Chesapeake Region
Southern Anne Arundel County Garage Kriechen Jim Earlbeck & Randy Richter
On June 4th an enthusiastic group of tech heads made the trip to Southern Anne Arundel County for a wonderful garage visitation. After a scenic drive we arrived at a wonderful bucolic setting for the garage visitation. The owners then graciously welcomed everyone with cold drinks, hot coffee and delicious pastries. Each Garage Kriechen is a unique experience. It is a view into how the owner lives the automotive lifestyle and what they value. Our host, being an architect, brought a fascinating and educational point of view to this event. He detailed the process of working with Anne Arundel County zoning and inspection. This was not your normal stick constructed building. The unique construction methods were highlighted in a manner that everyone could grasp. The building was constructed in Pennsylvania by Amish craftsmen and transported to the site. It came in basically two pieces each with the roof halves folded down. The builders joined the building, raised the roof, and installed siding and electric. This unique construction technique resulted in rapid construction, rugged design, lower cost, and confusion to the County’s building inspectors. Sometimes the confusion wasn’t worth the time to mount the argument. An example of that was the double placement of the collar ties. It seems that buying the cars to put in the garage is sometimes the easy part. Once the building was erected the owner added two lifts and numerous pieces of memorabilia. Artwork filled the walls. The worktables were clean and highly organized. If you have ever seen photos of a hospital operating room you can form the mental picture of this garage’s tools all being laid out like the precision instruments that they are. Those tools are used extensively. Our host told the story of his acquisition of a 356 cabriolet that came with an ultra-rare sunroof hard top. Seeing that top is the garage is probably the only chance that you will ever have to see one. The host personally restored the car, and you can find several articles in Patter (2021 Issues, see links below) that follow his efforts. It turned out stunning! Ar ticle: And So It Began...356 - Issuu Article: And So It Began...356C Pt 2. - Issuu Article: And So It Began...356C Pt 3. - Issuu And So It Began 356 Restoration part 4. - Issuu And So...it finished (cont’d) - Issuu
The owner then announced that there would be a contest, which he funded the giveaway of a Chesapeake region jacket, grill badge and name badge. These were given away to the folks who provided
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