Ideal 2-3 car garage setup

Had a nice visit from my friend Matt this weekend, which also involved some time cutting off a muffler, attempting to attach a stock (read: old and rusty) one, mounting an airbox for my motorcycle, and checking out some interior parts for his RX-7.

We chatted for a while about the more ideal nature of car ownership, and we seemed to have similar ideas about an ideal 2-3 car garage that would keep us both happy as enthusiasts and with a reliable ride to work.

We figured the ideal setup was this: A daily driven car that would remain as stock and reliable as possible, providing adequate fuel economy and utility. The second car would be the weekend warrior, for mountain roads/autocross/general throttle hammering. My ideal is very similar: A daily driver, a weekend warrior but with the addition of a race car(something very Grassroots like a Locost or a Challenge car) or even a motorcycle.

My friend owns an '02 Ford ZX2 that serves him well as a daily driver, plus a second-gen RX7 turbo that he loves to take on the backroads. I have a '98 Subaru Impreza that has proven to be bulletproof, and a motorcycle that is so impractical it's decided to stop running.

What do you guys think? My friend and I being as young as we are (21 and 22) we haven't had enough real-world experience to know if this is adequate, or even doable. What is your ideal 2-3 car garage?

That wont fit my 7 projects and 4 daily drivers

well,

i NEED my work trucks - i own a remodeling company so the 3 trucks are justified.

keeping that in mind i still can't do it.

if i absolutely had to just select any 3 off a list i'd need:

truck - gotta chase parts somehow. could double as a daily driver. really any truck will do but i'm partial to GM as i've logged 200K+ miles in 6 of them now and #7 is going to hit 100k here soon.

good all arounder - fast/handles. insert corvette here. or WRX - i really like them. or a 04-06 GTO.

last one would need to be a hot rod of some sort pre 1955. when you get that old i don't really care what it is, they're all freaking cool. as it is however i have 3 pre 55 hot rods/projects.

My garage contents:

'87 BMW 325i race car (still street legal)

'65 Ford F100 to tow it with (nice cruise night vehicle also)

'79 Austin Mini (for fun)

That pretty much covers all the needs. The wife drives a Forester which is used for dog hauling and the company gives me a vanilla POS which I pretty much ignore. I find that 3 garage queens plus one daily driver is enough servicing to keep me busy without getting out of control.

I'm looking into renting a house right now that has an 8 car garage with a lift.

I don't NEED it... but it sure would be awesome.

Ideal 3 car garage setup for me would be only "two" bays, but one of them a double deep so i can keep a long term project in the back.

OrangeRazor wrote: We figured the ideal setup was this: A daily driven car that would remain as stock and reliable as possible, providing adequate fuel economy and utility. The second car would be the weekend warrior, for mountain roads/autocross/general throttle hammering.

You left out the off road toy and a tow vehicle. Other than that, you got it about right.

Ideally, within the context of me being a married father of two:

Honda Odyssey.

Gen 1 Lightning, everyone needs a pick up.

Either my LandCruiser or an early Bronco or Series Land Rover.

Oh... we're talking about WHAT to put in the garage... my bad.

1) The beater. Whatever cheap $1500 or less car i have at the time to drive in winter, haul crap, and just generally not care about.

2) The toy. I guess right now the Celica qualifies as that.

3) The nicer daily driver. I'd REALLY like a Lexus SC400, thanks!

Our 3-car garage holds 4 and a bike.... so I guess I can justify it?

Daily Drivers for the wife and myself. She drives 66 miles per day IF she doens't make a side trip on the way home. I drive 45 miles per day.

Her Daily 2000 Hyundai Accent. Ton of miles, 38mpg with the 1.5 and 5spd and will run whatever speed you want as long as you're not in a hurry to get there. A little noisy, A/C will freeze you out in August. At 163k miles is a reliable as it was new.

My Daily Driver WAS my "toy" until last fall. 2002 Hyundai Elantra. 35mpg, comfy, quiet, good stereo, decent for shorter trips...103K miles, great car with another 100+k left in it.

Tow-pig/vacation rig for us and the dogs is out 2006 GMC 2wd CC. 4.8L, 3.23 rear end, base package. Bought in 2006 on the 0% APR for 60 months, 24mpg highway cruiser with room for us and out 2 dogs, hauls stuff for the house, and tows whatever you put behind it. Worse gas mileage was 17mpg towing the 1800LB swift home on a 1200lb trailer in the middle of a blizzard.

The Toy, 1994 Suzuki Swift GT prepped for Solo ST rules. still getting the kinks worked out of it.

The summer toy 1993 Honda CB750 Nightwawk. All fits in my 3 car garage, so that makes it legal right?

Wife mobile in one bay, winter driver in the next, Miata in # 3 beater autox Subaru (92 FWD Legacy sedan) in the enclosed trailer, tow vehicle parked in front of trailer Opps, that's 4 + Any way, it works

For me there would have to be: A truck, a daily driver, a racer/toy.

I don't have a garage now, but have a truck, a trailer, a samurai, two rear drive corollas, a camaro, a boat, a motorcycle, and some back 40 junkers. Whew! (they don't all run...)

I've been working on two boxes and one toy-

1) Turbo Miata for the toy / my DD
2) Honda Fit for my wife's DD
3) 1997 Subaru Outback for Rallycross beater / large object relocater / stunt vehicle.

Lately, I've been looking after the project WRX, so our Outback has been resting while it waits for some brake work. It works out well for us each to have a wagon-type vehicle (the Fit can haul nearly as much as the Outback) so either of us can pick up the kids or run errands. When / if the Outback is sold or desroyed, I'll replace it with a truck. A used Ridgeline might be the ticket once they get cheap.

If you want a lot of sports cars in your life, stay single. If you want lots of trucks and utility-focused rigs, go forth and win some fertility trophies.

My list.

96 Ford Ranger, bone stock daily driver good on gas.

79 Spitfire. Almost completed project, fun moutain car,

66 Chevy P/U that is the next project. After the body work is done it will get a mid 90's Chevy engine and auto trany plus disc brakes in front so I can shag parts and tow with it.

I was looking at project 911's yeserday to get ideas for a fun ocasional daily driver.

91 Miata - fun car/DD

87 Toyota truck - 4x4 toy/DD/stuff hauler

porksboy wrote: 66 Chevy P/U that is the next project. After the body work is done it will get a mid 90's Chevy engine and auto trany plus disc brakes in front so I can shag parts and tow with it.

My alltime favorite truck body style. I'd love to see what you're doing with it!

Clem

ClemSparks wrote:

porksboy wrote: 66 Chevy P/U that is the next project. After the body work is done it will get a mid 90's Chevy engine and auto trany plus disc brakes in front so I can shag parts and tow with it.

My alltime favorite truck body style. I'd love to see what you're doing with it! Clem

Im not doing anything radical or fancy. This is THE truck I drove 25 years ago in high school, it has been in storage for 20 of those Just rust eradication (not too bad just lower front fenders behind the wheels and the bottom of the doors) Then the sunroof will be removed and filled in, I already have a parts donor Then the engine transplant and away I go. By the way this truck had power steering and air conditioning from the factory If I can get a better computer and learn how I will post a thread with pics of a web site or whaterer you call it.

My current stable:

'99 Honda Civic EX 5/sp DD/Commuter - Gets 36mpg and has 157k on the odometer

'00 Subaru Outback Sport - Wife's DD/Commuter and grocery getter

'99 Dodge Durango - Tow vehicle and family truckster - Soon to be replaced with a 7.3L Turbo Diesel Ford Excursion

'94 Ford Ranger w/ 2wd, 4 cylinder & autotragic bought for $1500 with 78k miles on it - nasty, grimy and large parts hauler

That's where the "reasonable" part of my psychology ends...

'72 Datsun 240Z with Skyline RB26DETT driveline

'72 Datsun 240Z with '83 Maxima Diesel converted to veggie oil and turbo charged

'72 Datsun 240Z with L6 MSnS ITB (potential RB25DET transplant)

'72 Datsun 240Z SCCA ITS race car

'82 Nissan 280ZX w/ Triple Mikuni blow-through & inter-cooled turbo

'83 Nissan 280ZX Turbo AutoTragic donor vehicle

'83 Nissan 280ZX 24hrsOfLeMons competitor

At your age, what you really need is a good, efficient, reliable commuter and ONE cheap toy that is street legal so you don't need a trailer and tow vehicle to move it around.

DD - Maserati Quattroporte

Weekend Car - Ferrari 575M (M6 not F1)

Race Car - C6 Z06 w/cage and mods

"Low Buck" Version:

DD - Grand Prix GTP

Weekend Car - Turbo Miata

Race Car - V8 swap RX-7

In the Volvo household, I have:

DD '89 745 Turbo. Utility: it's a wagon, has a roof rack & tow hitch. Reliable: yep, gets ~20-25MPG. Fun: 16PSI and a 5spd are plenty entertaining.

Auto-X toy '83 240 sedan. It can still be street driven, but it's stripped, loud and raw. It serves as an emergency backup.

Wifemobile '93 940 sedan. The 'nice' car, quiet, comfy and as dependable as an anvil.

The hard part with this strategy is to stop fooling around with the reliable cars and concentrate on the toy!

ww wrote: At your age, what you really need is a good, efficient, reliable commuter and ONE cheap toy that is street legal so you don't need a trailer and tow vehicle to move it around.

I do agree with this, my friend is getting ready to graduate college in the spring, and I graduated less than two months ago (1/2 a year early!) So right now we're more worried about jobs and financial stability.

Although the bike can make a great toy, I think after I get it running again I may have to try and trade it up for a sporty rear-driver, I've already been on the lookout for Miatas, MR2s, RX7's and 240s...I'd love another AE86 but the stupid drifters have driven up prices so much they almost aren't worth it anymore.

That's one of the most mature responses I'd expect to see. In this economy, get a job first, save enough for AT LEAST THREE MONTHS living expenses (I keep a minimum of 6 to 12 months "in the bank" and, because I have no credit card debt to speak of, no car payments and an "affordable" mortgage, I currently have almost 3 YEARS of cushion) then go out and find a good, reliable AND cheap toy and DON'T dip into your "reserve" to buy the toy. Yes, I'm sorry to say, 1st generation Miata is a good answer here... ;)

I'd go:

-Subaru Forester XT Sport (fold up 4x8 HF trailer for utility) (shame they don't make the xt manual sport any more!)

-Eternal project Midget: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/reader-rides/273/

-1 rotater: any car that suits my whim and doesn't carry sentimental value like the above, i.e.: locost, Sonic7, Mini, MINI, Elan, Factory Five, Elise, etc

-3 motorcycles (hey, I can stash well): 72 Norton Commando 750, SV650, Sportster 883 (maybe make the SV or Sportster a rotater so I could try out a Duc, Moto Guzzi etc)

Oh, and I'd keep a Starduster II in the hangar. We all have dreams.

Oh man I DO want one of those Forester XT's...the '04s and '05s are now going for less than $10k if they've got some mileage on them. Of course by the time I can afford one they'll probably be even lower. Till then I'll stick with the Imprezerrr...

Good selection of bikes, though. If it were me, I'd keep the SV650 and the Sportster, but instead of the Norton I'd have a Royal Enfield or maybe even a Ural. Oh, and since I "need" a commuter bike, a 250 Nighthawk would be nice.

Okay, now I'm just getting carried away.

I was just online today looking to see if there were any '08's XT sports left over. I don't really know how to find them.

The new Foresters are a huge disappointment to me. No manual, not fast, more SUVish.

I also learned that the '04/'05's are essentially the STI block without the STI turbo or the ecu tuning. Seems like a simple ebay VF39 away from 300hp. The '05's also have variable valve timing.

If I'm not mistaken, the '07-'08's are also slower in stock form than their older brethren; C/D clocked the '04 XT at 13.8 in the quarter mile, the newer one at 14.2.

But yeah, VF39 would make it haul even more ass, and for the uber stealth factor you could put in a front mount intercooler (spray painted black perhaps?) then exchange the XT hood for a base model hood, take off the XT badges and BOOM! The most useful Q-car there ever was.

For handling you could just throw on all the good STi stuff. Springs, shocks, rear sway bar, even the steering rack. Oh, yes, I've thought about this before