An Eye for Detail
THE DRIVING FORCE
Car collecting standards are always shifting, but one thing remains constant: a meticulous appreciation for craftsmanship.
As American automakers were dreaming up the cars of the future—none more famous than Enzo Ferrari—were focused on the here and now.
Inspired by the new age of jet-powered airplanes, and motivated to build artfully shaped vehicles that drove as fast as they looked. The sumptuous curves born from those endeavors were the automotive epitome of an ideology that embraced the beauty of life—a mantra that, in Ferrari’s homeland, took root as la dolce vita. Simply put, the mid to late 1950s and early 1960s were golden, especially by the standards of today’s classic automobile enthusiasts.
Across the decades that have followed, the allure of these mid-century European speedsters, especially in their convertible forms, has never wavered. Adulation for that era’s Ferraris, BMWs, Maseratis, and Mercedes-Benzes has permeated classic car clubs for the better part of half a century, and even had an influence on Hollywood from time to time.
Making Way for A New Generation of Collectors
Cars from the 1980s, ’90s, and even the early 2000s that weren’t considered collectible in their time—or even forecast to become so—have gained collector status thanks to an affluent audience of car enthusiasts now in their 30s and 40s. The new vanguard is searching (and pining) for the cars they aspired to own when they were teenagers.
In some cases, a modern classic’s popularity surges because a manufacturer has reintroduced the same model after a multiyear absence but with less-than- stellar results. Regardless of personal taste, performance wins every time. There is a cinematic elegance to the feeling of an empty road ahead, from the seat of a powerful machine you have the power to control.
Welcome to the age of showroom-style garages, designed to be as striking as the machinery they feature.
Only a decade ago, the “in” look for dream garages involved neon signage, antique advertising paraphernalia, and other automotive memorabilia. Today dream garages adhere to a less-is- more philosophy. “The way clients speak about what they want in their homes post-pandemic is much more personal,” says Lindsay Cullum-Colwell, Managing Principal and Creative Director at Cullum Homes. “It’s less about seeing something on the cover of a magazine or what their friends have in their homes. It’s much more about how they want to live and entertain. The car bar is a way to create a living experience that’s unique to a homeowner who enjoys car collecting.”
A glass-walled car showroom at this residence in Pacific Palisades. (Photo: Roger Davies/Abramson Architects/Otto)
Beadboard walls and brick floors add character to this garage designed by Patrick Ahearn. (Photo: Bob O’Connor)
The Collywood House overlooks the Sunset Strip, blurring boundaries between indoors and out. (Courtesy of Olson Kundig)
“Our clients who collect art live with their art every day. Now the car is becoming more of an art object that you want to appreciate for itself.”
Principal/Owner | AIA, LEED AP at Olson Kundig
