I was born and raised in Southern California, and that ‘s the excuse I provide for my love of cars, that and the fact that my father retired from Chrysler. California is a state full of freeways and highways and our weather permits driving almost everywhere year round.

When I was growing up I was able to identify most car makes and models, and I would say that hasn’t changed too much, although I find so many automobile manufacturers copy each other, so it can be tricky to distinguish a Toyota Camry from a host of import and American like-sized models.

So, when a co-worker drove his beautifully restored 1947 Dodge pick-up truck into our lot, I confess, I was excited to see it up close.  I was offered a spin around the block and the charm of this vehicle didn’t disappoint.  Cars can reflect the simpler times perceived to have been, back in the day.

I’ve never been to my coworkers home but this truck would look great in a garage like this, right?  Love the red door of this pretty home.

{source}

To tie my love of cars with my love of homes I’m providing you with some images of vintage cars and the garages they might be kept in.  This might be a bit of a stretch but I do love the pictures of these vintage cars.

The Volkswagen ‘bug’ was my first, second and third car.  I won’t go into the details of why I had so many but let me just say, it wasn’t for lack of longevity on the automobile’s part.

Assuming I could choose, this would be my garage…attached to a darling Carmel cottage.

{source}

or this one…

{5th and State}

[my apologies to Debra at 5th and State for not being able to link to the exact post when these great garages were published, I was unable to find it.  If you’ve never been to 5th and State you will enjoy the search if you’d like to see more]

{5th and State}

The car below is so darn cute.  I have a friend that recently purchased one of these.  I’ve got to remember to ask for a spin around the block.

{Google: Morris Minor, images}

Doesn’t this cottage garage look like it would house the Morris Minor?

{Pinterest}

When I was growing up this was my dream car.  I didn’t want to go fast, I just loved the design of the vehicle.  In fact I used to say if they could install a Volkswagen engine in one, I’d be ecstatic and maybe it would be affordable.

{the Steward}

I imagine someone that has maintained a Porsche like this would live in something like this…

{Home Bunch}

or this…

{source}

I’ve never been a huge Jaguar fan, primarily because I had always heard horror stories of their lack of reliability engine wise.  Reliability is critical to me when driving.  That said, this XKE is tempting, right?

{the Steward}

This home would do nicely for a car with such distinguished roots, don’t you think?

{my friend’s home}

or this fabulous home in Santa Barbara.

{Penelope Bianchi, Santa Barbara}

I’ve never really cared for the styling of the Lincoln, but I think this one, in this photograph, looks great.

{the Steward}

This vintage garage door seems fitting for a Lincoln.

{saved by the Southern Belle}

A classic woody seems to belong in Southern California, the ideal spot for a surfer car like this.

{SoCalBeaches.com}

Even though the garage doors below are from a company out of Houston, the exterior of this home looks very California style to me.

{Houston Garage Doors}

I don’t even know what kind of car this is but it’s seriously cool, don’t you think?

{Mya Creative.com}

So my guess is that a car aficionado that owns this car would want a detached garage for this baby.

{source}

…and maybe they’d ride a bike when they didn’t want to risk driving on crowded California streets, complete with drivers that text and talk on their phones!  Yikes.

{source}

Thank you for indulging me.  It would have been my father’s 82nd birthday this week, cars just naturally on my mind.