Photos by Nathalie Walker

Besides the hot cars on the Swisstrax plastic flooring, Bartenstein's cabinets behind the cars feature murals of more of his cars

Photos by Nathalie Walker

With the Bartenstein's super $8,000 lift, he can walk under any car to work on it

Bill Bartenstein creates the ultimate car pit stop in Kailua

The evolution of Hawaii’s home garage is straightforward. First, houses were built with a carport, essentially a covered lanai for, in most cases, a single automobile. Next came the enclosed garage with a manually opened door. Finally, the powered garage door arrived, with a remote opener that was thought to be the ultimate.

But some do not stop there.

Bill Bartenstein’s Kailua house is an example of the Hawaiian Super Garage. And his current abode is not the first of this genre. Bartenstein and his family formerly lived not too far up the road from their present home, and their previous garage had room for 12 vehicles, all fully enclosed.

Upon moving to their current home, it was time to rethink the equation with less pure storage and more workability. Started in 2006 and roughly two years in the making, the new Bartenstein automotive edifice is two stories, has more than 3,600 square feet under one roof, an office and room for about 10 cars – and cost about $500,000 for building and equipment.

As Bartenstein, who has retired four times, a couple of which were from the auto-rebuilding business, says, “I am an auto hobbyist with a purpose. Some of my project vehicles are ultimately sold.”

On the top floor, Bartenstein has two fully automated doors with room for five cars. And, as in the past, his current make of choice is the Corvette, in various vintages. One car that throws off the equation is a remake of a 1930s Ford, but with Corvette power. On the floor is a plastic floor cover called Swisstrax, which is not only good-looking but also is hard enough to handle a car on a jack stand without breakage.

Behind the cars are high-end cabinets for storage of parts, automotive books and magazines, many of which have articles written about Bartenstein’s cars. But more dramatic are very large photos of his cars laminated on the cabinets. Behind the cabinetry are racks that house parts for Corvettes and Chevrolets, many of which Bartenstein acquired when Bay Chevrolet and Aloha Motors closed down.

Before going downstairs, one must pop into the bathroom which, lo and behold, has a toilet seat cover with flames taken from an old hot rod across the top.

But the piece de résistance is found in the lower level, which is the work area any car fancier would love. First, there is the giant $8,000 car hoist that literally lifts the car up so that you can walk under it to tinker with the vehicle as you please.

Several cars in different of states of rebuilding are scattered about in Bartenstein’s garage. A number of hefty built-in storage spaces are placed against the wall. Bartenstein has found over the years that each shelf can only be devoted to parts from one vehicle because intermixing the parts is considered “automotive rebuilding suicide.”

And after a car restoration is completed, the other half of the lower floor can be easily converted to a paint spray booth. Huge, clear curtains are drawn across to cut the room in half. Bright lights are built into the wall along with portable floodlights to make flawless spray painting possible. A fully developed paint ventilation and extraction system completes the picture.

Oh, did we mention Bartenstein has a few tools? He has every gadget you can think of, all properly stored, easy to find and readily accessible.

In a nutshell, Bartenstein is retired again – sort of. But he is as happy as he can be in his Hawaiian garage heaven.