The Garage 26 Collection is a 300 page coffee-table book that takes an in-depth look at the collection of the same name based in Coral Gables, FL. The project was completed in July of 2019 after nearly 6 months of work and will be published in December with an extremely limited run of 500 copies.
The collection is one of the most well-curated Ferrari and Porsche ensembles in the United States – and indeed the World. It is comprised of the most sought-after models in each company’s history with many of them being some of the lowest mileage cars in existence.
All the vehicles are displayed in a private facility that looks more like a museum than a garage. The entire space is covered in white marble floors and each car-condo is accented with carbon fiber walls and shelves, as well as fully retractable glass doors. The entrance to the facility is adorned with a genuine bank-vault door from the mid 1900s. It is pretty surreal.
The first time I saw the Garage 26 collection my jaw hit the floor as the elevator doors opened to reveal the line-up. It was an immediate feeling of disbelief seeing all the cars grouped together as they were. Ferrari in one wing, Porsche in the other. As if the cars were not enough, the collection also contains some amazing pieces of art and memorabilia.
As I perused my way through each car and took every detail in, I knew I had to shoot this collection beyond simple phone snaps. Over the next few visits I got to know the owners really well and pitched them the idea of shooting the entire collection to be featured on a blog on this site. However, after many conversations, what was supposed to be a couple days shoot for a blog ended up morphing into a weeks-long shoot that culminated in the publishing of this book.
Choosing which car to shoot first was perhaps the most difficult part of this project, but choosing a favorite was easier! For me, the greatest joy was shooting the LaFerrari Aperta as well as the F50. However, getting up close and personal with a 288 GTO, an Enzo and the rest of the cars was just as amazing.
Shooting this collection was one of the greatest experiences of my career as an automotive photojournalist and I learned a lot about writing, editing and designing a publication. Moreover, the friendships I made, and all the things I learned about the cars, were invaluable.
The book may be available for purchase as an eBook in the future if there is enough interest. As with all the work I’ve done over the years, I wanted to make this book unique and setting a firm limit of 500 copies was the best way to secure its uniqueness and exclusivity.
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