To follow on from the last post about his MX5, I thought it was only fitting to continue with another creation from the hands of Bruce. But this time it’s not a car, it’s a place where car guys come together and work on their projects as a community, forging bonds that are thicker than oil and stronger than steel. I present to you, Area 52.

This garage feature differs slightly from the others, as it doesn’t involve the actual build of the garage itself, but the automotive activities that happen within the walls and the new toys (hoist, anyone?) and tools that slowly trickle in. The site was transformed from your run-of-the-mill factory space to a character-filled hideaway where friends spend days and nights wrenching on their cars, helping each other out, and learning new skills. The monthly “play weekends” have an open door policy and go from Friday afternoon all the way until Sunday, with members traveling from all over Europe to be a part of the action. All of this is solely funded by Bruce for his love of cars and the community that comes with it.

The world would be a better place if there was an Area 52 in every town.

CLICK HERE to read about Area 52 in full, and see all the action that goes on inside.

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UPDATE: A new build thread link has been added to the bottom of the post.

It’s been waaay too long since the last garage build, so to bring it back I thought we’d change it up from the previous features which were based on private dwellings, and showcase a garage built for commercial use. After completing a magazine worthy EK coupe, Mike from Tennessee turned his hobby into a business by starting up his own workshop. Instead of renting out a dingy little factory somewhere with a blocked toilet and faulty electrics, he decided to build his own damn shop from the ground up.

I bring you, Track.One…

CLICK HERE for the original build thread on NWP4LIFE.

CLICK HERE for the new build thread on Garage Journal.

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Here is my second and final guest-post for Speedhunters in 2011. You can read the actual story by clicking here. As usual, I like to post it on my own blog as well for archiving.

There are some teaser shots of new upcoming builds to be featured in 2011, so make sure you stay tuned for those, regular programming will commence soon. I apologise for the lack of content but the guest-posts take a decent amount of time to put together.

While discussing possible ideas for my 2011 contributions to Build Month, Charles proposed that I could piece together a post highlighting the ‘Best Builds of 2010′, so I’ve been digging through my archives and statistics to find which builds drew the most attention in the year just past. I’ve also included a few teasers of some upcoming content for 2011 as a little treat that you’ll find after the jump. On with the show…

First up we have the hybrid creation known as the Volksrod (or Lexibug) , which earns it’s moniker from the combination of a hot-rodded Volkswagen Beetle receiving it’s driving force from a Lexus V8 powerplant.

The project started out with a regular Beetle shell in a very bare state, but condition wasn’t an important factor since some serious cutting was soon to be in order to give it that hot rod look.

A custom RHS chassis was built from scratch for the shell to sit on, with raised sections at the each end to get the body sitting nice and low, just the way we like it.

Back to the shell, it was time for the modifications to begin, with the main focal points being the severely chopped roof and lack of any metalwork forward of the A-pillars. Notice all the metal rods tacked inside the shell, this provides bracing and ensures the body doesn’t tweak when the roof is temporarily removed.

With the body sitting atop the chassis and some fat wheels bolted on, the vision of the project starts to take shape. The icing on the cake is the rare oval rear window section that was grafted on.

If you prefer fabrication to body mods, then check out these elaborate mounts that were conjured up to mount the body to the chassis. There are many more trick mods like this in the full build thread, so click here to read up on it.

Another popular build from 2010 was also a mix-&-match project, Bob’s MX520, a Datsun 520 pickup with an NA MX5 engine/gearbox/suspension package swapped in. Starting with a stock 520, the driveline was removed to make room for the Mazda replacements.

Instead of simply making some custom engine mounts to hold the new engine in place, the whole front crossmember was modified to fit under the Datsun, including the struts, suspension arms and hubs. Parts of the Mazda firewall and floorpan were even welded in.

It’s a similar story for the back end, where more custom work was undertaken to house the complete rear crossmember from the donor Miata.

After a lot of measuring, cutting, and welding, you end up with a Datsun 520 with an MX5 engine, gearbox, diff, steering and suspension.

With everything bolted in and wired up, the MX520 was ready to hit the track and surprise many unsuspecting people.

Once the car proved itself mechanically, it was taken back off the road to receive a fresh lick of paint, giving the outside a finish to match the awesomeness of what’s hiding underneath. To read the complete story of how this pickup was built (and see some burnout videos!), click here.

This next build earned it’s spot on the radar due to it’s peculiar engine swap. The last few years have seen a massive surge in Chevrolet V8s being swapped into many different platforms, one of those being Mazda RX7s, so to see someone doing the exact opposite caught a lot of peoples attention.

That’s right, a Chevy Nova was the recipient of the Mazda 13B turbo rotary engine you see above. Even if you don’t agree with the swap, you have to love the irony and individuality.

Even though the small size of the 13B might make things seem easy in the engine bay, there’s still plenty of custom one-off work that needs doing, such as engine mounts, intake plumbing, intercooler placement, oil pan, exhaust manifold and countless other items.

The above image highlights two key elements of the car, one being the striking Lotus Exige orange hue, and the other being the extreme lengths the owner went to lighten the car, the aim being 2700lbs.

How do you like them welds?

One thing I’ve come to notice about peoples reactions to various projects is that if the build follows a well trodden path, you hear complaints about it being like every other car. Or, if it’s something out of the ordinary they might question the builders motives and say “Why didn’t they just buy X-car in the first place?”. Personally I think unorthodox projects like these are awesome, we need more people out there willing to do something completely different, regardless of the outcome, just for the sake of building something that no one else has. If you share my views then you should click here to read about this one-of-a-kind Nova in full detail.

The most popular build of 2010, by a long shot, wasn’t even a car, it was a garage, and there’s a pretty good chance you’re already familiar with it. Once the Garage Condo was featured, the hits just kept piling up, and news of the project spread like wild fire. You can understand why, since a decked out space like this is probably every car lovers dream dwelling.

Like any building, things had to start off with a plan. Keen eyes will notice the upper level blueprint to the right of the image.

From plan to reality, you can see the internal structure starting to take shape, with plenty of insulation stuffed into the walls for those cold winter months.

With some plaster on the walls, the overall look, feel and scale of the garage started to come together. The area under the mezzanine is where the tool cabinets will call home.

What kind of ultimate man cave would be complete without a gaming rig? The warm flooring on the upper level gives off a homely feel, a stark contrast to the utilitarian concrete in the working area downstairs.

The completed garage is nothing short of amazing, and with the owner building a Factory Five Cobra in there, you can take solace knowing it’s being put to good use. To get the full lowdown on the build of both the garage and the Cobra, click click here.

So now that we’re up to speed, who’s interested in what’s coming this year?…

You’ll find these projects, and many more, on Build-Threads throughout 2011. Many thanks again go out to the Speedhunters team for allowing me the privilege of guest-posting for the second year in a row.

Keep wrenching!

Anthony Crivelli
Build-Threads.com

Time to get into another garage post. This garage caught my eye over a year ago when I was browsing The Garage Journal looking for big and expensive garages to feature. Instead, I found this gem, a garage that I would love to call my own and can realistically aspire to. Sure, it’s great to fantasize about the multi-million dollar dwellings that we’ve all seen online and imagine ourselves filling them with many exotica, but unfortunately for most of us, it is just that, a fantasy. The other characteristic I dislike about the ‘mega garages’ is that they appear clinical, sterile, and they lack a real ‘working’ vibe.

From the moment I first saw Jack’s garage it just resonated with me and the images were instantly burnt into my memory. The nostalgic look and feel, the unusual yet perfect choice of colours, the heavy cabinets, thick bench tops, even the vines growing over the outside wall above the door, it just ‘works’ and creates a wonderful garage atmosphere that can’t be achieved from simply ticking boxes in a catalogue. The other great thing about it is that the build was done on a budget, with many second-hand parts being used, combined with a lot of hard work by the owner.

When I get my own place and start looking for inspiration for my own garage, you can bet that the first place I’ll be visiting is Jack’s thread. Keep your eyes peeled for a future feature on the car that calls this garage it’s home. See below for more pictures + a link of the ’12 Guage Garage’ as it is dearly known.

Full thread: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55006

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I’m sure most of you remember the Garage Condo I posted 2 months ago, especially considering the amount of sites that linked to it including one of my favourites, Jalopnik. Well it looks like it now has a project car lucky enough to grace the freshly sealed floorspace. A Factory Five Cobra kit car has just been delivered to the lucky owner…life just can’t get any better for some, living the dream to the fullest.

Head back to the build thread here, the ride arrives at page 18.

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I know there hasn’t been many posts lately and I do apologise for that, especially for you guys that check the site every day. If it was up to me I’d do this full time and post up stuff for you guys daily. Believe me when I say I have 3 very impressive builds to show you this month, but you’ll just have to be patient. These builds are some of the best I have been waiting-on to feature, so you won’t be disappointed.

But for now, I’d like to show you something that everybody loves, a garage build. One bit of consistent feedback that I get from readers is that they want to see more garage builds, so here’s one that’ll make your eyes pop.

This isn’t your ordinary garage, nor is it built in your ordinary garage location (next to your house). This particular “car hole” as Moe Syzlack would call it, is built in the AutoMotorplex in Minneapolis. “Whats that?” I hear you say. Well it’s a large estate where gear-heads can build their massive dream garages collectively, creating a community of epic car dwellings. Think of it as a small city where instead of buildings, you have garages. Sound like heaven to you? Yeah, me too!

Just wait ’till you see this example, complete will a second-level chill area. I’ll stop blabbering so you can see for yourself and get the same serious case of green-eye syndrome that I just contracted.

The site:

I’m guessing you’ll want to read the full thread for yourself, so head to
http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/garage-forum/190631-project-garage-condo.html for the whole story.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a garage build, so here’s one that is a bit more realistic for the majority of us. Dan emailed me his photo-documented garage build not long ago, and you can tell he’s proud as punch of the outcome, and wouldn’t he be? Every car nut dreams of having their own space to work on their project(s), and Dan has achieved that with a house-quality multiple car dwelling located at the rear of his block for maximum privacy. It’s just begging for a ground-up rebuild to take place inside.

Go to http://www.mx5nutz.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=25889 for the full build thread.

How’s this for a decadent garage? I found this while browsing The Real JDM, click the picture to read Ben’s story on this outrageous supercar dwelling.

You have to admit, our well-off buddies in the middle-east sure know how to spend their coin.

Jay Leno is a car guy to the bone, and he has done what most of us would do if we were on a Hollywood salary, he built a huge garage and filled it with the worlds coolest cars, motorbikes, planes, and anything with an engine. Not only is he a walking encyclopedia of cars and automotive history, but he also isn’t afraid to roll up his sleeves and get dirty to fix one of his prized possessions. To help him maintain his collection, Jay employs a full time staff at the garage.

The Big Dog Garage has everything from classics, concept cars, one-off custom creations, steam engined cars, a jet powered motorbike, drag cars, all the way down to the EcoJet, an environmentally friendly super car collaboratively built by Jay and GM which started its life as a sketch on a napkin. An awesome build by the Big Dog staff was the Oldsmobile Toronado which was converted from front wheel drive to rear wheel drive by dropping the body over a modified chassis made from 2 Corvettes, while being powered by a 1,070hp twin turbo V8. Link after the jump.

The website for Big Dog Garage is packed full of photos & videos, so be sure to check it out.
http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/

The term “baller” gets thrown around a lot, usually to describe a cheap 2nd hand thrashed Japanese import semi-luxury sedan with some negative offset wheels and a low-slung bodykit.

That aint baller…

This is baller…

Be inspired:
http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/garage-forum/133080-my-garage-like-no-other.html

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