Mike’s Toy Box

You’ve likely seen the garage and collection of Mike upon the digital or actual pages of Garage Style at one point or another, but his toy box is another matter. Outside of a few teaser pix here and there, we’ve never actually featured his new garage.  It was slated for Issue 53, which, of course, never got printed.  So, hopefully you enjoy this garage as much as I do!

Mike is a Morgan man through and through.  His passion runs deeply enough that he’s visited the factory and actually knew many of the Morgan employees, including Peter Morgan, the son of the founder, HFS Morgan, and Peter’s son, Charles Morgan.  For decades, Mike collected Morgan cars, restored them, showed them, and was a bonafide cheerleader for the marque.  His love for Morgans is absolutely contagious, spending any amount of time with him at all will likely inspire to begin looking into buying a Morgan.  His garage alone is an absolute museum for the brand, but so much more.

Living in Los Angeles, space is not only at a minimum, but also a premium.  His main garage is behind his home, on an alleyway, and across the alleyway is his museum, a box of a garage that’s attached to a storefront he rents out.  Within, six Morgans call the space home, each a different model.  Although they can look very similar, Mike will tell you in great detail the differences between them.  Aside from the Morgans, the garage immerses visitors with history and fun art from England, Morgan, and Los Angeles.  Mike’s family has called Los Angeles home for a multitude of generations, serving in large part to the tapestry of businesses that shaped and founded L.A. from the way back.  These walls reflect that in a multitude of ways while intersecting his love of Morgan and Morgan’s home, England.  He’s done a remarkable job blending these two historical places and family names – but there’s one other name he has a deep passion for, maybe even deeper than his passion for Morgan, which is hard to believe.  But, that adoration is reflected throughout the garage as well, Disney.  Throughout his garages and his home, Disney and Mickey Mouse are prominently featured – books, pictures, sculptures, mementos, and more – Mike was one of the many who visited Disneyland the first day it was open, and still has his ticket, among other pieces.  He’s a walking encyclopedia about Disney facts, even the obscure stuff like where Walt Disney’s Palm Springs retreat was, and what kind of cigarettes he smoked – yup, he was a smoker, but kept it quiet so as not to influence children.

By automobilia, one very interesting piece he’s got on the wall is from the Savage Tire Company of San Diego, California.  Savage manufactured the first puncture-proof pneumatic car tire, which was huge worldwide in the automobile industry.  Founded by Arthur Savage, he also founded Savage Arms and invented the Savage Model 99 lever-action rifle, as well as the detachable box magazine used in most modern firearms.  But, he’s well regarded as having revolutionized the tire industry.

Upon the same wall is a unique, colorful strip, hanging from a box.  Upon the strip are names, randomly displayed in bold font – Geary, Van Ness, Balboa, Polk among them.  Interestingly, the box would be affixed to the top of a bus and the strip would rotate and shuffle through, illuminated from behind, indicating the streets the bus was bound for.  A multitude of other eye candies are also spread across this wall.

To celebrate his Disney side, there is an entire wall with a wall unit that has a Mickey Mouse television, several VHS cassettes, and he can stream movies and music as well, creating a lovely escape from reality.  Isn’t that the point of a garage?  Mike has also included a few beer neons in the mix, signs mostly from the 1970s and ’80s.  Above and around, awards and plaques and plates from various events abound, reminding him of shows he’s attended and enjoyed and often won.

Perhaps most interesting is that Mike has taken the care to assemble seating areas in the garage as well, three corners worth, the fourth corner being dedicated to the garage door. One corner is adjacent the Mickey wall unit, the next is in a library – literally, a set of cubbies set up to hold his various books and magazines, or at least a portion of them. Another seating area is amid a beautiful diorama and other elements creating spectacular visuals.  But no matter where anyone sits, their view is fantastic, as it’s in the corner looking out upon the garage, a sea of Morgans and a cacophony of history.

He’s finished the garage in bright white and installed a number of track lights to illuminate the space, interestingly keeping them up high and pointed across instead of down, so as not to blind people as they look at pieces.  The white is hugely reflective and makes the space seem larger than it is, which helps, because it’s not exactly a huge space – but it’s just right.  Mike has hosted a number of clubs with large gatherings of people, and it works very well.  The floor is finished in a grey epoxy with black and white speckles, furthering the light-colored motif, and it works exceedingly well too.  Secure, the building is again attached to the back of a hair salon.  There are no windows, one human door and one roll-up overhead door – seeing it from the outside, it simply looks like an extension of the hair salon.  No one would be the wiser.  And, if that’s not enough, Mike’s business is telecommunications, meaning it’s well wired with security and phone systems to alert Mike and the police in the event of any foul play.