A Ferrari Showroom

[Ryan]

It's sort of in fashion to say that "showroom" garages are a good example of excess gone wrong. And I get that line of thinking... I mean, what good is a garage that you can't get dirty - right? But imagine having the kind ofcashthat allows acollecti...
To read the rest of this blog entry from The Garage Journal, click here.

 

[pmiranda]

A good example of needing more doors... he must spend more time moving cars than driving those Porsches stuck in the back.
Good problem to have!

 

[Whiskeymike]

Nice collection. I lived most of my life in S. Florida around Boca Raton/West Palm Beach, and I remember being at the International Boat show where I overheard a yacht broker say "Collecting Farrari's is for guys that can't afford boats". So I guess there are all kinds of levels of excess. Nice collection regardless.

 

[Zeke]

He must sell a ton of exotic ans very expensive watches:

 

[TX63CONV]

Do you really think this guy is grinding or welding anything? I'll take that garage over a dirty one any day....

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Seen that type of "garage" before. 4 wrenches shrink wrapped in the origial blow molded box in each drawer of that tool box. Couldn't change a tire on his own car...

Tommy

 

[Playwme]

That's not a "showroom" garage. It's a clean practical storage area for vehicles. Looks like it's might even be an underground parking garage beneath an apartment building.
Showroom garage to me implies over the top fixtures and fittings and lots of building bling.

 

[C_F]

A good example of needing more doors... he must spend more time moving cars than driving those Porsches stuck in the back.
Good problem to have!

Exactly!

I agree, it's not as much of a showroom garage as a place to store the collection. And what a collection it is!

 

[pmiranda]

Yeah, the biggest bling in there is his watch. The cars are just right. Still... he should give me a couple so he has fewer problems with juggling around those Italian beauties. Heck, I'd even take a heretic white Ferrari if you twisted my arm...

 

[hautpot]

I live near his garage. It is underground his Jewelery store in Rowland Heights.

 

[hewey]

Couldn't change a tire on his own car...

He's obviously not short on cash - pay someone else to change it and take one of the other cars for a drive To some people time is money, and being that rich means you can prioritize whatever the hell you want.

 

[Playwme]

Not only that, but most Supercars don't have spare tyres so there's nothing to change.

 

[Jinks]

To each, his own......<shrug> I don't care if he has that kind of garage or not, but to me it's just worship of a brand or an unnecessary show of excess. I'm much more impressed with the car care & garage build of someone like Jack Olsen. If a person can afford more than one that's fine until you can't find enough time to pay attention to any one of them.

I knew a couple of guys in England that had show off storage garages for their Harleys. Both were nice/likeable people & serious Harley enthusiasts. Both were good riders, but neither had any real attachment to any of their various bikes. One would ship his current ride to Sturgis & join me for the event. The first year my several year old FXR flogged his dealer maintained Heritage. The next year he showed up with a brand new Duce that he had the dealer set up for as much performance as they could get. To his disappointment I had stroked the old FXR.........results were pretty much as the year before...

 

[Bears Fan]

Amazing collection! But I would rather have a garage full of vintage American muscle cars, but to each his own...I only have a 1968 VW beetle and a 1980 Chevy Blazer in my under ground storage bunker

 

[ALinCarolina]

One of the things I like about this forum is that most members are genuinely happy for other members' successes and choices. Most all of the responses on this thread show no jealousy or sour grapes, more of a "to each his own" response. Great attitudes I think.

 

[dsimatt]

There are some of my dreams cars in there, personally I wouldn't have that many cars like that but would be nice to have enough money for it to be a option.

I have to fix and work on stuff in my garage because its all I have, now if I had the money to do the setup i'd like then I would never do any work in my garage because that's where I would park my toys and the all the work would be done in the shop.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

Nice, but I couldn't even begin to afford the insurance on those.

 

[dkroth]

He must sell a ton of exotic ans very expensive watches:

Indeed.

His Wikipedia page says there's a real estate component to the family business. It's not hard to believe LA real estate can generate the cash flow to finance that hobby.

It's also likely he's using the business to buy these cars. It would be a lot easier to obtain financing through the business using that cash flow than doing it through himself. If the business is doing it he can avoid sales taxes, too.

 

[wraptor]

He look like a CASH kind of guy!
Cash is the best labor saving device i know.

 

[ScottsGT]

Met a guy back around '81 or '82 that had a "garage" in the back yard with red carpet, chandeliers and walnut paneling. Of course the "garage" was filled with early '60's Ford Galaxies with 427's and 3 deuce carbs. Had about a dozen of them. Along the other wall he had a '65 or '66 fastback Mustang with 600 miles on it. In front of that he had Mickey Thompsons old AFX drag racer.
Garage next door he had a Pantara and a Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt.

I thought I had died and gone to Heaven.

 

[Russ G]

Met a guy back around '81 or '82 that had a "garage" in the back yard with red carpet, chandeliers and walnut paneling. Of course the "garage" was filled with early '60's Ford Galaxies with 427's and 3 deuce carbs. Had about a dozen of them. Along the other wall he had a '65 or '66 fastback Mustang with 600 miles on it. In front of that he had Mickey Thompsons old AFX drag racer.
Garage next door he had a Pantara and a Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt.

I thought I had died and gone to Heaven.

Those sound more like the kind of cars I would rather be around anyway.

 

[fitz11]

He posted this picture the other day.

 

[INTMD8]

Quite a collection! Very nice stuff

 

[matt_i]

I think he missed something. I would want to dedicate an outlet to every parking "bay" so that the battery for each was charged and ready to go. Nothing like wanting to burn rubber and go wailing around town and have the battery go dead on the first start or immediately thereafter a short trip!

As mentioned, it must be quite the game of musical cars to get the back ones out. Can't really do this by yourself, maybe a couple of bodyguards !?!...having to drive up a Ferrari and leave it idling at street level while you go back in to fire up another would need another level of security!

 

[dsimatt]

I think he missed something. I would want to dedicate an outlet to every parking "bay" so that the battery for each was charged and ready to go. Nothing like wanting to burn rubber and go wailing around town and have the battery go dead on the first start or immediately thereafter a short trip!

As mentioned, it must be quite the game of musical cars to get the back ones out. Can't really do this by yourself, maybe a couple of bodyguards !?!...having to drive up a Ferrari and leave it idling at street level while you go back in to fire up another would need another level of security!

I would volunteer for free to once a week go down there and run each car to keep up the batteries just to listen to the verbal **** that is a ferrarri exhaust.

I can't remember if it was on here or somewhere else that I saw a bunch of ''dream garages" and those were over done with like marble floors, or one had like a living room setup right next to all the cars so I think this guys place isn't that bad.

 

[Lassen Forge]

I suspect he probably has wheel casters under them to move them around. I *really* like the feel of the garage, if you had something like that I wouldn't be surprised if he had a machine shop and "restoration & repair facility" down there as well. The marble floors seem extravagant (and be careful - wet floors or wet feet it becomes like ball bearings!) but I can see also the utility of stone flooring...

Honestly, how many of you looked at that collection and said "if I had to have just one, it would be -that- one" ? My biggest issue is which one would I pick??

Maybe I should go into the jewelry business...

 

[OCD]

Here's my Dad's Ferrari Showroom!! He drives his Chrysler minivan most of the time though!!

 

[Stevie-Ray]

Garage next door he had a Pantara and a Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt.

I thought I had died and gone to Heaven.

In 1975, I had a chance to get a year old 1974 Pantera with 3000 miles on it for $6500. ($11,500 new) I had driven a bunch of them, for years, picking them up to put windshields in them, and this one was no exception. It was offered to me by a guy I got to know rather well, as I delivered it back to the resale lot at the Research facility it was at. I cringe every time I think about that now, even though at the time, that was a hell of a lot of money. Especially when I think I only paid that for my first brand-new car in 1979. But in hindsight....

 

[ScottsGT]

In 1975, I had a chance to get a year old 1974 Pantera with 3000 miles on it for $6500. ($11,500 new) I had driven a bunch of them, for years, picking them up to put windshields in them, and this one was no exception. It was offered to me by a guy I got to know rather well, as I delivered it back to the resale lot at the Research facility it was at. I cringe every time I think about that now, even though at the time, that was a hell of a lot of money. Especially when I think I only paid that for my first brand-new car in 1979. But in hindsight....

I worked on one years back in my younger days. Unless you ar 5'6" or shorter and are under 150 lbs, you don't want one! Not to mention they were rust buckets too. Fun to look at, but not fun to own from what I understand. You probably did yourself a favor by keeping it a fantasy.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

My friend has a Pantera. He started "Jersey Panteras".

http://www.jerseypanteras.com/pics.html

He's be redoing his car for a while. It's cool, but I've driven enough stock and modified Panteras to know I don't want one. They're just not for me.

Tommy

 

[Stuart in MN]

I worked on one years back in my younger days. Unless you ar 5'6" or shorter and are under 150 lbs, you don't want one! Not to mention they were rust buckets too. Fun to look at, but not fun to own from what I understand. You probably did yourself a favor by keeping it a fantasy.

They're snug, but not that snug. A friend used to have a '72 Pantera and he stored it in my garage. I never drove it, but did ride in it; I'm 6'-1", 200 lbs and was reasonably comfortable. He's a little shorter but bigger around the middle, and he didn't have any problems driving it.

By now, most Panteras that are worth owning have had most of the rust and quality issues resolved. Interestingly, they're one car that is typically worth more if it's been modified, rather than left stock - the Pantera club has a big manual the size of a phone book that describes all the various modifications and upgrades that people have figured out over the years.

 

[Gidge]

Amazing collection! But I would rather have a garage full of vintage American muscle cars.

+1 My thoughts exactly

 

[QwikKotaTx]

Here's my Dad's Ferrari Showroom!! He drives his Chrysler minivan most of the time though!!

Nice. At least the garage looks more like something I could afford. What model is that?

 

[BaronVonVVankel]

I went to see a very similar (but larger) private collection to David Lees here in the uk last year.. inc F40, F50, Enzo etc etc. The owner (who prefers anonymity) is a real welcoming friendly easy to talk to guy, hes a successful businessman enjoying the fruits of years of hard work. Its impossible to begrudge someone like that.

 

[dsimatt]

I went to see a very similar (but larger) private collection to David Lees here in the uk last year.. inc F40, F50, Enzo etc etc. The owner (who prefers anonymity) is a real welcoming friendly easy to talk to guy, hes a successful businessman enjoying the fruits of years of hard work. Its impossible to begrudge someone like that.

Where I grew up there is a guy who was a ceo of a very large company and he has a little shop with a few Ferraris in it, my one buddy up there knows his son and they are very laid back.

I will never be rich but if I was to be in that situation I would also take time and let kids climb in and take pictures with whatever sports car I had because no one ever let me when I was a kid and it would have been a childhood highlight.

 

[goneflyin2002]

Bravo!
More power to guys like him. He keeps the whole business alive. Who cares if he knows what a spark plug is... there's guys like me that will happily put a set of plugs in for him.
He obviously loves what he's doing so keep it up!

 

[Dodo]

Actually, I found the garage for this amazing collection rather humble. It's not a showroom by supercar standards. Just a clean garage. Kudos to him. He needs more space though.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

I worked on one years back in my younger days. Unless you ar 5'6" or shorter and are under 150 lbs, you don't want one! Not to mention they were rust buckets too. Fun to look at, but not fun to own from what I understand. You probably did yourself a favor by keeping it a fantasy.

Huh? I was 6'3" and 190 back then and had not one bit of trouble. Comfortable as could be. The ride wasn't all that great, but what car, short of a Mark IV was, back then? And stored, the way it would have been in a perfect situation, rust wouldn't have been an issue. It would have been performance that I was looking for, something the Pantera had in spades.

 

[OCD]

Nice. At least the garage looks more like something I could afford. What model is that?

2013 California 30... About 1200 miles on it...

 

[gte718p]

2013 California 30... About 1200 miles on it...

That is the part that is criminal. I think everyone who works hard should have fun toys, but I would drive the wheels off that thing.

I bought a Porsche from the dealership in Durham NC recently. Apparently the owner is one of the biggest Porsche collectors in the US. He keeps some of his collection in the she show room. He has some amazing Porsches going back to the very beginning, but they all have 500,600,900 miles on them. I know the low milage makes them more valuable, but they are incredible machines that have to be driven to be appreciated.

Not driving an amazing car is automative cruelty and should be legal basis to have them taken away and given to people who will properly appreciate them