We’ve asked about dream garages filled with your most wanted cars, but not about the garage itself. What kind of home with your cars live in? We’re not talking a Jay Leno-style museum for 100 cars, but something more reasonable. Something that a reasonable enthusiast could actually set up, and that won’t have your neighbors calling city inspectors to pull your building permits. So far I’ve been maintaining my fleet with hand tools and floor jacks, but it would be nice to have a lift, a set of air tools and compressor, maybe even 220-volt wiring to try my hand at metalwork and fabrication. I’d like a storage rack for several sets of wheels and tires, and shelves for my many spare parts and Tamiya kits. Oh, and of course space for several real cars.
What would your dream garage build include?
The most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s your favorite JNC shout-out in a song lyric?“.
What surprised me most this week was learning about two musical odes to the AE86. I had never heard either of them — “AE86” by Dave Rodgers as suggested by Art and “The Twincam Song” by Oliver Conlon as suggested by Jonathan P. — despite being a long-time AE86 owner.
Some were definite classics, like the Subaru in Blondie’s “Rapture” as suggested by Jim Klein, the Kawasaki GPZ in Lou Reed’s “New Sensations” as suggested by Sammy B, and the Honda in Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” as suggested by dankan.
Nas got a lot of love for showing love toward the Infiniti Q45 in “If I Ruled the World” as suggested by Taylor C., as well as an NSX in “Surviving the Times” as suggested by Alan. Snoop Dogg shouted out a Lexus in “The Shiznit” as suggested by fuel10922. As ninjastealth pointed out, Kanye disparaged a Toyota RAV4 in “Run This Town” which is just one of many reasons to dislike Kanye these days.
The winner this week was Danny, who pointed out the Montero reference in Raekwon’s “Glaciers of Ice” but we were equally impressed with his actual Montero’s longevity:
My ‘91 Montero has survived 32 years and 225k miles of hard use, from Alaska to Montana and now West Virginia. It still runs and drives without issue, and looks tough doing it, so I think it’s safe to say that the Montero, like Wu Tang, is forever:
Rap Meyer Lansky, crash your fantasy
Gettin’ high fellas stand by, here’s the plan, see
Sit back collectin’ TECs and checks and
Flowin’ slow in a Montero flexin’
Beats break heavily, word to INS, bless me
Throw me like three bags of sess– from Raekwon’s “Glaciers of Ice.”
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
My soon-to-be-parents-in-law live in a small village near my city.
Farher of my fiancee already gave me permission to adapt the old brick barn to my car-enthusiast needs. It’s an about 50 YO bulding, but very sturdy. Only the roof needs some fixing (clay tiles).
From essential things to do i will make new electrick installation (in my cuntry the “normal, home wiring works on 230V, but for professional machinery like welders, hydraulic lifts etc. these is a need of 3-phase 400V installation). After that i will make new concrete floor, that needs to be flat.
Of course i will have a hydraulic lift there, i’m dreaming about two even – one standard, fork type, one the other plate type, for suspension work. Pneumatic instalation for air tools, some MIG/MAG welding machine, hydraulic press are obvious things.
The barn is big enough to store at least 4 cars, has also a sort of 2nd floor that will be used as storage for wheels, seats, bumpers and other big stuff.
From the outside it wont change much, aside from two new gates, so neigbours shoud’t even notice 😉
When I last visited Toyota Megaweb in 2019 I spent some time (okay, a lot of time, perhaps too much time) staring through the plate glass windows at the Garage Workshop housed on the lower level between the rally car display and the giftshop/cafe. About the size of a 3-car garage it seemed equipped enough to do everything I’d reasonably think I could either do or teach myself to do along with having a pristine Honda Monkey perched on a shelf right behind the glass to ogle.
Since Megaweb closed at the end of last year, I have to assume that the entire garage is now available for the asking. So I am hereby asking for it. Mr. Toyoda, what say you?
I think when it comes down to it, space. In 2020 when I was in Japan, I visited my friend Oinuma-san in Tochigi. He is a mechanic by trade, but somewhat of a car collector as well.
I went to his house and he had crashed F31 leopard for parts, but when I saw his small garage, he had built in the floor jack system! I was blown away and thought it was the coolest. https://www.f31club.com/2020/03/03/visit-with-oinuma-san/
If I could, I’d have space for a small shop, but able to have a lift, air compressor and storage as you typically see in small race shops.
My garage is the only thing I have a say with in my house, but I can’t have my boxing stuff set up unless a car is out of it.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn7833EyiAm/
2 car garage with 2 lifts.
A complaint I hear from people with a lift is that the project car will be on it waiting for parts and disassembled and then the daily will need a simple job that a lift would make quick work of.
Otherwise, something like Jack Olsen’s 12 Gauge Garage would be a perfect setup for a suburban home: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lCrlVhwHnE&ab_channel=JackOlsen
Mine is inspired by Sean’s garage from F&F Tokyo Drift and a 1:64 Diorama I currently own. But its a modest industrial looking brick bldg with concrete floors. It has room to work on around 6 cars on the main floor. There would be a lift and all the tools you need to work on a car, Mr. Arizona.
Then it would have a loft lounge upstairs that has a couch with a pullout bed, a tv/entertainment center, a fridge and bar and it overlooks the garage below.
I’ve thought about this already, and drawn up some crude blueprints.
Based it on the idea that I’d be using jacks and jackstands to work, and accounted space for that, but the building would include a lift eventually.
The foundation would be 8 inches thick at 36 feet by 36 feet.
Two bay garage with a lift one side and flat stall on the other side.
Space in between the bays for work benches, part shelves, and/or tool box(es).
Maybe some space off to the left side of the shop for more workbenches and parts shelves/ parts space.
The windows I want to be aligned with each other for cross breeze during those summer months.
Definitely want electricity. Air compressors, battery chargers, and space heaters (for winter to warm my hands with) don’t power themselves.
I was considering MaxJax for a lift. I didn’t want anything too tall to try and lower the profile of the building. Was thinking about putting it in the left side bay.
Trying to decide if I want a lean-to roof or gable roof.
Actually, this is actually my more immediate idea of a garage that I feel I need, rather than my “dream” garage.
My dream garage would pretty much be a six-car garage (thinking 3×2 bays) with studio apartment/ living space above it.
Just in case my comment went to spam.
Found it, thanks for the heads up!
You’re welcome, and thanks for finding it!
I have a pretty decent-sized garage that I shoehorn five cars during winter storage, emphasis on “shoehorn.” I’m only able to do that because of small and narrow cars that are about a hair strand’s thickness from one another. During the winter I don’t really do much wrenching just because it’s only in the 40s in the garage. Maybe an oil change or vacuuming the interior.
I wouldn’t a taller garage where I could fit two of those storage lifts. A workbench in the middle, between the cars, so I can wrench away, right now I’m still squatting or sitting in my kids’ old toddler chair and working on the ground.
Radiant heat from the floor would be awesome; along with a drain in the middle of each vehicle stall, so that snow can go into that; right now it puddles up along the garage door opening when we parking a snowy / wet car. I’m always down with natural sunlight, so a few windows on each side, not to mention on the garage door itself, would be good.
Off to the side, I’ll have the wall with the car posters. Right now I have a printout of the station wagons I’ve owned, and then a poster of the Miata, a magazine ad of the 300ZX, and some random stuff. Would be nice to find some other posters to fill up the wall. I’ll need to add some tire storage racks for the winter tires as well, have those bolted higher so I can keep the floor space. On the other side of the garage, I have my old steel storage racks, those are very sturdy.
There’s obviously going to be an area where we store the misc. items, like the kids’ toys, the bicycles, camping stuff, non-automotive things. Also, we are still hang dry our clothes and would need a spot for washer / dryer. Plus, a spot to just setup a folding chair and drink a beer would be nice, so I guess a third garage stall to accommodate all this might be needed, hahahaha.
A bathroom.
It sounds a bit weird to want a bathroom, but hear me out. Even though my garage lacks electricity, I can do without. I have power tools with rechargeable batteries, so I can work on almost anything as long as these batteries last.
However, my sessions at my garage are often cut short because of toilet breaks. My garage is located right between suburban housing and a small apartment complex, so I can’t just take a toilet break in the bushes or something. Sure, I could one of those portable chemical toilets. However it would be so much nicer to have a proper toilet including sink so I can also wash my hands when I’m done tinkering on my JNCs!