How will it fit in my garage?
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| This is the downsized version? |
This aspect of car selection is becoming more important to me.
I would like my cars to be able to fit in my garage.
It might seem hard to believe, but this downsized Thunderbird is even longer than my Navigator. The proportions of the vehicles differ, look at all that hood, and the car is much lower than the blocky Nav. I tried to put my Nav in my garage, but the old fashioned tilt up door had a cross piece that was just a little too low. It was scraping the top of the luggage rack. On the other hand, my Flex will barely clear the door. But it will fit, giving me options.
The pictured garage has the access door on the side, maybe leading to a laundry room, but there certainly isn't much room to walk around behind the car.
My garage has the utilities along the back wall, so it is a bit deeper, and the outside door opens along this pathway.
One of the first things that a casual onlooker will comment on, while "admiring" your vintage vehicle is about it's size, unless that person is currently the owner of a big truck or SUV.
"Jeez! How can you drive that thing?" I suppose that this person has never noticed all the semi trucks rolling down the streets and highways of our Nation. It doesn't help to point out that a semi truck can and will drive down any street or alleyway in the Country.
Looking around you'll notice that the majority of sedans that you will see are of the compact type. Large sedans have been dropping out of favor for the last twenty years. Only to be replaced by large trucks and SUVs!
There are a few large cars around, but they are usually the higher priced models. Mercedes and BMW still produce their flagship vehicles, but many manufacturers don't even have a regular "full size" sedan in their line up. Ford now only makes one car, and that's the Mustang.
I'm sure that people have many reasons for choosing their little Hyundai or Honda, They might claim that they are easier to drive and park, or get better gas mileage, but another fact is that they are much cheaper to buy. Even Today, vehicle size does equate to increased status, all of those big SUVs and trucks are certainly quite expensive.
But that status doesn't translate to older models of cars and trucks. In fact the very fact of their size is held against them!
Sometimes it is seen as an embarrassment.
It's especially notable if you are a fan of 50's, '60's and '70's land yachts. These were the biggest cars that Detroit had ever produced. Most of these were never garaged, even when they were new. Few homes had a garage that could handle one of these behemoths.
I suppose that is one of the reasons for the popularity of vintage Mustangs. They are even smaller than the current model. They will easily fit into most garages with room to spare.
I would venture to guess that most Ford Expeditions, Chevy Suburbans, Cadillac Escalades or even Lincoln Navigators, don't sleep under a roof at night. Sometimes they will barely fit in the garage, but like in the opening photo, they don't leave much additional room to move around. Plus it can be tricky backing out of the garage, as opposed to the driveway.
My favorite cars, big luxury coupes and personal luxury cars, have another problem. Extremely long doors!
70's Camaros and Firebirds were very popular, but it was often difficult to exit your car in a crowded parking lot. If you were prevented from opening the door adequately, you had to squeeze out, some time snagging your clothes on the door trim or getting them dirty on the door latch. This was all much easier when I was much younger and thinner!
The long doors become quite noticeable when parked alongside another car inside your garage.
Contributing to the problem is the tendency to place storage shelves along the side walls of the garage. I originally built shelves that were above my head's height, and I could fully open the doors and walk under them. The sidewall shelves do restrict the opening of the doors, and make exit difficult. I put up with that, but I will move the car out of the garage before letting my Wife enter the car. There is no way to enter from the passenger side.
The garage is the best place to park a car. It keeps it out of the sun and rain, it prevents it being splattered by birds, and even keeps the dust off. And that's just in sunny California. Snow, and even worse hail, can batter a poor car, left exposed to the elements. That's how all of those Granny cars survived in great shape, driven infrequently and housed inside the garage.
If you can't put it in the garage, or under a carport, the only alternative is a good car cover. There are trade offs, but they do protect your car. Preservation is the best and least costly route. If a car is just something that you intend to trade off regularly, they can still look pretty good, even after ten years of casual protection.
I suppose that is why I came to the realization that I don't need to move out to the boonies so that I could afford some land where I could build a barn. The obvious answer was to use what I have, and just own less cars! Duh! Of course this is not a realization that I want to verbalize too often, or too loudly!
Newer cars are quite a bit smaller, my '06 Mustang is 188'' long. Most large sedans are down to around 200'' and big SUVs like my Navigator and Flex measure around 207'' in standard form. Add a foot for an "L" model.
That '77 Thunderbird pictured above, measures 215 inches, ten inches shorter than most of the largest cars of the 1960's, but it's definitely no compact!
Chances are good that I'll never buy another large vintage car. In the past, I managed to fit my '71 Buick Riviera and later my '56 Cadillac Sedan de Ville in my current garage. But it was a very tight fit.
However, it seems that there is another problem I have to deal with.
I'm discovering that with my current fleet, due my circumstances, it's something of a challenge keeping all of my cars in steady rotation.
I try to balance out my use of the cars. I like to run through a half a tank of fuel regularly to keep the gas fresh, as well as keep the battery up and the spinning parts lubricated.
But the fact remains that, I often find that my hobby cars just sit. Especially if I've got other things going on. Even as a retired guy I sometimes find that my life gets complicated and busy, so playing with the cars is put on the back burner.
I've been particularly busy as of late, with "house type" projects that had to be completed. It's been almost a month since I had any free time.
Yeah I know, First World Problems.
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