against his car, lamented to the other, “Dude – I need your help. I just can’t get it to run right. I’ve downloaded fresh software from the factory, I’ve run all the diagnostics, shut it off and on to reboot the memory a dozen times, done every adjustment I know how to do, and it still ain’t right! It’s really bugging me. You’re better at this stuff than I am, can you help me?” Dude Two contemplates the problem, says, “Let’s have a look,” and reaches for the hood release. “No, dude, it ain’t the car,” Dude One screams, pulling out his iPhone, “It’s this!” He’s all worked up over his phone! Now, back when I was Dude One and Two, I probably had an issue with some Mustang distributor or another, or trying to sync up the carbs an my friend’s MG. My concern is that for too many young enthusiasts, their iPad has replaced their ride! What’s with that! I am fortunate enough to work with Bob Varsha, whom many of you know as a seriously big game broadcaster, and the former on-camera host of Formula 1 on SPEED. Bob and I were broadcasting a Barrett-Jackson auction in California last summer, and Bob commented, “There sure is a lot of gray hair out there.” Which got me wondering – are kids really as into cars as I was 35 years ago? And will they read classic car magazines, and go to auctions and lust after ’57 Chevies, BMW 2002s, Ferraris, and Isotta Fraschinis as much as today’s collectors do? I don’t know that they won’t, but I hope you’ll agree that my imaginary scenario begs the question. Is there another round of guys like Jay Leno, Bud Lyon, John Mozart, Ralph Lauren, JB Nethercutt, and William F. Harrah who will make their fortune in their business of choice, then invest it, and themselves, into preserving, enjoying, and sharing automotive history like these gentlemen have done? I sure as hell hope so. I don’t know about you, but I caught the car bug at a 78

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

young age, and I strongly feel kids need to be welcomed into the hobby, and captivated by it. I see every GSM reader as a public relations rep for car collecting, and I ask and encourage each of you to identify a kid or three, yours or someone else’s, who might benefit from exposure to this wonderful afflication called car collecting. It’s a sickness from which I hope I never recover. It’s easy; share your cars and your enthusiasm with them, and the mojo will often flow from there. Let’s talk about two other young dudes, twin brothers in fact. As kids they wanted to watch the races so bad they used to sneak into the track. Ultimately they built their own race car without the knowledge of their parents, using their own money, along with some friendly sponsorship from a few locals. During a race, one of the brothers wrecked bad and wound up in the hospital. And they both caught hell from their father. Their names are Aldo and Mario Andretti – two dudes for whom the whole car scene worked out pretty well, most particularly the latter. I care not if they’re excited by your big game classic, musclecar, your Shelby, or by a Scion xB. The most important thing is for younguns to be exposed to the scene, breathe in the germs, and get excited on their own. If the next generations get swept up, as we all have been, then the future of our hobby, and our cars, is secure. Remember, the cars will live on as history and works of art long after we’re all gone. And if you have nothing going next weekend, please, take a kid to a car show. The well-being of car collecting may depend on it.

Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Garage

meanings

In the Garage with Cindy Meitle

John Gunnell, Blogger, author, former editor and publisher of Old Cars Weekly, and owner of a restoration shop John Gunnell has four decades of classic car industry experience. He’s written 85 books about cars, trucks and motorcycles, and was once the editor and publisher of Old Cars Weekly. He still contributes to the OCW website as well as Garage Style Magazine, and blogs at www.gunnersgreatgarage.com. In 2010, he launched Gunner’s Great Garage, a restoration shop and gift shop in Manawa, Wisconsin. He currently specializes in the restoration of T Series MGs, flatheadpowered Pontiacs and other classic cars. 1. What is your favorite item in your garage and why? I have two garages. One is a 2800 sq. ft. steel building at home and one is a 3200 sq. ft. steel building that is my second business. We call it Gunner’s Great Garage. At home my favorite things are my red, white and blue Backyard Buddy 4-post lifts. I also have two of those. (Do you see a pattern?) At work my favorite thing is my media blasting cabinet.

buyer was supposed to pick it up during the Iola Old Car Show here in town, but never did.

EVERYTHING

TO BOOST YOUR BUSINESS

IS HERE.

4. What are you doing most of the time when in your garage? Working on cars; either my own or a customer’s. 5. Did you spend much time in the garage growing up? What are your memories? No, I grew up in a New York City housing project. I never had a garage there. We worked on cars in the street or the parking lot. 6. Can you give us a quote about what the garage means to you? “In a way, my garages are symbols of how far I’ve come in life. Like, ‘I own 6,000 sq. ft. – how about you?’”

2. What is one item you have always wanted in your garage that you hope to one day acquire and why do you want it so much? Right now I want a Snowcrest White ’59 Vette with silver coves and a red interior. I saw one at a show and just liked the combination. It’s pretty. The owner even let me sit in it. 3. What’s the strangest item in your garage? How did you acquire it and why does it remain in the garage? I have some kind of hoop from an old snowmobile that a friend from Iowa sold to a guy somewhat near me in Wisconsin. The

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Garage Style Magazine Winter 2013

Garage

bazaar

Architecture/Design/ Construction Chapman Design Group 864.224.7563 www.chapmandesign.com Tailored Living featuring PremierGarage 866.590.8604 (USA) 866.311.8915 (CAN) www.garagestylespecialoffer.com

Art/Automobilia/ Collectibles/Media

Wall Words 888.422.6685 www.wallwords.com

Auctions Mecum Auctions 262.275.5050 www.mecum.com Bonhams 415.503.3248 www.bonhams.com

Automobile Restoration/ Maintanence Wheelsmith 800.854.8937 951.898.4563 www.thewheelsmith.net

Route 32 Restorations 765.307.7119 www.Route32Restorations.com

401k Restorations 714.993.401k www.the401kclub.com

Mascot Magazine 404.556.4698 www.MascotMagazine.com

Custom Auto Service 714.543.2980 www.customautoservice.com

Genuine Hotrod Hardware 800.575.1932 www.genuinehotrod.com

Clothing/Accessories

Rally Legends www.rallylegendsrc.com Mike Gulett http://MyCarQuest.blogspot.com Matt Stone www.MattStoneCars.com GarageArt.com 800.708.5051 www.garageart.com 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 Arte Auto 830.864.5040 www.arteautoauction.com Kit Car Builder 866.Kit.CAR1 www.kitcarclub.com

Security Secure It 562.677.3777 secureit@ngcia.com

Travel/Leisure/Dining

inTech Trailers 574.773.9536 www.intechtrailers.com CoverCraft 800.4.covers www.covercraft.com

Cafe Stravaganza 831.625.3733

Save-A-Battery 888.819.2190 510.471.6442 www.saveabattery.com

Flanagans Restaurant-Pub 831.625.5500 www.flanaganscarmel.com

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

Tools/Equipment

Zymol 800.999.5563 www.zymol.com

International Aero 562.634.1009

www.internationalAeroProducts.com

The foremost producers of fine automobiles and Pebble Beach competitors consider Zymöl to be the world’s purest automotive enhancement system. Waxes and Glazes with ingredients derived from nature with an over abundance of rare Carnauba and essence oils to brilliantly protect your cherished automobile.

Moduline 888.343.4463 www.modulinecabinets.com

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Private Listings

LuxVelocity www.luxvelocity.com

Clothing/Accessories

Packards International www.PackardsInternational.com

Flooring BLT 913.894.0403 ext. 21 www.bltllc.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 Mullin Automotive Museum 805.385.5400 www.mullinautomotivemuseum.com Petersen Automotive Museum 323.930.CARS www.petersen.org

Garage Style Magazine Winter 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

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