For many, the garage is a place of solace, an area to be left alone in and to get things done.
For seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner and multiple Australian Touring Car champion Jim Richards, it fits both those criteria.
A Kiwi legend, Richards retired from racing some years ago, but enjoys tinkering in his garage, which luckily is not far from his house in the leafy eastern suburbs of Melbourne.
Having outgrown his home base, Richards needed to find a bigger space to house his growing Carrera Cup activities 20 years ago.
“I had a triple car garage with a hoist in it at my home, but it was just a matter of when we went to two-cars and a larger truck, I really had to find a factory,” he explained.
“It’s a great little community around.”
History adorns the walls of Richards’ garage as trophies and photos representing each era of the touring car legend’s career are on display. In fact, his garage played a key role in the latter part of his career when he was a team owner and driver.
“The workshop I’m still in now used to be where the Carrera Cup, Touring Car Masters and rally cars used to be prepared,” he explained.
“Well now I’ve retired, I still use the shop in the same way except I do less work!”
Within the Richards garage are the two Touring Car Masters models he used with distinction throughout his time in the category – the Ford Falcon Sprint and AMC Javelin. Both remain in impeccable condition.
“The Falcon Sprint is as it finished its last race at Bathurst,” he stated.
Outside of his TCM machines, Richards also retains two Group A models from his past and of significance to his career.
The first is one of arguably the best looking touring cars ever to race in Australia, his JPS BMW M3 he used during the first two rounds of his title winning ATCC season. The other is the giant killing Nissan Skyline HR31, which did the bulk of his successful 1990 campaign, defeating the all conquering Ford Sierras.
These are mixed in with a variety of road cars Richards enjoys driving on a regular basis, including an Alpine A110, a Ford Focus RS and, of course, a Porsche, which became synonymous with Richards’ racing in the later years of his racing.
“I didn’t really get interested in Porsches until Peter Fitzgerald got me to drive one at Bathurst in a 968CS,” Richards recalled.
“I asked him what he was going to do after the 12 Hour and he replied, ‘nothing, just the oil’. I though that was the sort of car I want.
“That’s where my love affair with Porsche started way back in 1993.”
Summarising his garage, Richards explained it is an important part of his life, especially now he is retired.
“It’s no sense working from home because you get too relaxed,” Richards said. “You’ve got to get a place away from home anyway because when you’re retired you spend a lot more time home than before when you really active in racing.
“I really enjoy coming down, taking the covers off the cars, looking at them and if there are any finger prints, then giving them a detail.”
Richards has passed on his passion for cars to son Steven and grandson Clay, who have their own garage, but that’s for another day …