I just can't believe it.
The Coddled Car
Clubs With Luxe Garages,
Race Tracks Cater to Collectors;
A Spycam for the Bentley
By RACHEL EMMA SILVERMAN
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
December 1, 2005; Page D1
Ralph H. Doering III just bought a new condo in Oakland Park, Fla. Like many upscale developments, the property boasts such amenities as a lounge for entertaining with a catering kitchen and wine storage, a guest office with Internet access, and even an art gallery and photography studio.
Mr. Doering, a real-estate company executive, has no plans to live in the condo development, however. But his car will.
The new development, called the DreamCar Carriage House, is an "auto-minium" for luxury cars. Spaces start at about $50,000. About 20 have been sold since sales started in October.
A growing number of membership clubs and high-end garages are catering to collector cars and the enthusiasts who drive them. Some clubs own their own fleets so members can try out different cars. The business models vary, but they generally feature posh amenities, ranging from private driving courses and climate-controlled garages (some with Web-cams so you can view your car in storage at your desktop computer) to luxury meeting spaces for parties and onsite car portrait studios. Among the latest options are clubs that are centered on private-road courses with lots of hair-raising turns, such as the Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, Ill., which opened in April; the Alpine Motorsports Club, which is being developed in Pennsylvania's Poconos region; and Valley Motorsports Park, being built in Tamworth, N.H. The clubs are designed so that members can see what their sports cars are capable of doing -- without traffic or fear of a speeding ticket.
David Gaber, a 41-year-old retired commodities trader, tries to get to the course at the Autobahn Country Club at least once a week. He recently bought a trackside lot to build a garage to house his cars -- a Ferrari 360 challenge race car and a titanium Ferrari 550 for street use. He says he's driven his race car at top speeds of about 150 miles an hour at the club. "What I find exciting is going into a turn at 120, than tapping the brakes and taking the turn at 90," says Mr. Gaber.
The clubs are opening at a time when interest in collector cars is booming. In addition to favorable demographics -- a big cohort of wealthy baby boomers who grew up during the height of American car culture -- televised car races and reality television shows featuring car makeovers have also driven interest, club officials say. Barrett-Jackson Auction Co. generated $61.7 million in sales at its January collector car auction in Scottsdale, Ariz., a 60% jump from the $38.5 million it earned last year and way up from $28.5 million in 2003. The company plans on breaking ground on its own "automotive country club" in Scottsdale in the next year, says Chief Executive Craig Jackson.
Prices for the clubs vary greatly, depending on whether you're joining a private road-course club or a high-end parking garage. The Autobahn Country Club charges a $25,000 initiation fee and annual dues of $3,000 for use of the country club's driving track and clubhouse. The Bridgehampton Motoring Club charges $3,950 a year for garage services. And the Classic Car Club Manhattan, a luxury car-share service, levies a $1,500 one-time signing fee, and annual dues that start at $7,000, for a choice of more than 20 cars that members can drive throughout the year.
Most of the clubs require drivers to provide their own auto insurance, in case anything happens to a car or driver on the road or in a garage facility. So make sure to check with your car insurer to see if you're covered if you join a club. Also, car-share clubs, such as Classic Car Club and Exotic Car Share, perform background or credit checks on prospective members to help ensure they are suitable to drive their fleets of cars.
Enthusiasts say the clubs' amenities are worth the price. The driving-course country clubs and car-share clubs include orientations, so that drivers learn how to handle unfamiliar vehicles or road courses. Some of the clubs feature trackside housing. At the Virginia International Raceway Motorsport Country Club, in Alton, Va., a restored antebellum mansion serves as the clubhouse.
Membership growth has been brisk. Both the Alpine Motorsports Club and the Valley Motorsports Park, which haven't even been built yet, have already signed up some 200 members each. The Autobahn Country Club has nearly reached its cap of 300 members. "We sell memberships like a regular golf club, but instead of golf, you come out and play with your toys -- Porsches and Mustangs," says Autobahn's president, Mark Basso.
High-end garages typically serve clients who may lack the facilities to store their collector vehicles properly. Among recent offerings are the DreamCar Carriage House and the Collectors Car Garage, in Bedford Hills, N.Y. Some of the cars kept at the Bridgehampton Motoring Club on New York's Long Island include a 1966 Lincoln convertible and a 1937 restored Ford pickup truck. These garages are humidity and temperature-controlled to prevent leather interiors from cracking and exteriors from rusting. The Carcierge, a recently launched Boca Raton garage, "exercises vehicles on local, secluded roadways," according to its Web site. Others offer club lounges so you can get together with fellow car lovers and watch car races.
For those who simply want to drive fun cars but don't want to own them, there are a growing number of car-share clubs, such as the Classic Car Club Manhattan, which opened in July, the new Van Horssen Group, in Scottsdale, Ariz., Exotic Car Share in Palatine, Ill., and Club Sportiva in San Francisco. After paying membership fees, which could include an initiation fee and annual dues, members can drive a choice of collector cars. The Classic Car Club Manhattan, which opened in July, has in its fleet a 1977 Aston Martin V8 and a 1989 Rolls Royce Corniche II.
Oliver Hildenbrand, a 39-year-old New York banker, recently became a member of the Classic Car Club. So far, he has taken out several cars, including a 1957 Porsche Speedster, which he drove to the upscale Hamptons on New York's Long Island and a 1965 Mustang Convertible, which he used to visit the New Jersey shore. "I have a real weakness for cars," he says. "A Ford Taurus doesn't really do it for me."
