NZV8 — February 2018

(^134) themotorhood.com
As dirty as Michael’s often-driven cars may get,
though, the same can’t be said of the garage
space, which still possesses that unmistakeable
new-house smell. The diner, which occupies a
good quarter of the garage’s floor space, was
planned from the beginning.
“It was something we both wanted,” explains
Michael, “and the set-up was made as the house
was being built, at the same time as the kitchen
and laundry.”
The diner-style seats were bought from a local
retailer, and the period-style Coca-Cola fridge
was a lucky find on Trade Me. Likewise, all the
automotive and retro-themed memorabilia
throughout the joint is reasonably fresh and
acquired to populate the space that Michael knew
would soon be a home to all of his toys.
“It all stacked up over the three-year concept and
build of the house,” Michael says. “I was actually
able to store it all not far away in a room of our
main office and just kept adding to the collection
as I could. By the time we moved in here, I had a
bit more than I realized!”
The best story here is that of good old-fashioned
Kiwi hard yakka, because Michael has had to
work extra hard for what he has. When the global
financial crisis hit, he was badly affected.
“I had a ’69 Mustang Mach 1, fully restored, and a
’97 [Holden] Senator. I had to get rid of them, one
after the other, and then the house,” he recalls. “I
had to start from scratch, working seven days a
week, to get it all back.”
Michael still works seven days a week, and, while
he might not have the biggest collection out there,
he’s satisfied knowing that everything he has is
the result of his intense work ethic. After all, good
things come to those who work for them.