One of the greatest gifts I remember receiving as a child was the toy car garage my grandfather made for me. I still have it and have every intention of restoring it and making it a family heirloom. That little garage helped fuel not only my toy cars, but my love for cars in general and the current generation of young car fans must experience the same.
With this in mind, below are some of our favourite toy car garages. They differ considerably from big, exciting Hot Wheels designs to more subdued and realistic timber ones. They all make great gifts to young car fans. It is important to point out that many of today's manufactured toy garages are plastic. That changes their dynamic compared to the traditional, more authentic wooden ones; the plastic sets from brands such as Hot Wheels are far more outlandish and animated. You, therefore, get quite a range of choices.
The best toy car garages
Editor's pick
In classic Hot Wheels style, this toy car garage has two routes: one where a car exits safely and one where it gets fed to the giant shark in the centre. Hot Wheels has other sets (check out the 'Gator Car Wash), all of which interconnect to create a bigger structure. As a standalone or part of a set, this garage is fantastic and holds more than 90 cars.
The Bosch Service Car Park stands an impressive 85 centimetres tall. It comes with two sports coupes ready to be elevated to the top and raced down to ground level. The blue tracks are neat, being doubled-laned to allow for proper racing to occur. There's also plenty of other details such as the car wash and petrol pumps at ground level for further entertainment.
It's likely that the young car fan you'd be buying a toy garage for is already in possession of a healthy collection of Matchbox cars. Keep the trend going with a Matchbox garage. It's a busy garage featuring the most detailed car wash and service platform of any setting. There's no chomping T-Rex, but there is a hand-operated lift and excellent ramps with barriers. Comes with a tow truck.
This is a simple but solid wooden design with ramps leading up to each floor. There's also a string-pulled lift too.
This multi-level toy car garage is a more realistic version of the Hot Wheels Shark garage. Cars reach the above-ground floor via a lift, which is operated by turning the red knob at the top. An optional feature is a battery-powered light and siren (batteries included). Cars then descend via the spiral tracks. The set includes three cars and a helicopter.
Along similar lines to Hot Wheels' Shark garage is the T-Rex garage. In terms of practical stuff, this toy car garage can hold over 100 cars and connect to other Hot Wheels sets. But in terms of fun stuff, cars can be elevated upwards via the handle-operated lift, but the giant T-Rex can also move up and down. It's a big structure too, standing 90 centimetres tall. Comes in two cars.
www.johnlewis.com
Brio World sets are numerous and mostly train sets. Its parking garage is in the same style as the others, just with cars. Have it on its own or make it part of your own bespoke Brio World. Your choice. Made from FSC certified wood.
www.argos.co.uk
This set offers good value in return for a neat, useable design. The five floors are quite small, making them easy for hands to access; there's also a lift, jet wash, petrol pumps, and helipad. The set comes with 10 cars and is compatible with other Chad Valley sets.
Etsy
Etsy is a good place to visit for handmade wooden toy garages. If you wish to make one yourself, it also serves as a good place for design inspiration.
DIY toy car garage
Want to make this a personal project? Go for it. Draw yourself up a plan and work out what materials you need before heading to your local hardware store. Keep it simple, you'll likely only need some MDF or plywood, pieces of dowel, some non-toxic glue and paint, plus some fasteners and tools. To help you along, check this page we've found that has instructions for a neat garage design.