A low-snow winter puts Park City’s car culture in high gear ahead of schedule

Warehouse founder Jake Wolf with Membership Director Karen Lynch to his right, and Operations Director Luke Larson to his left, inside their business. Photo: TownLift // Michele Roepke

PARK CITY, Utah — Historically low snow on the ski slopes has meant less snow on the roads, and one of the few groups enjoying a positive twist this winter is the auto industry.

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All photos: TownLift // Michele Roepke

Business is booming at the Warehouse Motorclub, where they store rare autos and race cars; at Rearden Racing, where they service rare autos and race cars; and at LUXE Automotive, where they clean rare autos and race cars. Business owners say it’s a direct result of warmer than usual weather. The three businesses share space in Park City and are preparing to welcome a new, yet-to-be-announced neighbor to their car-culture campus.

Jake Wolf, founder and CEO of the high-end Warehouse Motorclub, told TownLift the season is starting earlier than usual.

“We’ve been moving more cars earlier in the season than we have in the past,” Wolf said. “On Saturday, we did 10 cars, and we haven’t even started our summer drives yet.”

Wolf said that kind of volume typically doesn’t happen until late April or May. He added that crews were able to drive Wolf Creek as early as January, and with the road already reopened for several weeks, he expects an extended driving season.

Rearden Racing owner Lara Tallman spoke with TownLift from her customized headquarters, where the walls are lined with shelves of trophies. She said that, simply because they can, auto owners in Park City have been driving their convertibles with the tops down earlier than anyone can remember — and they’re happy to be getting that mountain wind in their hair. The race cars she’s seeing in for service are also getting started earlier in the season than in previous years.

More motorcycles are also hitting Utah roadways this season amid unseasonably sunny conditions, according to Miguel Robles, director of operations at LUXE, who was busy applying and removing protective desalting agents from vehicles.

Drivers are often wary of the salt solutions used by UDOT, but Robles said his team works to prevent long-term damage. “We purge the cars of all the salt and don’t allow it to sit, because that becomes very corrosive,” he told TownLift.

Robles said prolonged exposure can lead to rust and costly repairs, with some rebuilds exceeding $150,000. As a result, many owners are selective about winter driving, but this year has been different. “We’ve seen a big uptick in interest, with clients excited to be able to drive much more than in the past,” he said.

Several upcoming events offer the public a chance to engage with the local car culture firsthand.

Cars and Coffee is a popular, free community event that has brought out car enthusiasts on Sunday mornings for years, typically held on the last weekend of the month at the Park City Visitor Center parking lot in Kimball Junction. Many of the aforementioned cars can be found there, hoods up and doors open, with owners on site to answer questions while members of the public walk around, take selfies, and sip coffee. The first event of the season is scheduled earlier than usual due to the warm weather, on Sunday, April 19.

The previous morning, on Saturday, April 18, the Warehouse will host its second annual Singer Show, which will also be free and open to the public for similar spectating. Organizers said it would be uncommon to host this type of event in a typical wet-weather year. RSVP is preferred and can be found on their Instagram. Wolf said, “They’re bringing their DLS Turbo, which is their latest, greatest, $3.5 million crazy car.”