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Off the wall: Condo owner's decor includes a Porsche Spyder 550

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South Florida News Service

When Gil Dezer moved into his luxury condo in Sunny Isles, ``they told me the place needed some art,'' Dezer said.

So he had one of the most artistic objects he owned hung in his living room:

A 1950 Porsche Spyder 550.

``When you think about how much more work goes into making a car versus a painting, you realize that is art,'' said Dezer, 34, a self-proclaimed ``Porsche fanatic'' who owns eight cars of that make.

Dezer, a developer, said friends and family thought he was crazy for wanting to mount a car on his wall and did not believe he would actually do it.

The job took months of planning, lots of engineering and the help of a crane.

A Miami construction company, Coastal Construction, mounted the car right above the front door of Dezer's 8,000-square-foot condo inside Trump Palace, one of the buildings his company developed.

``It wasn't that big of an operation,'' said Tom Murphy, chairman and CEO of Coastal Construction. ``[Dezer] rented a crane for a couple hours, half a dozen guys for four hours, and a couple brackets.''

The entire process had begun about six months earlier.

Coastal Construction determined the wall was sturdy enough to support a car -- it's actually strong enough to hang three cars, although Dezer does not have plans to hang any more. Three stainless steel brackets were attached to the concrete, and three matching ones were installed on the car.

JOB FOR A CRANE

The day it was mounted, a crane lifted the $80,000 Porsche -- engine and transmission removed to make it lighter -- to Dezer's fourth-floor balcony. The balcony's sliding doors had been removed and the car was pushed through into the foyer.

A scaffold was already set up with a chain lift and pulley. The car was holstered up manually using the pulley between the scaffold and the wall. The brackets on the car matched up with those on the wall, and the 1,000-pound car fitted into place on the wall like a puzzle piece. The mounting took four hours.

Although the engine and transmission were removed, the rest of the car is fully functional. From a touch-screen monitor next to the door, Dezer can control the car's headlights and the horn.

``Anyone who knows Gil knows that he is a Porsche purist,'' said Sebastian Tettamanti, Dezer's friend. ``It's no wonder he now has one hanging in his living room.''

Dezer said he chose to hang the Porsche Spyder 550 because it is a car that is nice to look at but not as much fun to drive.

The interior of Dezer's home has a number of unique features in addition to the Porsche on the wall. It was designed by Michael Wolk, whose firm designed the common areas in the Trump Palace for Dezer.

``We just started working together,'' Wolk said. ``Gil had seen some of my earlier work and when we originally started this was going to be the coolest bachelor pad in Miami. Then Lorena [Dezer's wife] came along and it became more of a home,'' Wolk said.

On the first floor of Dezer's three-story condo is a bathroom with an egg-shaped door handle that hints at what's on the other side. But someone on the inside might think he was in an egg.

It was an oval-shaped bathroom to begin with, and that made Dezer think of an egg. With Wolk's help, he was able to carry out the egg concept. The inside of the door is arched, extending the lines of an egg. The room is white with an egg-shaped toilet and a rug displaying an egg sunny side up.

There are two ways of getting between floors -- a double helix staircase and a glass elevator. The elevator leads to a glass bridge inspired by the movie Matrix, which allows him to see the floor below and connects the bedrooms.

`BATMAN' CHAIRS

Movie themes appear in several areas of Dezer's home. Besides the glass bridge, Dezer has three chairs from the Batman movies.

Dezer's favorite hobby, though, is collecting cars.

He and his father jointly own 215, many of which are purely collectibles. Out of those, Dezer chooses among 15 for daily driving, including a Porsche 911 Turbo, one of his favorites.

Dezer said mounting a Porsche to his wall was the perfect way to incorporate his hobby into his home.

``It is truly one of a kind. No other place I've designed has this,'' Wolk said.

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