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Having just reread this thread, it makes me think how things have changed in our lifetimes and how what was once a luxury now is a necessity.
As a little boy, my family lived in the upstairs apartment of my grandfathers house in Jamaica, Queens. There was no garage, and my grandfather's car (the only one they had, grandma didn't drive), and my parent's car (the only one we had, my father took the subway to work) both stayed outside all year long.
A few years later, my folks bought new house in Brooklyn with an attached one car garage. It was attached, but there was no door leading from it to the house. Still, for the first time, the car could be kept in the garage, what a luxury. My family owned only one car. When we kids got older, our cars got parked on the street.
When Liz and I bought this house, it was already standing as it was built on speculation by the builder. It has a two car garage. For a short while we thought that was a great luxury. In the city we had to pay for parking, and had only one car. Here, in New Jersey, we had two cars, and a garage space for both. There is a doorway from my garage into the house, so once we pull in, we don't even have to go outside in the cold or wet.
After a time, I bought my S, and now for the two of us, we have three cars. Now, I wish we had bought the house before it was built so that we could have specified a three car garage.
Last year, my son Andrew got his car. Now we have four cars and two have to sit out in the cold and snow. I wish we had a four car garage. Especially in the winter when we have to scrape the ice off of the windshields and brush the snow off of the cars.
Things have changed, we've come real far. Looking back, it's amazing how our parents and grand parents did it.
I have a very tight garage for 2 cars, so to maximize the space near the front driver's doors where it's needed most, I back the S in at an angle, with the nose closer to the center of the garage. Virginija pulls her Accord straight in with the nose toward the back right corner:
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(fonts won't let me draw this too well - you get the picture, though)
There's way more space at the driver's side door (where it's needed most) than if we parked parallel. No risk at all of door dings, and the extra room near the entry/exit of the drivers side means that the risk of scratches is minimized.
We have 3 cars and one 2 car garage.
The only car in the garage is the S2000 - right in the middle so I can open the doors wide wthout hitting anything.
The other 2 cars stay in the street.
But:
a) This Australia so there is no snow etc.
b) The other 2 cars are 10 years old and together aren't worth half of what the S2000 is worth.
c) It would be a really tight squeeze with any 2 cars in the garage.
d) The drive is steep and my wife is not confident backing her car up such a steep drive so its easier for her in the street.
e) My son owns the other car - but he doesnt own the house
Originally Posted by DaveFromSydney,Aug 1 2005, 01:37 AM
e) My son owns the other car - but he doesnt own the house
That has to be one of the best deciding factors as to who gets the garage!
We used to have our son keep his car on the street, so we would not have to play "musical cars" every time we wanted to go out if he parked behind one of our cars in the driveway.
He was not happy, but as you say, "he owns the car, not the house."
Hang a rug or a piece of card board in the garage, between the two cars to prevent accidental bumps/nicks when opening the car doors. Then park your wife's car with the S2K in the garage.
She would be happy that her car is in the garage and she would not have to worry about accidentally bump/nick into the S2K.
Since you don't drive your S2K much, you could back it in the garage with the passenger door close to the wall. This way you have more room between the two cars.
We have a 27' by 40' garage that we added on, but the only vehicles we put in it are our 16 year-old boat and our motorcycles. We have both S2000s, Andy's truck, Kyle's truck, my van and the motorhome outside.
That's why we bought hardtops for the S2000s. Those are their private garages when the weather gets cold and wet.
Originally Posted by Slows2k,Jul 31 2005, 06:49 PM
I've done it, but it's not to practical to work around. i had to do this to get all the S's out of a Hurricane. As far as the wife goes, I'd put her car in the garage and your daily outside. Hopefully the complaining will stop after a few weeks.
The phrase "putting all your eggs in one basket" comes to mind.
07-31-2005, 07:56 PM
