I’ve always been a gearhead and always will be. My mother said it started when I was just a toddler. She found out early on that one Hot Wheels car could keep me occupied for an entire grocery store trip, a small price to pay to keep those little hands occupied. Needless to say, I had quite the Hot Wheels collection. As time went on my love for automobiles only grew. My grandfather would give me a stack of Road & Track Magazines every time I visited him. I would read them front to back and spend a religious amount of time memorizing vehicle horsepower figures & 0-60mph times. I was a little encyclopedia of modern sports car data, it was a bit freaky, to be honest. As the years went on the automotive tick only grew. In the late ’90s, my brother and I negotiated a deal with my Dad to clean the garage, in exchange for our effort he would purchase us a PlayStation. We had recently moved & things were a disaster in the new 2-car garage. For the next few hours, it was just asses & elbows in that garage until it was showroom clean! I remember my Dad’s surprised look when we came stumbling into the house a few hours later in a hot hurry to get over to Circuit City before they closed. The old man kept his word, piled us into the truck, drove to Circuit City, threw down on a PS1 & wouldn’t you know Gran Turismo was the complimentary game that was part of the startup box. Now I could spend days writing about Gran Turismo but to keep this introduction on track let’s just say we played it so much we had blistered thumbs that eventually turned into callouses.
While my teenage years progressed and I approached driving age my automotive obsession strengthened. I had multiple automobile magazine subscriptions. I had the best of the best sports cars cut out and hung on my wall, all with dreams of driving one day. To add some more fuel to the tank when I was 14 my dad took me to Jim Hall Kart Racing School in Venture California. He wanted me to see what driving was really about. I had driven many a go-kart prior but these were different, these karts were designed for racing! After some classroom time, we went out on the track and started applying the knowledge in real-time. I knew conceptually most of the techniques from playing countless hours of Gran Turismo but to feel it was exhilarating, I was hooked. Shortly after that, my Dad took my brother & me to the Long Beach Grand Prix. Holly Smokes, now I was properly obsessed with the idea of driving. Well, that day finally arrived along with my first car donated to me by my Grandfather, remember him, Mr. Road & Track. It wasn’t anything special, a 1983 Audi 4000 with a stick shift, but to me, it was freedom & now I was a proper petrol head.
Now fast forward a couple of decades, a handful of automobiles, motorcycles, tools, some wins, and some losses I bring you That 10mm Garage. Conceptually That 10mm Garage has always been around, it’s that garage where you and your buddies hang out. It’s where the tire smoke, busted knuckles, loud exhaust, and jokes take place. It’s where I’ve been striving to be since my mom got me started on my Hot wheels collection. It isn’t anything fancy, it’s out back behind my house, built sometime in the ’60s, the roof leaks a little, it’s not insulated, the shelving is cobbled together, the concrete floor isn’t perfect, the garage door is funky and I’ve got way too much stuff crammed into the space. But here at That 10mm Garage, we dream big, we work hard, and most of all we have fun doing it. We are here to take you on our Motorsports adventure so enjoy the blog, the pictures, the tools, the wins/losses, and the videos to come!