garage books reviews

[wot sales]

Based on comments posted somewhere here, I ordered three books from Amazon:
Ultimate Garages II ($27.40), Dream Garages ($23.07), and Motor City Dream Garages ($23.07).

My opinions:
Ultimate Garages II – a really good book with some great garages to look at and some good ideas.
Dream Garages – even with forward by Peter Egan it’s still a lousy book - a couple of nice garages but some real junk. Author doesn't seem knowlegeable about some of the cars and motorcycles.
Motor City Dream Garages – a fantastic book; unbelievable garages and collections, some owned by auto execs.

Agree or disagree? Any other book suggestions?

wot

 

[jay50]

Based on comments posted somewhere here, I ordered three books from Amazon:
Ultimate Garages II ($27.40), Dream Garages ($23.07), and Motor City Dream Garages ($23.07).

My opinions:
Ultimate Garages II – a really good book with some great garages to look at and some good ideas.
Dream Garages – even with forward by Peter Egan it’s still a lousy book - a couple of nice garages but some real junk. Author doesn't seem knowlegeable about some of the cars and motorcycles.
Motor City Dream Garages – a fantastic book; unbelievable garages and collections, some owned by auto execs.

Agree or disagree? Any other book suggestions?

wot

Wait until I publish my book; it will be a bestseller. The Title: "Redneck garage on a budget"

 

[wilbilt]

Mine will be titled:

Shady Spaces; The Art of Rural Wrenching With No Garage and No Budget

 

[Stuart in MN]

The only one I've actually seen is the Dream Garages book. I thought it was pretty good myself, partly because a friend of mine was one of the people featured - the Vincent motorcycle guy.

 

[JohnZ]

I got "Dream Garages" for Christmas, and enjoyed the different approaches to garages, their owners, and what they keep in them and do with them, although those in the book are more like warehouses than home garages. Doesn't have any practical examples of things to keep in mind for building your own garage or useful "tips" for the average guy, but I've already built my dream garage and wasn't looking for that slant anyway.

 

[wythors]

I have all of them and agree with you except I didn't think Dream Garages was bad at all. Personally, I liked the original Ultimate Garages best, with Motor City second.

 

[[email protected]]

Hey, all. Glad you like the book. I'm Rex Roy, the author. I'm curious ... what did you like about Phil's book better? Were his garages more interesting? Was his writing better? Did he include better photos? Was his presentation better? I've known Phil for years and have actually worked with him on a couple projects around town. He's a great guy. I'm hoping to do another edition of the book, and I'll take any good advice you can offer.

PLUS ... Looks like my e-mail is my member name (I'll probably change that ... but it's OK for now). If you bought the book, e-mail me and I'll mail you a signed book plate. Let me know who you want the book inscribed to and I'll take care of the rest.

Thanks, Rex

 

[bluesman2a]

While I am not familiar with the works in question some feedback for you here, Rex:

1) When I pick up a garage book, even if it's got the word "DREAM" in the title, I like the spaces/ideas to be approachable. While we all like looking at Jay Leno's garage(s), very few will ever play on that level. There are ALL ranges of garages on this site, which is something that I enjoy. It's nice to know how people get by on budgets both above and below your own.

2) People here are DO'ers. Pretty pictures are nice and can give us ideas, but sources, product names and recommendations are the meat of the matter. Don't just give us the picture, talk about the process and the products. Where could I find out more about this type of thing? Would you use it again? Would you recommend the product? I'm not looking for a book that hawks products, but if I want to replicate something, give me a place to start with some resources.

3) While keeping them approachable, show us UNUSUAL projects... Some examples from here (look at the number of thread-views for each to see how popular they are):
Uncommon space:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13824

Uncommon approach with high cool-factor:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12234

While the space is not uncommon, the plethora of tools, organization, and ingenuity is interesting in the extreme.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2122

While the scale is daunting, the man obviously has a plan:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5844

While it doesn't compare/contrast the books mentioned, I hope this helps give you some ideas for future use.

 

[autoist]

I've read "Ultimate Garages" & "Ultimate Garages II"...IMHO, the first one is far better than the latter!

"Dream Garages" provided a few ideas; "Motor City Garages" was opulence beyond compare - but fun to look at.

 

[Matti]

I would like more ideas on maximizing space utilization w/std garage footprints ie 24x26. One of the problems I have run into is a lack of resources on specialized truss designs. Lots of garages on this site have 12' walls and 8/12 or better roofs that can't be built in many cities. Ideas for the guy with a 45 or 50 foot wide lot are hard to come by!

 

[gtiboy66]

I got Dream Garages for Christmas and I loved the book.

I will have to check out Ultimate Garages.