A popular pastime among car enthusiasts, both in conversation and mentally during idle moments, is to ponder the dream garage. More specifically, which cars will occupy it, should money not be a concern. Less commonly pondered is the garage itself and how big or small it should be.
Like many, I enjoy the Jay Leno’s Garage videos on YouTube. Freed of having to feign interest in Keanu Reeves’ latest action flick or some washed-up politician’s ‘tell-all’ book but not of the money that that sort of thing used to pay, Leno can spend plenty of time with his collection. To many, it probably looks like the dream: an enormous hangar in California with a couple hundred cars from all eras.
But I’m not sure it is. Don’t get me wrong: I wouldn’t turn down a similar arrangement if it came my way. But even with full-time staff to look after the fleet, having more cars than days in the year seems impractical to me. Just trying to drive every car at least once a year would be a near-impossible mission.
Maybe 10 is the magic number? I’ve not tried it, but that still seems like a lot. The hangar required to house all that metal still needs to be pretty sizeable, and you have to keep up with 10 insurance policies, 10 MOTs, 10 road tax reminders and 10 services, never mind the more specialist attention that old bangers tend to demand. The thought alone makes me want to lease a Suzuki Swift.
I suspect the sweet spot is three. I’m currently on two: a Mini Cooper S from 2005 and a BMW 325i from 1990. One is a year-round do-it-all car, the other a slightly more interesting do-it-all car, but which is limited to three seasons, because it’s liable to turning to brown dust. They cover a lot of bases and the admin is somewhat manageable.
I’ve had the BMW a year, and I've already done nearly as many miles as the previous owner managed in six. Thanks to him and the owner before, who didn’t drive it at all for 10 years, I had the opportunity to buy a nice, low-mileage car. But I do wonder how cars end up sitting like that. Perhaps the ‘mistake’ is keeping special cars for special occasions.
