Drive a dream for a limited time with Orlando luxurycar club
February 23rd, 2008, 5:17 am Hobby Shops
“I’ve owned several exotic cars. I’ve owned Lamborghinis and Ferraris,” Erfurth said. “To drive one of these cars and not worry about the maintenance or the insurance and the depreciation is what I was most intrigued about.”
He owns a modified S-class Lorenzo Mercedes and a restored 1969 Camaro Z28.
“For anybody that starts adding up the economics of this, it won’t probably make sense,” Erfurth said. “If you try and figure out what it costs you per mile, I wouldn’t bother joining a car club. It’s that elite.”
Owned by local businessman Raju Mantena, the just-opened club is part of a growing trend seen in major metropolitan areas such as New York, Chicago, Atlanta and South Florida. Access to luxury vehicles has increased via these car-share clubs and a la carte rentals or time-share arrangements.
Some clubs start with a collector who has a garage full of cars and isn’t driving them, said Gregory Anderson, automotive editor of Robb Report, a magazine devoted to luxury items. Collexium, a car-share club based near Fort Lauderdale, is run by Blas Garcia Moros, a former Microsoft executive.
For members, incentives include not having to worry about issues such as loss of value and upkeep costs, Anderson said.
“When you look at the price of owning your own fleet of five or six or 10 cars, what you’re paying in depreciation is a lot. You can drive a Mercedes Maybach for a year and put 1,000 miles on it, and it just depreciated $100,000. So you’re paying $100 a mile on some of these cars,” Anderson said.
If you have to ask . . .
Luxury-car owners rarely drive their vehicles more than a few days a month, he said.
The most expensive cars in Luxautica’s fleet are the $1.7 million Bugatti Veyron and a $1.4 million Maserati MC12, one of seven ever manufactured.
“There’s no car club in the U.S. that would offer you a chance to drive the Maserati MC12,” said Payam Matin, general manager of Luxautica.
“We took the risk of you completely wrecking that car — that’s one in seven! It’s irreplaceable,” Matin said. “If you had all the capital and all the money to buy one, you couldn’t just pick up a phone right now and call a Maserati dealer.”
Membership fees reflect those high-end stickers. The least-expensive membership requires $38,400 in annual dues, plus a one-time initiation fee of $15,000. Higher levels, which earn members more time behind the wheel, run $74,500 and $99,500 a year. An “ultimate” level, which tailors plans to six members, falls under the adage: If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.
In an unusual offering in car-share circles, Luxautica provides a social club above its showroom with lounges, numerous plasma televisions, a game room that converts into a boardroom, a covered patio and humidors. It was all part of the $2 million renovation of the building, previously occupied by Millenia Gallery.
Gerry Mattia, an Orlando chiropractor, opted for a nondriving membership (first-year price tag of $34,000) that he uses for business dealings with company CEOs and professional athletes.
“I’ll take them over there, and they see $1.6 million Bugattis, and the club is done so extremely well, it’s very impressive to them. It’s great for me in business circles,” Mattia said.
The social aspects are a plus, he said.
“It’s similar to a country club, but instead of it being golf and tennis, it’s cars,” Mattia said. “You get to meet a lot of other people. Most of these people, obviously, if you join this, are fairly successful. If you want to advance sometimes, that’s the place to be.”
‘Just some little treats’
The club plans a national ad campaign. Its current membership total is not available because contracts are pending and applicants must go through a screening process, Matin said. Once the private club reaches 100 driving memberships, it plans to double its fleet, Matin said.
Mere middle-class mortals can get close to the cars in the club’s Exotic Car Gallery. The public can pay ($20 for adults, $10 for children) to view a dozen or so cars not borrowed by members on the ground floor of the club. In true Orlando fashion, there’s also a gift shop with T-shirts and iPod covers to match your yellow Lamborghini.
None of that for charter-member Erfurth.
“In life there are just some little treats you can get here and there, and one of them happens to be cars for me,” he said. “It’s my little hobby, I guess.”
Dewayne Bevil can be reached at 407-420-5477 or dbevil@orlandosentinel.com.
STEPHEN M. DOWELL/ORLANDO SENTINEL PHOTO: Luxautica offers the chance to drive exotic cars without the expenses of ownership. But a $15,000 initiation fee is just a fraction of its costs. STEPHEN M. DOWELL/ORLANDO SENTINEL . BOX: ULTIMATE LOANERS A sampling of Luxautica’s fleet: BUGATTI VEYRON: Tops out at 253 mph, toting along 10 radiators. Price: $1.7 million. MASERATI MC12: Only available in blue-and-white color scheme. Price: $1.4 million. FERRARI ENZO: One of 399 manufactured, gets 10 miles per gallon. It’s named for the company’s founder, Enzo Ferrari. Price: $1.1 million. PORSCHE CARRERA GT: Luxautica’s model is the only one painted Scuderia Red, a Ferrari color. Price: $460,000. SPYKER C8 LAVIOLETTE: Has front-and-rear luggage compartments with made-to-fit leather suitcases. Price: $296,000. SOURCE: Luxautica
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