Words and photography: Tom Horna

Since 2008 I’ve been trading cars under Autohouse London a few years later my passion for photography turned into a part of services provided by Autohouse. Then came the Drive Classics (our journal) and recently the new addition – Drive Classic Club which is our events department. However…

However, the big dream is to open a classic car storage and events space here in  London. We’ve been planning this part of Drive Classics since 2017 and we’re not quite there yet, simply due to the difficulties in finding the right premises. As things are slowly progressing with the property search it seems that the second half of 2019 is looking promising and I’m already looking into design and features ideas for our car storage facility.

Internet and social media are a great source of inspiration and in particular, Instagram which not only allows you to see other people’s spaces but also gives you the ability to contact the owners and exchange ideas with them. I’ve decided to go further than a simple exchange of messages on Instagram and set-out on a little European tour to actually visit a few of those inspirational spaces. First of which was recently opened ‘Stacja Klasyki’ (read: ‘Station: Classics’) in Warsaw, Poland.

The name is not coincidental as the premises are just a few steps away from an ex-train station. The aim of ‘Stacja Klasyki’ is to provide all possible services to classic car owners and enthusiasts. Whilst the core business is sales, storage and maintenance of classic vehicles, the other part (as important to the founders) is events and venue hire.

Spread across 3 floors the building is cleverly designed to cater to each part of the business. You’re welcomed by a large front drive capable of fitting up to 20-30 cars and overlooking a beautifully designed and very suitable to the classic car business ‘rusty’ front cladding of the building.

Inside, at the front, there’s a minimalistic showroom inclusive of a bar and lounge above which there’s a mezzanine office space. At the back, you’ll find additional storage/workshop space and above all that amazing ground floor, there are extra two floors capable of fitting over a 100 cars and currently waiting to be filled with some amazing classics.

All in all a cleverly designed space with an amazing vibe and seriously nice people running it. Thanks for having me.