News & Features February 21, 2006, 2:11PM EST

Car Clubs That Share Classy Wheels

Members of these increasingly popular organizations get to drive fantasy cars, without the hassles of actually owning them

by Olga Kharif

Three years ago, Torbin Fuller, a long-time classic car fan, quit his job in finance at Ford, moved from Dearborn, Mich., to San Francisco -- "because there's a lot of scenic driving there" -- and started a club that allows members to share the use of classic cars. How's that for a risky move?

At the time, America was just crawling out of a recession, and Silicon Valley was playing dead. So the idea of creating a club where people pay $3,195 to $8,495 annually to drive pricey cars for a few days a year didn't exactly sound like a vroom-vroom idea.

But Fuller's notion turned out to be a pedal-to-the-metal success. In March, 2003, he opened a 10,000-square-foot clubhouse -- complete with parquet floors, leather furniture, flat-screen TVs, and a huge window overlooking a garage with 12 cool cars, a fleet that has since expanded and includes a 1989 Rolls Royce Corniche II, a 1989 Ferrari 348 GTB, and a 1977 Aston Martin V8. Soon, members began trickling in.

"A WHOLE NEW SEGMENT."

Today, his Club Sportiva boasts a membership of nearly 200, up 50% year-over-year, and Fuller says it's profitable. A year ago, he opened a branch in San Jose, Calif. And now he's plotting a nationwide rollout -- a move likely to be copied by several other exclusive car clubs, which have cropped up since Club Sportiva's launch.

All these outfits -- which follow similar collector car clubs in Britain -- want to become the auto industry's version of the popular jet- and yacht-sharing clubs. (See BW, 9/15/03, "Time-Share Yachting"). Club Sportiva will enter five new cities outside of California in 2006, then expand to a total of 25 locations within the next three to four years, Fuller says. Another club, Van Horssen Group in Scottsdale, Ariz., plans to open 22 locations within three years. "We think we'll be a whole new industry segment," says Ron Van Horssen, the club's CEO.

The beauty of these nationwide networks is that they'll allow members living, say, in New York to use their points or driving days on a business trip to Florida, the same way a member of a health club network might be able to use the gym in any location. You simply come in, show your membership card, and drive away in a cool ride (see BW Online Slide Show, "Cars to Get Your Heart Racing").

WHAT SHARERS CRAVE.

And these clubs could potentially serve much greater areas than just where they're located. Van Horssen Group, whose first club opened in Scottsdale in early 2005, already delivers cars directly to members in California. You let the club know what car you want and when, and it shows up at your door.

The idea is taking off, and why not? "The last, very big [sharing] market is cars," says Phil Kavanagh, co-founder of Britain's Classic Car Club, which has spawned Classic Car Club Manhattan and is planning to expand to 30 locations within five to seven years. Already, on the low end, outfits like Flexcar offer members the use of their fleets parked around cities like Seattle and Washington, D.C., for a $40 annual membership fee, plus hourly use rates. But Flexcar is offering Hondas, not Ferraris. And it's Ferraris that some sharers crave (see BW Online, 12/16/05, "Putting a Fresh Face on a Ferrari").

Who are they? Residents of the Big Apple, for example, where owning a car might not be practical. "Our building doesn't have a garage, so the ability to use the car club was perfect for us," says Dan Cordeiro, managing director of real-estate marketer Corcoran Group Marketing, which markets a condo complex near Classic Car Club Manhattan.

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