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A Ferrari for the weekend, sir?It was always inevitable that the prestige car private members club concept which works so well in England was going to come here. But it has taken the entrepreneurship - and investment - of a couple of local businessmen to get it off the ground in the shape of Autobahn, launched in late February, based in Lisburn and soon to be have a formidable stable of cars to make available to its members.
The car club concept is simple enough to understand. Members (private or corporate) pay an annual fee, receive an allocation of driver credits, and then 'cash' these in against days driving a range of prestige vehicles….among them the Ferrari 360 Spider, Aston Martin AM V8 and Porsche 911 Turbo.
Autobahn, the brainchild of local entrepreneur and self-confessed 'car nuts' Jamie Patterson - the financial driving force behind the operation - and Eddie Hamilton - the management brains - aims to attract 25-30 members initially and to build from there.
The first of its stable of cars arrived during March at the company's Lisburn base, and the supercar collection will be expanded as membership - both corporate and private - increases.
"I've owned a Ferrari for some time, and I'm painfully aware of the running costs," says Jamie Patterson. "And I've also been looking at how these clubs have grown up in England over recent years. We reckoned that there must be a market over here."
"Yes, it requires a substantial investment up front, and it's clearly a risk, but that's what business is all about."
Autobahn already has its first customers signed up, but both Patterson and Hamilton are busy selling the idea to more and more potential club members. There's no doubt that it's something of a niche market. Many who would dearly love to join simply won't be able to afford the £10,000 (plus £1,000 joining fee) for top-line platinum membership.
But that buys you 1,000 driver credits for a year. In a nutshell, that translates to anything from 50 to 100 days behind the wheel of the 16 cars which will eventually make up the Autobahn fleet. Each group of cars is costed differently, as are weekdays and weekends, and summer and winter.
So a Friday to Sunday weekend in summer behind the wheel of a Ferrari of Bentley Continental GT will shave 150 credits off your total, a similar weekend in winter with a Maserati Coupe or Aston Martin AM V8 for company will 'cost' 80 credits, while a day's driving with a BMW M5 or TVR Sagaris in winter sets the member back a mere eight credit.
"We leave the choices entirely up to the member," says Eddie Hamilton. "By making use of more Group 2 and 3 cars, they can get more driving time, but it's their call. They will be able to call us or arrange their cars and times through our new website. It will all be very easy."
The pair have already looked closely at the potential pitfalls. For instance, members won't be allowed to block book cars at the start of their year, although each top line members gets five 'platinum passes' which allows them to do exactly that for special occasions.
"Outside of platinum passes, we won't allow booking outside of 30 days in advance, and we think that that makes it fair to all members."
Insurance for all of the vehicles is looked after - providing a fairly standard set of age and driving convictions conditions are met - and each member can also have one nominated spouse or partner covered.
Both Autobahn partners reckon that the club will attract a balance of private and corporate members. The latter costs £12,000 but allows for five drivers…..offering companies the chance to buy membership and then offer driving days/weekends to VIP customers or high-achieving members of staff.
"We're confident that the idea will appeal to companies because of its tax efficiency, for one, but also because it's a very different form of corporate hospitality, if you like," says Jamie Patterson. "We've had a lot of interest so far, and we expect even more as we get our fleet on the road."
"We also want the club to be democratic. If members want to see a particular car on the fleet, we'll do our best to get one. And that applies the other way around." But some cars are unlikely to make it onto the Autobahn choice list. Lamborghini models, for instance, can't be serviced on this side of the Irish Sea….and it becomes impractical to ship them to England for service or inevitable repairs. The same applies to some other top-end niche marques.
"But what we are entirely focused on is delivering the right sort of service from the start. We aim to make sure that everyone gets the cars they want when they want them….within reason. We're working hard to make sure that we have the right systems and procedures in place."
As it grows and develops, the club will also add other services and activities. Driving days are planned not only with Race School Ireland on local tarmac, but with the excellent Jonathan Palmer Motorsport Experience based in Bedfordshire in England.
Tailored trip to F1 Grand Prix events are another option.
"We're firmly centred around prestige cars at the moment, but we would like to be able to diversify in the future, perhaps into motorbikes, motorhomes, maybe even jetskis," adds Jamie Patterson.
Not surprisingly, he would also like to move south to tap into a Dublin marketplace which looks just about perfect for this sort of venture.
In the meantime, potential members here have the cars to look forward to:-
The list, once complete, will include the following:- Group 1 - Ferrari F430 Coupe Aston Martin DB9 Bentley Continental GT Porsche 911 Turbo Ferrari F360 Spider Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG Group 2 - Aston Martin AM V8 Maserati Coupe Mercedes-Benz SLK55 AMG Porsche 911 Cabriolet Porsche Cayenne Turbo Group 3 - BMW M5 TVR Sagaris Porsche Cayman S BMW M3 CS Mitsubishi EVO 340 bhp Contacts - To contact Autobahn call 0845 071 0111, log onto www.autobahnclub.com <http://www.autobahnclub.com> or email info@autobahnclub.com <mailto:info@autobahnclub.com>.
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