TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Moderation Unwelcome Here

ADVERTISEMENT

By JULIA FERRANTE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 4, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - Steve Brewer likes to run in the early afternoon, when the sun is beating down relentlessly and the temperature outside is simmering in the high 80s.

His favorite time to jump on a sailboard is after a tropical storm, when the wind is screaming across the Gulf of Mexico at a cool 60 mph.

And his idea of nirvana is sitting in the driver's seat of his vintage 1957 Porsche 356 Speedster, pulling ahead of a world champion racer with a daring move.

A retired executive and international buyer for Busch Gardens, Brewer, 62, spent 26 years trolling for handcrafted treasures in Africa for the Tampa theme park before he retired in 2000. He has lived most of his life holding danger at arm's length, and he doesn't believe in moderation.

His dream house - or, more accurately, his dream garage - is no exception.

"It's a 16-car garage with a house attached," Brewer said. "The house is 3,800 square feet. The garage is 4,000 square feet. I always told people I would build a garage that was bigger than the house."

The house off Ehren Cutoff, which friends have dubbed "The Garage Mahal," was purchased with the spoils of timely investments in the real estate markets of Lutz and Land O' Lakes. From the outside, the one-story, blue-and-white structure looks more like a refurbished ranch than a museum that embodies Brewer's adventurous life.

A champion vintage race car driver, award-winning fisherman and bowler who boasted a 225 average in 1990 before he became bored with the sport, Brewer has filled the garage with symbols of his achievements and lots of other toys for fun. Vintage cars, pinball machines, a pool table, flat-screen televisions, a 24-foot bar and shelves full of trophies line the floors and walls. He stocks the freezer with pizzas for friends, who have an open invitation to enter the party house through a finger-touch security system.

The house attached is hardly modest by comparison. Five bedrooms branch off an octagonal family room, a dining room with an elegant chandelier, a roomy kitchen with a custom mural featuring prize-winning stuffed fish, an "Africa room" with some of his carved-from-wood career treasures and an Olympics room, which displays countless pins, flags and certificates from time he and his wife, Liz, carried the Olympic torch in 1992 and 1996, respectively.

Steve and Liz met in 1977. They were married in 1981, after she was diagnosed with Stage 4 lupus and was told she had 10 to 15 years to live. They had traveled the world, cooked for one another, gone sport fishing together and done just about everything side by side.

She offered to go separate ways after her diagnosis, he recalled, because she did not want Brewer to be burdened with her care.

"I said, 'If you love me that much, let's get married now,'

" he recalled.

The couple had many good years, Brewer said. Then the disease took over. Liz has had nine strokes and needs constant care.

"I go see her every morning," he said. "We're still married, but I'm bacheloring it up here."

Brewer, who grew up in Leesburg and has a master's degree in economics, owns another house with Liz in Land O' Lakes. After he retired, he bought 178 acres off Ehren Cutoff where a judge once lived and sold all but 58 acres for his dream home. Beside the house sits the judge's former living quarters, now a caretaker's home, and a converted shed that Brewer designed to look like an old gas station.

A 'Club' For His Friends

The showpiece is the garage, which, more or less, is a club for his friends.

Still a work in progress, the garage houses his 10 race cars, which include the Porsche Speedster, a Ford GT replica that goes from "zero to 200 and stop" in 22 seconds and a 12-cylinder Ferrari Testarossa he purchased from an ice cream mogul after traveling to West Palm Beach three times for interviews.

"This is my toy store," he said.

A mural on the wall that depicts the pits of Sebring International Raceway encompasses a bright red replica of one of his race cars.

"These are actually three pieces," Brewer said, pointing to the side panel on the wall. "I took them from the car and laid them in a mold. That's a real tire cut down the middle."

A beer tap behind the bar is made from a steering wheel, and a vintage carburetor is converted into a flower pot.

"I like designing my own stuff," Brewer remarked, as he led visitors to another detail, a race car-themed bathroom, complete with a mural featuring a waving checkered flag and a toilet with a gear flusher.

Brewer's 84-year-old mother was even impressed by his creations. The family matriarch elected to celebrate Christmas in the garage this year, the first time he got to host in 62 years.

Friends organized a surprise 50th birthday celebration in Brewer's garage for Marlene Siegel, a former neighbor who has known Brewer for 10 years. Thirty people attended and shared Greek and Spanish food, watched car races, played pinball and shared drinks, she said.

Brewer told Siegel and other friends before he built his dream house that the garage would be bigger than the house, she said.

"He's like a kid that's never grown up," she said. "He's eccentric, but not in a bad way. He loves to play practical jokes. He's passionate about everything he does."

Seigel's husband, Jerry Harrell, got into car racing because of Brewer.

"Every time I saw him, he would say, 'You've got to race. You've got to come see my car,'

" Harrell recalled.

Inspiring Example

Brewer hounded Harrell for a year to get into racing. When Harrell finally conceded, Brewer encouraged him to go to a racing school in Sebring.

"He was so excited," Harrell said. "When he found out I was taking the class, he took two days off to hang out with me. He took his GT down there to show it off. He supports his friends and gets all his buddies into racing - and then their wives get mad at him."

Brewer has inspired Harrell in other ways.

"He's worked hard, made some good investments and is living life the best way he knows how," Harrell said. "He went from working at Busch Gardens and bought 178 acres, sold it in pieces, each for a profit and took his investments and put the money into things he likes. My goal is to be where he's at his age."

Jim Rosa, a state Department of Transportation engineer and former neighbor who frequents the Garage Mahal, also has been inspired by Brewer.

"I don't think it's totally money. He just likes to live life," Rosa said. "He enjoys the limelight. He is a great guy who would do anything for you."

Brewer started racing six years ago. In 2006, he started in the 87th position at the Sebring Historic Sports Car Racing 3-Hour Enduro for vintage sports cars. He later pulled the Porsche Speedster ahead of a world champion and two other cars, winning the race.

Brewer proudly shows a video of the race, narrating the show from behind an imaginary steering wheel.

"Here comes the curve," he said during a recent showing. "Come on, Steve, make the curve."

The world champion pushes ahead.

Another car passes Brewer.

A third car gets into the mix in the second-to-last lap.

And in the end, Brewer passes them all.

Researcher Melanie Coon contributed to this report. Reporter Julia Ferrante can be reached at (813) 948-4220 or jferrante @tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT