“Ultimate Garages”
By Phil Berg
Review by Gregg Leary

Reading “Ultimate Garages” reminds me of the old joke about looking at the pictures in “National Geographic” and “Playboy”…places I’m never going to go and people I’m never going to meet…and I guess I might as well add…cars and garages I’m never going to own. However, I can look at the gorgeous photographs in “Ultimate Garages” and fantasize about one day hitting the lottery and duplicating Jay Leno’s collection. Hey, it’s MY fantasy and I’m sticking to it!

“Ultimate Garages” gives us unlimited access to two dozen collections of amazing motor vehicles…and their “homes.” It is divided into 3 Parts.

Part 1: The Garage as a Palace
1.  “Candy Store: A Clubhouse for Cars”
2.  Stanley Gold: “Pride of Porsches”
3.  Walter Hill: “It Started with One Car”
4.  Jay Leno: “Projects Expand to Fit the Space”
5.  Bruce Massman: “A Home for the Antiques”
6.  Bruce Meyer: “Meet Mister Garage”
7.  Peter Mullin: “Blending Art and Cars”
8.  David Sydorick: “A Place for Centerpiece Cars”
9.  Al Wiseman: “Classic Car Castle”

Part 2: Real-World Garages
10.  Ken Gross: “A New Start”
11.  Bill Hammerstein: “The Fun Run Place”
12.  Chuck Higgins: “A Workaholic’s Vision”
13.  Peter McCoy: “A Classy Workshop”
14.  Lynn Park: “A Place for a Fanatic”
15.  Buddy Pepp: “Portrait of a Car Family”
16.  Don Sherman: “Hobby Meets Business”
17.  Tom Sparks: “Studio Collection”
18.  Dean Stanley: “Cozy Quarters for Cars”

Part 3: Nontraditional Garages
19.  Curt Catallo: “A Magic Vision for Car Space”
20.  Horsepower TV: “Locked Inside for a Week”
21.  Mark Lambert: “The Preservationist”
22.  Dan Scully: “A Shrine to the Gods of Fuel”
23.  Guy Webster: “Brand New Old Barn”
24.  Brock Yates: “Parking in History’s Shadow”

Phil Berg’s idea for “Ultimate Garages” began with an article he developed for “Car and Driver” titled, “Garagemahals.” In the Preface to the book he writes, “Because it is impractical to drive forever, we car people have to park somewhere. This is where.”

Berg gives a very tongue-in-cheek chauvinistic observation to begin the book. “It is a universal law that the wife must decorate the house and the husband is allowed the basement and garage. We enthusiasts tend to live in garages, because…that’s where our vehicles are.” Berg visits two dozen of the best…and takes us along for the ride. He found that “none of these car and motorcycle collectors think of themselves as having possessions. They consider themselves as foster parents, entrusted with the care of the special vehicles in their garages.”

The photography is stunning and gives the book its structure. 170 color images grace the 224 page work. The reader will glean ideas from the photos…I could do that in MY garage…I could utilize that space saving idea…That’s how I could display my old racing posters! The text is well written and easy to read. I filed several ideas as to how I could build diorama scenes with my die cast collection that could emulate the “real deal” in Jay Leno’s airport hangers. Phil Berg just built a three car garage and “I plan to do all the stuff to it that I’ve learned from the car people in this book.”

The “Candy Store” is a private clubhouse for cars. Its whereabouts must remain anonymous. The author “had to swear upon a stack of Chilton manuals” not to reveal its location. We readers get to vicariously enjoy the contents…”like kids in a candy store.” The “eye candy” here contains no calories but could take a serious bite out of your bank account. Among the treasures: A 427 Cobra, 1988 Williams FW 12, Ferrari 375 America Vignale, 1962 Ferrari 250 GT Spyder, 1952 Bentley Type R, 1937 Mercedes 540K, and an Alfa 6C. The Clubhouse is like a Yacht Club. Members may not work on their cars at the clubhouse but the cars must be driven. Guest speakers like Phil Hill, Dan Gurney and Carroll Shelby share their love of automobiles with the members.

Some priceless tidbits from “Ultimate Garages:”

To avoid having to install a lift to work on his cars, Stanley Gold built an underground pit in the back corner of his garage.

Walter Hill still has not discovered the origin of the saying that hangs above his Jaguar collection. “Their sweet lines all but take my breath away, and I desire them as much for their beauty as for their use.” If you can document this quote please email me and I’ll forward it to the author.

I love Jay Leno’s line, “I only buy what I can afford.” Prudent advice. Fortunately for Jay, his “Tonight Show” salary enables him to “afford”…”a compound of three enormous airplane hangers that have been converted into garages for his favorite 80 cars and 60 motorcycles.” “When asked how many hours he works in a day, Leno responds, ‘You mean on The Tonight Show? Look at all this. I have to pay for it somehow.’” Jay has been called, “The hardest working man in show business.” He has earned and deserves everything in his collection. “Ultimate Garages” gives us ten pages of text and eleven photographs to get to know the host of “The Tonight Show Starring Jay Leno” and his magnificent collection of motor vehicles.

I’ve only given you a sneak peek into the treasures contained in “Ultimate Garages.” Buy the book and see what’s behind Door Number One, Door Number Two…I give it four out of five lug nuts.