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The garage is often overlooked or at least the last area finished when building a new home. Not so in the Barbosa household. Manny Barbosa, 38, had his priorities straight when he built his Haymarket home through his company, Eagle 1 Construction, two years ago. And his wife, Christine, 37, agreed; finish the garage first.
First Things First
Christine wanted Manny’s collection of hundreds of 118-scale model cars, which includes Ferraris, Mercedes, Porsches and muscle cars, to move from the family’s library in their last home to the detached garage adjacent to their new custom 6,000-square-foot home with an attached three-car garage. This was fine with Manny, who completed the detached garage for his four Ducatis, one vintage Honda motorcycle, a single MV Agusta motorcycle, and three signature red Ferraris before he finished construction on the home.
This worked for Christine as well because one Ferrari, the 1998 F355 GTS, is hers, a present from Manny for her 34th birthday. “It’s a fun car to drive,” Christine says. She likes the way the Ferrari handles and the way it sounds with its aftermarket exhaust.
And so that the children can enjoy the cars as well, Manny and Christine purchased a 1991 Ferrari Mondial T four-seater convertible. Emilie, 10, prefers her mom’s car, while Nicholas, 5, is along for the ride, no matter which car they are in.
The rows of model cars, which Manny started collecting 10 years ago, are displayed in brick-encased shelves with faux-finished backdrops. Doubling as an extra outdoor space until the verandahs, pool, and patios are complete, the dream garage includes framed posters, faux finishing by Manny, treasured license plates, Italian ceramic floor tiles, and French clay tiles along the tops of the display arches.
Fine Tuning
Born in Portugal but raised in France before moving to the US and settling in New Jersey in 1986 and Virginia in 1988, Manny’s love of European cars and motorcycles spurred the start of two other companies – Dream Garage, for those who want their garage space to look as good as what’s in it, and Euro Bikes, which offers accessories for European motorcycles.
Besides Ferraris, Manny keeps six motorcycles, including a 2001 MV Agusta and a 1990 Honda RC30 racing motorcycle, in his garage. Four Ducatis, featuring a 2001 MH900, one of 2,000 made, a classic 1995 916, a 1991 907 and a 1991 851, line two sides of the space. Manny purchased one Ducati at the same time he bought the 1993 Ferrari 512 TR, his car. The Ferrari’s wide air intakes on the sides appealed to him.
Manny keeps his Ferraris and Ducatis in his detached garage, just a breezeway away from the playroom above the attached garage where his children keep their toys.
