Michael Olguin and his siblings have been raised around cars their entire lives.
Their father, Gillie Olguin, would take Michael and his brothers to a car dealership in their hometown of Barstow to let them run around and learn about the nuances of each vehicle.
“That was our entertainment,” Michael Olguin said. “That really early exposure to cars really created this … I’ll call it a passion initially. It might be an obsession now.”
That love for cars is now front and center at Gillie’s Auto Lounge in Midway, a private automotive storage and lounge. Gillie’s is also a place for Michael to honor his father and his brother.
Gillie’s Auto Lounge is a private automotive membership club that offers owners of specialty and exotic cars a secure storage location for their vehicles.
Members also have access to a luxury lounge featuring a bar, TVs, a cigar deck and lockers for personal storage.
Michael Olguin said he wants Gillie’s to become more than just a storage center, but a place where car aficionados can come together over their collective passion for vehicles — the same way his father brought them together.
“My dad was a horse trader of all horse traders when it came to cars,” John Olguin, Michael Olguin’s brother, said.
Every vacation, the Olguin family traveled in a different car than before, Olguin said, as his dad would always trade his current vehicle for a new one.
Michael Olguin’s sister, Natalie Muckley, said they tried to count how many cars their father had throughout their life.
The siblings counted over 60 cars that their father collected and traded throughout their childhood.
“My dad was such a car trader, and it’s like we were lucky that we weren’t cars, because if we were, we’d be traded,” Muckley said
As they grew older, cars were what fueled their family bond.
“We would all park our cars in front of my parents’ house and wash them together,” John Olguin said.
John Olguin is now the executive vice president of business operations for Chip Ganassi Racing.
The majority of the decoration is dedicated to his father with his hat, belt, photos and a plaque dedicated to Gillie.
Inside Gillie’s Auto Lounge, the walls are covered with vintage antiques and Gillie’s personal belongings, like his hat, belt, and photos of him.
Additionally, his brother Gary’s die-cast car collection, donated by his wife, sits on display as an ode to him.
“Everything in here is curated, and it links back to my family,” Michael Olguin said.
His sister Natalie even contributed vintage pieces as she is a vintage collector herself. Certain decorations, plaques and statues were found and gifted by her.
“He wanted these vintage decanters, bourbon decanters,” Muckley said. “So, I just started collecting.”
Michael Olguin’s goal was to create a speakeasy-style space that felt warm, cozy and homey that can be used for various community events.
The Porsche Club of America of San Diego is set to host an open house at Gillie’s on Aug. 8.
“There are some similarities between how he was raised with his father and how I was raised with mine,” Michael Zurich, president of the Porsche Club of America of San Diego, said.
For the Olguin family and San Diego car lovers, Gillie’s is about much more than cars; it’s about family and tradition.
“The automobile is one of those things that is a unifying piece of Americana that brings people together,” John Olguin said.
Added Michael Olguin, “If you’ve ever been around people who have the same interest in the same things, you will find that their common thread will always come back to the surface,” Michael Olguin said.
A common thread sewn by his own father between Michael and his siblings.
“We know that my father is in heaven,” Muckley said. “Smiling down with a big ear-to-ear grin, bragging to everybody.”
