Auto Storage Dilemma (Sarasota, Fort Myers, North Fort Myers: fit in, condominium, houses)

[SlackTrack71]

In the next several months my wife and I will be moving into my mother's house in North Fort Myers in Pine Lakes. My wife lost her job up here in Indiana so that is the catalyst for us to finally relocate. The plan is for my wife to come down in March with our Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy, move in and get settled. She is a recruiter by profession and will hopefully have a job with NurseSource in a few weeks. For me it will be more difficult. I will stay up here and sell off everything and then sell the house. Since we're moving into a fully furnished home I'll be bringing down mostly keepsakes, pictures, a few collectibles and books in a U haul behind my Ram. No big deal.

However, I am in possession of a 1971 Plymouth Road Runner which I have owned for almost 29 years. I do not think the car will fit in my mother's garage. So I am seeking to safely and securely store this car somewhere in the area where it won't cost me $140,000 for a Fortress or some other custom car condominium that I could never hope to afford.

I've looked at pretty much every mainstream storage facility ya'll have down there from Punta Gorde down to the airport. It is disheartening to say the very least. Is anyone aware of any place where I can store this vintage muscle car in an enclosed unit of at least 10 x 20 feet? Or should I just give up now and sell her before I move?

[punkyd]

seems like it shoud fit in a normal sized garage, as long as there is not a refirdge or something up against the far wall. Road runner not a huge car or anything. Measure it.

[Marc Middleton]

Originally Posted by SlackTrack71

In the next several months my wife and I will be moving into my mother's house in North Fort Myers in Pine Lakes. My wife lost her job up here in Indiana so that is the catalyst for us to finally relocate. The plan is for my wife to come down in March with our Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy, move in and get settled. She is a recruiter by profession and will hopefully have a job with NurseSource in a few weeks. For me it will be more difficult. I will stay up here and sell off everything and then sell the house. Since we're moving into a fully furnished home I'll be bringing down mostly keepsakes, pictures, a few collectibles and books in a U haul behind my Ram. No big deal.

However, I am in possession of a 1971 Plymouth Road Runner which I have owned for almost 29 years. I do not think the car will fit in my mother's garage. So I am seeking to safely and securely store this car somewhere in the area where it won't cost me $140,000 for a Fortress or some other custom car condominium that I could never hope to afford.

I've looked at pretty much every mainstream storage facility ya'll have down there from Punta Gorde down to the airport. It is disheartening to say the very least. Is anyone aware of any place where I can store this vintage muscle car in an enclosed unit of at least 10 x 20 feet? Or should I just give up now and sell her before I move?

If it'll fit in a normal size garage then any storage facility should be able to handle it. Probably run you $250-$400/month but at least you're not shelling out $100K+ for a car condo.

[Jensen440]

If your mom's garage is a one-car garage like an older one, it would be tight.


I know in Manatee and Sarasota there are several warehouses that store vehicles...look around your county or on the web. They offer different price ranges and services.

[71 road runner]

Originally Posted by SlackTrack71

However, I am in possession of a 1971 Plymouth Road Runner which I have owned for almost 29 years. I do not think the car will fit in my mother's garage. So I am seeking to safely and securely store this car somewhere in the area where it won't cost me $140,000 for a Fortress or some other custom car condominium that I could never hope to afford.
................... Or should I just give up now and sell her before I move?

.
Same problem here (with the same car). I moved to Punta Gorda permanently 9 years ago from New York State. At that time I left my '71 RR with my son back in NYS. I had the room for it down here but didn't bring it because it would've been nearly useless to me here for the majority of the time. It had no A/C. Being a big block car with no factory A/C it had the standard radiator and standard size opening in the front bulkhead where the rad is mounted. Believe me, the car would've been absolutely miserable down here for most of the year because of heat/humidity. And before somebody points out that a retro kit (Vintage Air, etc) could've been installed, it never would've been practical. The standard big block rad could not handle the heat transfer properly because of it's size. Plus it was an all original car that I would've been modifying and I wasn't cool with that. OTOH, maybe your car already has A/C so that's a different kettle of fish ...

[Jensen440]

I've had numerous muscle cars, some with air, some not - I wouldn't hesitate to put a decent system from Vintage on - not going to hurt the FL "value" at all - now if it's a rare big block with crazy options, that's another story - my though is that if I can't drive my cars and be comfortable, why sit it in the garage and just look at it?


just for grins, I had (and sold thru Mecum) a 1970 SS 454 COWL with factory air, and I did re corp the radiator (looked absolutely original), changed the pump, changed the oil pump and installed manual extra fans and drove the Number 2 car practically every day I could in 95 degree heat and in traffic - no problems, stayed in great operating temp - oh, I also changed the thermo and ran 40 weight synblend