secret car-guy hangout

[bobbie45617]

hello guys,

Guys,

I've been thinking of a cool business idea, but I'd like your input.

The basic idea would be a secret car guys hangout.

Imagine this:

What appears to be a nondescript warehouse in an out of the way suburban industrial park, actually houses 6-8 classic cars with room for a lift, detailing area, and a couple of tool chests. There would also be a lounge/loft with a big screen TV, bar area/fridge, microwave, comfy leather sofas, internet access and full bathroom.

Extras would include a couple of old arcade-style games, a CD jukebox and a pool table.

Decorations would include car posters, old street signs, maybe a restored gas pump or two and of course a Snap-on Tool calendar.

There would need to be a security system with keypad access and webcam surveilance.

This would be strictly members-only and would be set up in a fractional ownership model. The low budget version would include a rented space. The high-end version would include ownership of the building/land.

What would be a reasonable amount to buy, let's say a 1/8th share of this setup? I imagine there would be an initial fee and a monthly fee on top of that.

Let me know what you think.

 

[RobertG]

I don't think it would work as a business venture. It sounds good on paper, but I think actually executing it would be a *****.

What you might want to do is open an auto craft shop. You can buy an old multibay mechancs shop for not a lot of money. Say you have an 10 bay shop. Which I think would be the minimum for this venture.

1 bay would need to be a paint booth.

1 bay would need to be for body work, which is dusty and means it needs to be segregated off.

Of the remaining 8 bays I would have 2 without a lift, 2 with a 4 post lift, and 4 with a 2 post lift.

You'll also need a toolroom. Get 5 of everything in the Snap-On catalog to start with, add on as needed.

Operting hours, I would open around 3 in the afternoon to 3 in the morning, 24 hours a day on weekends.

Your clientele would be people that want to work on cars but have no space to do so.

Make money by renting the bays, renting the tools, and renting space on your lot for people to park their project cars.

Insuring this venture and intitial start up costs are going to be the biggest hurdles.

As the business grows I would add a machine shop, welding shop, and sheet metal shop.

I looked at doing this a few years ago and pegged the start up costs for doing this in Boise ID at around $2.1 million in land, building, tools, equipment, insurance, and operating capital for one year. I even hied an accountant, lawyer, and business analyst and they figured that I could make around $400,000 a year doing this, however the chance of someone getting hurt and going bust from lawsuits was high.

I elected to stick with my day job. The primary problem is that places like that can only exist in the real world. Where people take personal responsibility for their actions. For better or worse we live in America. Where it's never your fault you got hurt and a lawyer will happily sue someone to make you feel better.

 

[tfi racing]

You are not the first!There are actually a few places in existence with this concept,I don't have the name of one handy though,I'm sure there is one in theToronto,Ontario area and they stole the idea from NYC or SoCal.They are strictly storage,only minor detailing and cleaning is provided at a charge,any more than that invites way too many liability issues,and the folks that can afford to belong to a facility like this don't(can't) touch their own cars.It would be cool though to have something like this for the common working man,if you had 8-10 serious enough participants,I'm sure it could be done,especially with all those real estate deals that will be popping up.

 

[rsanter]

in so cal there is a small complex that looks like a ministorage but it is a series of 'hobbyshops'.
the shops are single bay doors that have enough width to open the doors and work and are 2+ car depth.
like a mini storage but you are allowed to work there. no buisnesses allowed.

you could do something like that but have a percent ownership based on how much room each person has that is theirs. you could also have a common area that is shared.
this would be like a condo complex where you own the condo and you pay a monthly commons fee that will cover the common area as well as the general maintence.

the only way I would do this is I had the players lined up already and each had the money to lay down to get things going.

another option is to do a 'private' timeshare type of deal.
one of my wifes uncles is a fireman. him and severl of the other firemen at the station got together and bought a beachhouse as a group. they share the house like a timeshare and they rent it out a bit to cover the basic yearly costs

bob

 

[Crusty Nut]

If it is a secret then where do you find your customers? Once the secret is out, then it isn't really a secret anymore. It sounds like it would be cool but would need to be more like a heavy committment car club with lots of dues.

 

[JDMopar]

Remember the movie "Christine" ? Will Darnell ran a place like that at his junkyard, and that's where Arney kept Christine. His bitchy mom, and wimp dad wouldn't let him keep her at home.

 

[Nova72]

i thought they called that a country club?

 

[RbrtAWhyt]

Rule number one about Car Club:

NEVER TALK ABOUT CAR CLUB!!

 

[Uncle Buck]

Remember the movie "Christine" ? Will Darnell ran a place like that at his junkyard, and that's where Arney kept Christine. His bitchy mom, and wimp dad wouldn't let him keep her at home.

First thought that came to my mind as well!

 

[e-tek]

Theres a bodyshop here that started a u wrench and couldn't get much business...seems people that want to - do, and those that that don't, pay.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Theres a bodyshop here that started a u wrench and couldn't get much business...seems people that want to - do, and those that that don't, pay.

I think for most wrench bender types, the idea is very cool. The real problem is in reality if you polled 100 guys thirty years ago, and 100 guys today, you would find the percentage polled that wrenched on the family truckster, not car guys, just the garden variety I'm keepin the family jalopy running today has dropped dramatically from what it was thirty years ago. Today, many are petrified of the new technology of these cars. I cannot say these guys are totally wrong in their fears of all the new technology.

In my long winded way I am saying that there would not be nearly the broad appeal today as there would have been thirty or more years ago.

 

[fotoflojoe]

Remember the movie "Christine" ? Will Darnell ran a place like that at his junkyard, and that's where Arney kept Christine. His bitchy mom, and wimp dad wouldn't let him keep her at home.

That was the first thing that ran through my mind when I read the OP.

 

[6768rogues]

Click and Clack, the car column guys, tried the self service garage idea. They found that people took on repairs that they could not finish and also took their cars apart then found that their time and expertise could not finish the job. Ended with many dead cars sitting in bays. Sounds cool, though, if you can make it work and insure it.

 

[RAYJAY]

here is the thread that I think every one is looking for

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4950


with all of the stealerships closing there a lot of great buildings out there, adding the down turn in the economy more will be fixing there own,

if you can also help people learn to repair there cars and trucks lots of guys and gals can do the work they just need the training, this idea would really take off

Jeff

 

[Distinctive-Garages.com]

We already have something like this in NJ at a new road course complex. They also have garages to lease/rent like condos and suites. Basically an auto enthusiast country club.

http://www.njmotorsportspark.com/club.html

 

[HIRISC]

We have one of these in Minneapolis - without the track

http://automotorplex.com/index.php

Garage condo's for purchase with a central clubhouse to hang with like-minded guys/gals. The local Cars & Coffee is now hosted here too (in season).

I have enough room for two more cars, then it's time to think about taking them off-site.

I think this is a more viable business model: give those interested in wrenching a place to do so and give those more interested in waxing/talking a place to hang out too.

Best of luck.

 

[hidollartoys]

From what I have seen here on this site, most dont hardly have enough money to do a garage project, which is an investment in their homes, much less the disposal income to participate in a "shop condo". Good luck.

 

[bomber]

Peter Egan had a piece about a concept similar to this in Road and Track some time ago -- except it was discussing this car guy hangout as part of a retirement home ;-}

At the risk of over-simplification, I think there are two kinda amatuer wrenches . . . . . social and lone wolf.

1 -- social -- likely already belongs to a club, that either has a facility similar to what you describe, of moves from member garage to member garage, sharing tools, experitse, beer, lies and racing benches.

2 -- lone wolf -- the fella that like working on his own, doesn't care for interaction with others while wrenching,welding, machining, et al .. . likely enjoys the short "commute" from his kitchen to his shop . . . .

while I enjoy talking to like-minded souls, if my commute was longer than the 45 seconds I presently enjoy, I know I'd get far less wrenching done . . . . .. .

 

[Charles (in GA)]

i thought they called that a country club?

This is the redneck country club version.

Peter Ega had a piece about a concept similar to this in Road and Track some time ago -- except it was discussing this car guy hangout as part of a retirement home ;-}

At the risk of over-simplification, I think there are two kinda amatuer wrenches . . . . . social and lone wolf.

1 -- social -- likely already belongs to a club, that either has a facility similar to what you describe, of moves from member garage to member garage, sharing tools, experitse, beer, lies and racing benches.

2 -- lone wolf -- the fella that like working on his own, doesn't care for interaction with others while wrenching,welding, machining, et al .. . likely enjoys the short "commute" from his kitchen to his shop . . . .

while I enjoy talking to like-minded souls, if my commute was longer than the 45 seconds I presently enjoy, I know I'd get far less wrenching done . . . . .. .

Agree 100%, I fit somewhere close to the #2 category when it comes to my place.

Charles

 

[oldbones]

Many military bases have an "Auto Hobby Shop" much like what was described above. Maybe 10-12 bays, most of them with lifts. They had a pretty decent machine room, a fantastic tool selection, parts washers, sandblasters, the works. I spent a good bit of time in more than one of those hobby shops.

I built my first race car in the Bremerton hobby shop. Rented a bay with lift for about a week while I stripped a car to nothing and built it back up for the track. When I bent that car beyond repair, I found another straight body (a lighter year!), rented two lifts side by side, and went to town pulling all the important bits from the race car and swapping them into the new (old) body. What an awesome way to work, it really made projects like that fun.