The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
A DREAM HOME FOR DREAM CARS
Construction begins on largest classic vehicle garage in Fairfield County
DANBURY — Where a mulch business once operated adjacent to Danbury Municipal Airport, blasting and excavation work is underway for North American Motor Car’s planned storage and restoration facility for classic and luxury vehicles.
The facility will store more than 260 cars in a climate-controlled facility, with an auxiliary building for restoration work. North American Motor Car plans to charge about $400 a month to store a vehicle.
In addition to storage, North American Motor Car services include restoration and upholstery repair, maintenance and repairs, professional detailing and other services including advice for those looking to scout potential purchases at auctions and car shows. Information is online at northamericanmotorcar.com.
Speaking Thursday at a ceremony attended by Mayor Mark Boughton, North American Motor Car CEO Chris Bishop said the facility will be the largest of its kind in Fairfield County, with the next nearest being Hagerty Garage & Social, founded in 2005 as Collectors Car Garage in Bedford Hills, N.Y.
“People have choices — particularly in this economy — about where to invest their money,”
Boughton said. “These guys could choose anywhere, and they chose Danbury.”
Located at 32 Miry Brook Road just off Route 7, North American Motor Car will total 50,000 square feet of space, with lifts to maximize storage space. It is the second new, luxury car facility on Miry Brook Road, with Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus having acquired in 2018 the onetime Macton locomotive turnstile manufacturing facility to build custom sports cars.
Newtown-based Claris Construction is the general contractor, with the facility expected to be completed in the autumn of 2021.
North American Motor Car had several models on display Thursday, including a 1969 Dodge Daytona with its original engine that was one of little more than 500 made for that model year. Less than 100 are known to be in existence.
“The classic car and exotic car community, as a whole, is very large ... and in this area there’s a need for this facility,” said Andy Hill, chief operating officer of North American Motor Car. “Whatever your car collection — be it one car, or 20 cars or even 50 cars — we’ll be able to handle that.”
Staff writer Julia Perkins contributed to this report. alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman