According To You: Your Automotive Fortress of Solitude
While we here at Hagerty Media once openly asked how long Carvana could last, it appears they’ve gotten a second wind in 2024. That’s good for them, but not so ideal for Hagerty Community member Glenn L., who had a great idea when answering the latest ATY question. He suggested a repurposed Carvana vending machine could be the ultimate Automotive Fortress of Solitude.
An automotive elevator in the sky has a lot of potential for enthusiasts, but let’s see what other gems our readers bestowed upon us!
A Carvana Fortress of Solitude, Still
Glenn L.: I think I’d start with a nice used Carvana vending machine, and then set it up on a defunct drag strip. This is beginning to sound like a life sized Hot Wheels setup. And now you can guess where the car obsession began…
Sajeev Mehta: This idea is pure brilliance!
James C: I sold a Vette to Carvana and delivered it to a Tower location in Metro Chicago. They are simply awesome facilities, and would make the ultimate statement when fully stuffed with however many beautiful assorted rides will fit. Plus, there is an adequate shop out back.
Big ‘Ol Barn
Chip: A 60x120x18 pole barn on five acres on fairly flat ground, wainscoted two-tone gray with white trim and 24″ overhangs all around, LEDs in the eaves. 12′ covered patio 10′ high across the front with ceiling fans and 12′ wide covered storage down one side. Two Storage lifts on one end, two two-post lifts in shop area, with spray booth and exhaust hood deck.
Get me a Kaeser Compressor and dryer with 3/4″ aluminum line running the perimeter, cannon cracker audio system tied into the 70″ TV and Roku box in the shop area. Then I’d get a bathroom and deep sink and floor drains in wash/polish bay. This is basically a way bigger version of the 26X28 I currently have. You won’t know I won the Powerball, but there’ll be signs….
hyperv6: I have what I want now. 24’×36′ shop and a 24’×26′ second parking garage.
I have heat, water, LED light. web. Big Screen, Surround sound. Many tools and boxes, Welding and Torch, Lifting equipment. etc. I am more than blessed so if I do not expend I will not be disappointed as I have more now than most.
Also I have 5 cars under locked roof now and I could get one more in if needed. I even have some art. I made a coffee table from a Short Block from a Top Fuel Funny Car. The pistons are all signed buy NHRA greats and a glass top on it. I have two 911 seats on legs beside it and arm rest made from the headers from the funny car. Sadly you can’t see the work of art crank. I have the blower case in the corner as a umbrellas holder. The windshield from he car is behind the table. This is for sitting and watching TV.
The walls have a full-size Corvette billboard and other things I have collected. The hood from Greg Pickett’s burned Jaguar Trans Am car and the tail gate from the #3 Bass Pro truck. There are signed posters from my heroes like Smokey Yunick and the Le Mans Corvette winners. It is just a fun place to spend time and work.
GM: I bought a 14,000 square foot in tear-down condition of various warehouses and garages with a little house on top. It was for my cars and others. Now my time is mostly construction instead of cars for the last 8 years, but slowly that is starting to change.
Jake: I like the Carvana idea, and the Laguna Seca concept.I pretty much have my ideal space right now. Just before I retired 10+ years ago, I got the wife’s support to build a shop on our five-acre property. It is 40′ x 50′ inside steel building with a 24′ x 50′ covered overhang on the slab in front of the shop. The closed part of the building has 16′ walls front & rear and a 24′ peak.
Inside, it is set up for both a two-post and four-post lift; has an enclosed 20′ x 20′ x 9′ high office/sanctuary with TV, desk, bathroom, wi-fi, bookcases, etc. On top of the office, I have made a storage area for all of the stuff that otherwise takes up needed floor space in the shop. I will be adding stairs to the “loft area” and a swivel crane hoist to make it easier to move things between the loft and the main floor. In the 20′ area in front of the office is my fabrication area with all of my shop equipment (welders, drill press, grinders, sheet metal brake, engine hoist, engine stands, etc) and steel topped work bench, plus another butcher block work bench.
I currently have five cars in the shop and have floor space for two more, leaving working space around each one. I prefer not to park cars raised on my lifts because I want to keep them available for any work needs that may come up. All in all, I am very happy with my existing shop and, best of all, it is only 150′ from my front door. I’m just glad I did it while I was still working and could afford to get it built. It has taken me several years to finish it properly, but it is almost done.
LeMay Me!
DUB6: If I could pick up the Lemay Auto Museum (with all contents) from Tacoma, WA and plunk it down adjacent to my barn, I might only be seen two or three times a year outside of it.
Sajeev Mehta: I like this answer so much I want to change mine to it.
Nothing Crazy?
TG: I’m going to go with the trend and say what I have now. My not-as-mechanically inclined neighbors have the social spot garages. Mine is a little too mechanically oriented and I don’t get a lot of lookie-loo drop-ins. No beer fridge, no TV, no couch.
With the unlimited budget, I would probably need to add some space for metalworking tools and a chassis dyno, but the car count would probably not change much. The current stable is probably at the limit of what I can maintain operable and actually operate, and I’m not much for garage trophies.
TerryTwoUtes: I personally dislike the term man cave. It implies a place where no work is done. My garage is for working and storing vehicles. No couches, no TV. Just a nice music system, lot of good bench space, plenty of toolboxes stocked with all the regular and specialty tools, numerous welders and other required tools, two-post lift for working, and one or more four-post for storing and cleaning underside. Need lot of shelves to store fluids/parts/whatever needed for a project. A paint booth would be nice. Of course a good HVAC system to allow year-round comfort inside. Size probably 5000 sq ft so lot of storage room.
The Leguna Seca Acquisition
nodriveraids: I’d privately own Laguna Seca, not open to the public. Staffed to help me care for my extensive collection of 50-70’s race and street exotica (four- and two-wheel) which I drive weekly. Each quarter I open to people of like passion to share laughs, food, stories and libations. Most importantly we drive! Of course all this is free to my passionate brothers and sisters.
Airfield Upcycling
Espo70: I’ve imagined this many times. An old airfield with multiple hangers converted into a track and modernized to house around 200 cars. I would also have a lavish home and guest house built on the premises. The guest home would house a full time mechanic/grounds keeper/manager and his family. I imagine an additional daytime staff of five-10 or so.
My collection would include mostly late 60s to current vehicles from around the world with a focus on 80’s. Of course, in this fantasy I’d also be a multi-billionaire married to Ana de Armas.
Junkyard
Luvs A. Goodstory: The Ultimate Car/ Truck Nirvana is an old wrecking yard. It would have nothing newer than 1972. No stuff not from North America. No EPA issues. With a 19th-century timber frame barn in middle of it all.
Getting Guggie With It
Paul: I’d hopefully do my best to be restrained in this regard instead of trying to create a mechanical Xanadu. If not I’d end up with a climate controlled junkyard and a bunch of new high tech tools that I’d spend more time figuring out how to use than using. Keep it simple. I’d only ask for two separated areas for completed projects and in the works. Showroom and shop.
So it really just comes down to location, location, location. The Guggenheim in New York would work. Drive the restored Checker uptown in the morning. Show the cars in the original ramp section, use the more recent annex for the guts of the operation. Of course that would mean acquiring the Guggenheim in Bilboa Spain for the foreign collection to avoid unnecessary complications. I’m still working out the small details.
