Le Porsche Garage...

[milou]

This thread is about a garage project I've been thinking about for quite some time now. As a hopeless classic Porsche fanatic, I’ve presented it on the 911S registry forum a year ago.

Encouraged by Ron and Jack Olsen, I thought it would be appropriate to share it on this forum. I hope you'll like it:

After renting space in several parking lots around Geneva, I've been looking to rent a barn in the countryside to store the cars together and have a cool space to hang out.

At one point, we were up to 6 friends, with about 20 cars, and were hoping to find an industrial warehouse to rent together, but still found nothing.

So, I finally looked elsewhere, and decided to build a garage or some sort of mancave (just sat on the machine, couldn't drive the thing):



In came the concrete:



I didn't realize that water and electricity pipes required such a LARGE trench (I hoped my wife didn't mind. She did. 0ooops....):

[milou]

The size of the garage was limited by strict regional building laws: it couldn't be larger than 50 square meters (580 square feet I think?) on the ground, and couldn't be taller than 4.5 meters (15 feet).

Taking those measurements into account, I chose to build a very traditional "period" garage, suited for 3 cars, and a small mezzanine (half-floor) easily accessible.

I downloaded from Google a program called "Sketchup", and attempted to design what I was looking to achieve (don't laugh, it took me hours):



It would have 3 barn-like wooden doors, a traditional roof with a visible wooden structure, but thermally isolated in order to be heated during the winter months.

After the concrete floor, up came the walls:



A concrete slab ran across all three doors to allow one single space with no internal columns.



By this stage, our garden was pretty much destroyed. I didn't mind much (I was building a garage!) but obviously my other half wasn't very pleased:

[milou]

Very quickly it started to look like a proper building (well almost).

By then, I couldn't help imagining where the cars would go, the couch, the fridge, the posters (call me optimist!)...



A second slab of concrete adjacent to the garage would house a garden shed, as it became evident that no lawnmore or rake could be stored in "Le garage":



Very slowly (very...) the carpenters began working on the roof structure:

[milou]

The roof structure took about a month and a half to build:



The mezzanine as well:



We opted for round windows on the side walls for a traditional light effect. An additional window was cut into the roof for the mezzanine and to provide additional natural light:

[milou]

The garden shed was put in place while the garage's roof progressed nicely:



Inside, the wooden beams were being painted white:



Roof tiles were aligned showing different combinations of shade and shape:

[milou]

Final preparation outside:



Final preparation inside:



Tiles being placed at last:

[milou]

The roof done, copper was used for the rain gutters, providing that traditional look:


After a few weeks, the doors finally arrived:



We tested an old green shade and I thought it looked good:



The mezzanine stairs (more a ladder) arrived as well:

[milou]

After 3 months, the building is almost done. Still waiting for the round windows and the tarmac to be poured out front:



The walls have been painted, the spotlights mounted, and a guardrail (originally made for sailboats) installed:



I also installed an electricity line and an air compressor:




Of course I wish it could have been just a bit larger, but I'm nevertheless very excited!.

[milou]

This is the facade painted and finished.

Doors closed:



Doors opened!:







Eventually the concrete was poured out front:



Hopefully the grass will grow quickly on the garden shed side and my wife will get some of our garden back....




On the mezzanine, I built IKEA shelves...

[milou]

- Honda 125 Ihatovo:

[milou]

- 911T Targa:



- Period Porsche decal:



- Keyrings:



- 911 ST:


- Porcelain switches:



- Heuers and Twinmaster:

[milou]

- Storage space by the window:



- Lackstifts shelves:



- Brochure display cabinet:



- Keychain and badge:



- Memorabilia:



- 911S & Goodyear:

[jwhcars]

Nice garage and P-cars , I like that you built the garage to look period correct.
I think Jack Olsen borrowed your green color.

[356vintage]

Excellent space, excellent cars, beautiful memorabilia!
Congratulations.

[TONE]

Thats is absolutely stunning in every single way.

Great build, superb cars, and a nice write-up.

Thanks for sharing and enjoy what you have!

[jocool1585]

It appears you have the Honda stored in the rafters.... how do you get it up and down? :-) Beautiful project!

[ersatzs2]

Just spectacular. I have never been able to understand why we can't build like that in the states. Or bury our power lines like you do do in Europe... but that's another issue...

I love the collection of vintage touch up paint, and the 911s are lovely.

[mjozefow]

Very nice garage sir! I like seeing how buildings are built a bit different than in the states. It really has a classic look.

Nice cars too!

[3cyltrbo]

Great thread, great garage and contents

thanks for sharing

W

[brockstar]

Very well done! Great collection of period 911s too.

Thank you for posting and would love to see more pics of the cars and your shop!

[PhillyRow]

Gorgeous, congrats on a great build!

[Kevin54]

Whew!! I thought I was slipping for a while as I thought I had seen this before but saw where you just posted it today. I thought it was on this site that I saw the thread. I did, but at that time it was linked http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=50654

Anyways......Excellent workmanship. I love the rafter craftmanship along with everything else. Thanks for posting the pics on here.

[captainkarl]

Thanks for sharing! Looks like a great space.

[milou]

Thank you everyone, I love the space, I've spend some great quality time in there!

Here is a Porsche sled designed by Butzi Porsche in 1963-65 when he was also designing the 911:



Here are some vintage factory posters:



Period Cibie and Shell signs. The Shell was hanging at the St Gallen gas station until the mid Seventies:



Getting full pretty quickly:



911 2.2S ex Siffert:


911 2.2T Targa:


911 2.3 S/T ex Wicky:


Wicky Racing team in the Sixties:


PS: The Honda was such a tight squeeze that it will stay up there for a while, but I love the design, it's so narrow and simple.

[Steve in SoCal]

I saw your build somewhere else but couldn't comment on it. You have done a wonderful job blending space, presence and, style in a boutique size garage. The loft area has a nautical feel with not only the railing but the ceiling as well. You have succeeded in filling the space with many things but it doesn't look crowded. As another fan of cars from Stuttgart I am very impressed with your garage.

Steve

[stricht8]

Milou, that is an absolutely stunning garage. I really like the doors and the craftsmanship on the wooden rafters. This is one of my favorite garage builds here.

[milou]

Thank you, I feel very lucky to have a place to myself where I can get away from everything:

Recaro Porsche seats and display cabinet full of brochures:


Period banner displayed in Porsche showrooms in the late Fifties/early Sixties:


Cool design radio, and more memorabilia on the mezzanine:


I love the rally car:


Heuer timing devices were closely link to Porsche through Siffert and McQueen:

[stricht8]

Can we see your tools/tool chests?

[stricht8]

Also, you might want to contact the publishers of the Ultimate Garage book series. They might be interested in featuring your place.

[milou]

Hello Stricht8,

Unfortunately no lift and no tool chest, although I have a Hazet assistant I have to bring back to the garage.

It is conceived as a showroom more than an actual working garage, which could be another future project.....

[JMURiz]

Love the craftsmanship of the building and the storage loft area.

I guess you need a loft and cabinets with those AMAZING collectibles!!!

Great stuff, too many cool parts/cars/accessories to wrap my brain around.

[stricht8]

Originally Posted by milou

Hello Stricht8,

Unfortunately no lift and no tool chest, although I have a Hazet assistant I have to bring back to the garage.

It is conceived as a showroom more than an actual working garage, which could be another future project.....

We have similar taste! I have two Hazet Assistents. One new and in nice shape and another first issue late forties with the integrated stool.

[ironheadtom]

All I can say is WOW !

[Mr Long Hood]

Milou --- a most impressive building & collection of Porsche memorbilia (sp). Gotta luv them longhoods.

[stricht8]

Originally Posted by Mr Long Hood

Milou --- a most impressive building & collection of Porsche memorbilia (sp). Gotta luv them longhoods.

Whats a longhood?

[Shocker]

Pre 1974 911's. With the small bumpers, they had a long hood. The 74+ had the impact bumpers with a small strip that separated the bumper from the hood, thus the hood was short.

[3vettesnLift]

Very nice!, looks great. You must be enjoying the "cave".

[motodavid2000]

Thank you for posting the great photos of your garage. I love the "character" and look of the interior with the exposed truss system and the mezzanine area. The roofing tiles are fantastic also and give the roof a super texture and look. Outstanding !!

Dave

[JBC]

Very nice. I really like the unique time pieces and all the 911 history.
JBC

[Eds_tls]

Great job on the design and attention to detail! Looks like something built brand new 75 years ago, (which is a compliment by the way)

I really like that style alot. Very nice

[993James993]

Absolutely Stunning! Thank you for posting. I hope that the garage I am building will have a fraction of the magic that yours has.

[socketjockey]

Excellent. The three beauties have a wonderful new home. Thank you for your posting.

[Daniel Dudley]

Still a favorite !

[Skyline]

Beautiful building, and the cars aren't half bad either!

[69satelite]

Originally Posted by milou

The roof done, copper was used for the rain gutters, providing that traditional look:


After a few weeks, the doors finally arrived:



We tested an old green shade and I thought it looked good:



The mezzanine stairs (more a ladder) arrived as well:

cant have those copper gutters here in the us the tweekers would steal them for scrap

[milou]

We've got pretty strict and rigorous building laws in Switzerland. Although I did try to keep it simple, I ended up with a small house rather then a garage.

I'm trying to work on the doors' isolation and have installed some rubber strips at the bottom of the doors, but they wear out pretty quickly. Any suggestions?

[stricht8]

You could try the brush type that conform better to the surface below and last longer.

[milou]

That's a good idea thanks, because the tarmac outside acts as sandpaper on the rubber strips.

[chiefav8r]

That is gorgeous, great job and love those cars. I had a Targa in the early 70's and loved everything about it, wish I still had it. Porsches are getting prohibitivly expensive in the US now, kind of out of reach of us working slobs.

[milou]

I'm a working slob too. I think outside of Germany, Florida and California is where are the most Porsche in the world! Americans where clever enough to buy them new and then start collecting them before everyone else!

Only in America do you see pack Porsche shows like this (lit & toy show in LA), heaven:

[Fidget]

Wonderful garage! I saw it on the 911S registry forum. Hows the polished concrete holding up? I must have missed it, but how do you handle the heating and cooling?

[Rich]

I never get tired of looking at this garage...or the occupants.

[HAMAR]

Le Porsche Garage gets 12 point's from Iceland very nice.

[Corsario]

Wow! You did a terrific job there! Now it's time to enjoy!
Greetings from Argentina!

[e-tek]

Originally Posted by stricht8

Can we see your tools/tool chests?

Originally Posted by milou

That's a good idea thanks, because the tarmac outside acts as sandpaper on the rubber strips.

I can see how that would be. I think the brush type seals will be best, but you could also use rubber bumps affixed to floor.

Fantastic effort - really looks great. Could also have designed the roof tiles to spell: PORSCHE!!!

[HatTrick]

Originally Posted by Rich

I never get tired of looking at this garage...or the occupants.

Yup, I have to agree with Rich, I keep comming back to this thread just to look.

Did go with the copper and the green intentionally? They look good together now and as the copper ages the green will continue to compliment. Very nice style and design and very nice collection! <-- Fest Beir from Bergkirchweih.

'Brost!!!'
Chad

[rpsurfr]

Milou
I was very impressed by the cars and the exterior of the garage when I saw them on the other site. BUT when I saw the interior and the great and unique contents I was even more delighted to have encouraged you to post the photos!
Where did you ever get a sled that Porsche designed? Wow and Wow.

Great cars, great garage, my place will never be as delightful- now Jack's is another story!
I have a lot of work to do both on the car and the shop
Thanks for posting. I saved the photos!
Ron

[speedracer]

Beautiful, thanks for sharing!

[WANTSOM]

I love the attention to detail, period and marque dedication. Some great artifacts that are as interesting as the build. A truly beautiful building.

[ChetUbetcha]

Absolutely amazing.

[GTO]

Beautiful job on the Garage,I love all of your signage too.Is that a NARDI Steering Wheel ?

[james66g]

Well done sir!

[AndrewBigA]

wow this has to be a top 5 garage on GJ. congrats on building a beautifull garage & loft area. enjoy it man!

[Enloe]

wow awesome

[oylegate]

Originally Posted by milou

I'm trying to work on the doors' isolation and have installed some rubber strips at the bottom of the doors, but they wear out pretty quickly. Any suggestions?

Would something like this be a viable solution?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GARAGE-DOOR-PA...#ht_3129wt_958

[milou]

Hello,

Thank you for all your encouragements. I've seen some GREAT garages on this forum, and AMAZING man caves

Unfortunately, we lack space in Switzerland so we try to compensate on the details.

To answer some of the posts:

The painted concrete floor is holding up fairly well so far! I have an electric heater on the mezzazine and a bigger oil heater on the floor for the Winter. The garage is well isolated, so it heats up fairly quickly. In the Summer, it doesn't get hot enough to need air conditioning.

I did find a rubber strip to seal the bottom of the doors which seems to work pretty well so far, but your solution seems an excellent alternative.

Yes, it is a Nardi steering wheel, well spotted! I purchased it a few years ago with the Porsche crest horn button.

Copper and green was an accident, I copied the green doors from the house next door....perhaps the neighbor thought about the clever association with copper!

Here are additional picks of the garage in its current state:

[milou]

Professional photographer from a UK magazine took these.... I guess I can delete all my previous ones!:

[jkeyser14]

Beautiful, I love the exposed wood roof and the mezzanine.

[Enloe]

I love this garage it is awesome

[HiHoSilver]

Very Nice, teh roofing material is assume is concrete/composite product, look geat!e

[Gustav_t]

Your garage really inspires me. I guess you could say my cars are in "the family". I love the way you incorporate all your posters, signs and memorabilia without the garage getting cluttered. Really tasteful!

G. from Denmark

[milou]

I finally found an original Porsche dealership sign. I love the graphics, the proportions, and the vintage feel.

Original ones are quite hard to find as most were destroyed when replaced in the Seventies with the updated graphics. The few that survived are rarely for sale:

[s_morrison57]

I can see why you spend a lot of quality time in that garage, its just beautiful, I could hang out in a place like that all day long

[speedracer]

I never tire of seeing this garage!

[James E]

Beautiful cars and garage.

Very interesting to see the fundamental differences between construction in the States and in a place like Switzerland. Those rafters are certainly solid and I've never seen tiles like that over here. Are the walls made out of aerated concrete block?

The end result is very, very nice.

[Rte66Charlie]

Originally Posted by milou

- 911T Targa:



- Period Porsche decal:



- Keyrings:



- 911 ST:


- Porcelain switches:



- Heuers and Twinmaster:

Milou - absolutely beautiful! But I'm going to ding you here.........the porcelain switches are awesome, but the dynamo label maker tags look like crap! Get some little copper tags engraved and placed by each switch!

Nitpicking? No, this place is incredible, and those labels just don't fit!

[milou]

If the dyno labels look wrong, it's not too bad....I'll think of something, as I'm not sure where I can locate copper labels in Geneva.

The thing I enjoy about this place is changing things around until if "feels" right.....

[welderwink]

that place is awesome. great job.

[ct71rr]

I love your garage, it is absolutely beautiful!! Very well done

[993James993]

I love this thread! Are there more 911's or even 356's in your collection? Did you restore the cars yourself? Do you have a second garage with even more sights? Very well done!

[TONE]

This is probably my fav. garage Ive seen on this site.

Its perfect. I guess I like it because even though its very nice and well put together, its not something that most folks could never have.

Alot of the museum-dream garages are full of 10-15 high end exotics. This is a garage with nice cars, some real attention to detail, and a passion for patience and collecting.

Its superb.

[milou]

Thanks,

I sincerely hope that the garage translates my passion for early 911 and Porsche period memorabilia rather than a question of money spent

Here is some recent news:

A rare Porsche dealership sign from the Sixties in NOS condition, including its original crate, I really love its design:



This is the latest project, a 1965 911 complete but in need of restoration, it's number 492. it's Aga blue, a great color:



We enrolled the 911 S/T in the 2010 Coupe des Alpes, a rallye through the Alpes over 3 days driving from Evian to Cannes:

[993James993]

Thats awesome! Glad to see that you enjoy your collection outside the garage! Will you do the restoration on 492 yourself?

[porschedude996TT]

Very well done building and great collection of Porsche's.

[356vintage]

Very cool Porsche sign!
Does it light up?
Rich

[milou]

These signs were used in the late Sixties and early Seventies to advertise Porsche showrooms and delearships:

The graphics are in "3d":



They are double sided and light up. This one is meant to be attached from the side:




This is the Jo Siffert garage in Fribourg Switzerland in the late Sixties. Siffert was a famous Porsche factory driver. You can see the same sign next to the Alfa Romeo one:

[356vintage]

Well, it's just outstanding!
Here's one we got out of Southern California. Not a great photo but it's in the background on the left near the lift. One side of a double sided acrylic sign.
I made the metal can and put a couple of fluorescent lights to back light it.
No raised letters like yours.

One of my favorite garages!
Thanks for sharing.

Rich

[milou]

Hi Rich,

Nice place you have! I see the sign in the background next to equally nice cars!, it's really nice and rare. It is the sign that was used in America at the same period. It's flat but larger than the European version. I found one as well in Monterey and mounted it in the garage:

[Bib Overalls]

Very nice set up. I have said it before in other threads on this forum "You Porsche guys are a different breed."

[laurent575]

Wonderful garage Milou, I have a Porsche 951, and Im a neighbor who's living in Anières/GE, I will introduce myself later,

[Jack Olsen]

Somebody should reproduce this for their garage.

[milou]

Hi Jack,

I'd love to reproduce this period showroom:

[primetime1267]

Wow... My little 87' 924S would love to sit in that garage..

[ct71rr]

Wow, that tile floor is really nice! Milou your white and red Porsche is beautiful!

[PCW]

Very nice shop Milou !!! My next project is a detached Shop. I just bought a 2011 Boxster Spyder, my first Porsche. The car is amazing, here is a pic,

pcw

[type550]

Such an inspiration to do it right. I am currently setting up a single garage for my Spyder with large display panels of 1950s racing. Unfortunately most of my Porsche memorabilia will have to stay in storage as there is no space to display it properly. Your cars are beautiful along with the perfect space to house them - keep adding more photos!

[Mr Long Hood]

hey type550...great avatar. welcome to the Porsche "subgroup". Look forward to seeing pics of your "single" garage.