Like Volkswagens Have Proven, Less Can be More
In New Jersey, a Volkswagen enthusiast has taken his knowledge of small cars, and adapted the wisdom to a small garage, making the most of very little. In doing so, Bob shows the amazing amount of stuff he has fit into the space to make it function as both a working garage and a show garage rolled into one.
“It just takes some forethought and planning to make it work,” Bob said.
Though he dreams about someday hitting the Lottery so he can own a garage on par with Jay Leno, he makes the best with what he can afford and he has done quite well. Bob has always enjoyed hanging out in garages working on cars with his friends, music on, joking around and having a few beers.
“There’s something special about being in the garage,” he said.
Bob’s garage is of a smaller size, 18-feet wide outside, which gives him only 16-feet of floor space width and 22-foot depth. Because of his very narrow piece of property, there is no room for expansion; but, luckily, his garage has a high, 12-foot ceiling. Needing to fit three vehicles into this narrow two-car garage was going to be a trick. Easy enough to, say, just get a lift, right? But here came the problem.
A two- or four-post lift wouldn’t work because that requires having posts on each side of the bottom vehicle, which kills the space next to the third vehicle. Keep in mind, this is a narrow garage. Bob needed a single post lift and found the perfect lift from BendPak, a single-side lift, which is the same principle as a Fork Lift without the driving part. The single-side solution worked great; without any posts between the vehicles taking up floor space he could fit three vehicles into the garage, and walk under it without having to duck. And, this is important, because unlike so many showroom garages, Bob’s is a working garage that dubs as his show place.
Bob has dedicated over 30 years to the vintage Volkswagen hobby, and has written more than his share on the German brand, including his latest, “Volkswagen History to Hobby,” which has done quite well since its release. As a car hobbyist, not a professional, he restores old Volkswagens and he does all his own work from start to finish. He has restored many VWs, and most have been prize-winning show cars featured in magazines, commercials and on book covers, though not his books. Bob does all his own welding, body work, painting and mechanical work, which makes it very hard to keep his garage looking like a show piece. Every few months, he has to put time aside to do a full cleanup, which coincided perfectly for this photo shoot.
Bob’s garage was furnished little by little, over time, with a few cabinets discarded by gas stations, some old kitchen cabinets, shelf units picked up along the way and his unique work bench that was an old heavy duty metal office desk. Bob extended the legs to make it the right height, and then covered the top with ¾-inch plywood and a piece of Plexiglas, metal angle iron along the front edge and a huge vise. The drawers work perfectly for holding tools. Amazingly, a coat of gray Rust-Oleum goes a long way to turn virtually anything into garage stuff that blends.
Ensuring excellent illumination, something every garage needs, Bob mounted nine florescent light fixtures with two bulbs each, four regular bulbs, and a couple of spot lights around his space. For a 16’ x 22’ space, it’s more than an ample supply of light, especially with white walls that help reflect the light even though there is not much wall space showing anymore. This was also his reasoning for covering the ceiling with a huge silver tarp from Harbor Freight.
“Otherwise the wood just sucks the light in,” he said.
Hidden in the cabinet, and protected from debris, a stereo with five disc CD changer is linked to four-speaker cabinets in the ceiling, providing a surround-sound feeling, and enough decibel power to keep the garage humming.
“The garage is alive, with the sound of music,” he joked. “Yea I know, have a beer.”
The super small sink started out as a large metal oil drain funnel, the only sink that could fit the space. Used only for fast hand washing, it’s cold water only, but serves perfectly. Above, an old medicine cabinet stores first-aid supplies.
To allow Bob to work in the cold New Jersey winters, he bought a big gas heater and mounted it to the ceiling, then added duct work that keeps the garage T-shirt warm. During the summer, heat is kept to a minimum with fans.
Having collected unique items, memorabilia, and pictures over the years, wall and ceiling space is now to a minimum. He has the back end of both an Oval and Split window Beetle that he restored hanging from the ceiling, complemented by a front hood from Herbie, The Love Bug. He’s also amassed an impressive collection of eight steering wheels he restored showing each VW wheel from the first to the modern day New Beetle. Attesting to his commitment to perfection, 70 trophies and plaques are on display, plus calendars and magazines featuring his cars. He said he has enough stuff to fill a garage twice this size, and maybe someday he’ll have that huge garage with attached house he dreams of, and we’ll be back to visit with him again.
Until then check out his website, www.JerseyClassic.com
*The one Photo is of me and my son Kevin. He’s the good looking one with the hat on.
