The Hangar House
Story: Chris Runge
Photos: Ian Kosiek & Chris Runge

In the life of a car guy some things seem to come along by chance, some  you work for and sometimes you come to a fork in the road and there are decisions to be made.

Saturday, March 12th 2011 During my trip to the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, in an already full schedule of car events I received an informal invitation to stop by a “Get Together” of sorts. Decision time. My aching-tired feet, sunburned arms and mostly beer filled stomach told me to find some food and call it a day.  But thanks to the powers at large and my addiction to fast things on wheels there was no option but to go check this out.

Making our way into a backwoods area of North Florida I seriously had some questions on where my buddy Dave, who officially received the unofficial invitation, was taking me. I saw some beat up old buildings and as we rounded a turn, what appeared to be a runway. Okay, I thought “Fast things on Wheels and a Runway, it is Saturday afternoon… what’s the worst that could happen?”

In what seemed like an eternity we made our way down the dead end road to finally catch a glimpse of a large airplane hangar, doors open, what appeared to be a city street landscape with colorful cars INSIDE and a long drive leading up to it with classic and exotic cars parked along path. Our night had just become very interesting.

As we strolled up the driveway we where met by a woman who nicely asked our names and who we were there to see? Gripping my Cameras tightly, (wondering if they allowed cameras) I tried to think of a name… I really had no idea who we were officially there for but luckily, Dave knew the name of a guy, who knew a guy that knew someone there and voila! They said come on in!

Bill Amos, the owner of the Hangar House makes you feel right at home here. He, his son Trip and longtime family friend Dennis welcomed us in and gave us a quick tour that Saturday night. The Hangar is one of the most amazing garages (if you can call it that) I’ve ever seen and Bill, being a fan of The Motoring Journal, invited us to come back when there wasn’t a crowd and spend some time playing cars. That sounded great to me! But the night wasn’t over yet.

Carrera GT by Porsche

We caught some great moments on film as the sun set behind the trees before heading for home that night. Dave and I both agreed that our time spent at the The Ritz Carlton and wrapping up the evening with our new friends and a few old ones at The Hangar House, This would be a day no car guy would soon forget.

Ferrari 400i- one of only a handful with factory Manual Transmission

Maserati Ghibli Convertible

Bill and I scheduled a nice sunny morning for our official Hangar House Tour. I brought along Ian Kosiek to work his camera skills. We were armed and ready to bring you, gentle reader, exclusive documentation of the Hangar House.

Ian had never been to Bills hideout before and wondered if, after hearing my enthusiastic description, this place could be real. Once again we drove up toward the Hangar jaws dropped as the Hangar door slowly opened.

Awaiting our return, Bill had the cars polished and keys handy. Bill is a huge fan of Griots Garage and it shows in the beauty of his cars finish both inside and out.

Bill admits the design of the Hangar “Was something I could never dream up, this took quite an imagination”. The previous owners had the interior of the Hangar built out to look like Main Street Disney World. On the ground level the main street building theme has what appear to be 1950′s style store fronts. Each of these serves a purpose. There is a Tiki Bar, Library, Barber Shop, A Barn, Bait and Tackle Store, Army Recruiting center, the most popular of all is a Movie Theater and even a 1950s Diner which is the kitchen for a full residential dwelling that lies in the upper level.

This 1950′s style diner is the place to be when you’re feeling hungry, complete with Jukebox.

The most popular room in the house is the Amos Cinema. Bill has a collection of wonderful Auto DVD’s that look great on this screen.

Bills favorite room is the “Porsche Room”. Much dedication to Brumos Porsche has gone into the design here. The slot car track gets a lot of use as well!

Bill enjoys playing with some of the toys as well. This radio controlled vacuum car drives just about anywhere! Why can’t real cars do that?

The upper level includes two bed rooms, a bath and this Game Room overlooking the cars. Here Bill and I discuss who really just won our game of 9 Ball.

Small details like this night-lite show just how enthusiastic Bill is about cars.

The upper level also has great balcony views. Looking down at the Ferrari’s and Porsche’s almost makes you feel like you’re playing Hotwheels again.

The Barn serves as storage on the main level but rumor has it, the upstairs is the ultimate hideout for Bills Grandchildren.

The street lights and curbs around the exterior of the storefronts give this a real old time city  feel. The street has enough room for one colorful, fast and rather valuable traffic jam, which are all Bills personal collection of cars.

Bill doesn’t just look at these beauties though. Remember the Runway I mentioned earlier? Well it’s not just for air travelers.  Bill drives his entire collection once a week. He has a mapped route around the area for a warm-up with a final run and cool down at the airstrip.

Porsche 930 FlachBau Turbo. Formerly owned by Bob Snodgrass.

Ferrari 355 making wonderful music as it rips down the Airstrip.

Bill loves the sound of this Cobra 427 Replica. One of around a dozen replicas built by a company out of Wisconsin.

Retired, Bill is thoroughly enjoying his hard work and success in life. I found it interesting that Bill, Being a lifetime car enthusiast didn’t begin collecting cars until around 2007. After missing out on a car he was bidding on at an auction he decided to stop in to Brumos Porsche where he saw 1 of 1 Mexico Blue colored Cayman S. The only Mexico Blue Cayman ever built. The Brumos Design Group special orders and builds a car each year and this was the 2007 car. Bill bought it and this is where his collection began.

Since he has acquired several more cars, each having a unique story. And now he’s filled the Hangar up. I’m hoping his plans to build another Hangar next door come to fruition because that can only mean one thing… More cars!

The Ferrari 360 Modena was one of my favorites. It features the F1 paddle shift transmission which I wasn’t too sure about at first but after a couple runs with Bill down the Airstrip it made me a believer.

Bill purchased the Modena after making a trip to Atlanta where, similar to the Cayman story, he missed out on the purchase of another car. He had to find something to drive back to Florida. I guess the 360 Modena will do!

Bills latest addition to the collection was just purchased at Amelia Islands Auction. The Austin Healey 3000 is a gorgeous little car. It runs and drives beautifully too. Bill mentioned this was the car he lusted after in his youth. It’s nice to see him enjoying one now.

Our time spent with Bill will definitely go down as one of the funnest days yet for The Motoring Journal. Bill assured us the collection will be growing and revolving so we’ll be sure to keep our readers up to date with the latest cars coming through his Hangar.

The Motoring Journal will also have a fully edited video made of the Hangar House, available on Youtube mid June, 2011.

We leave you with a few more angles on Bills Collection and please share your comments with us below!

Thanks for visiting The Motoring Journal and as always,

Happy Motoring~

Tags | Exotic Car Collection, Ferrari Collector, Hangar House, Rare Porsche, Supercar Runway