Join the club and drive a supercar

Scuderia 250 offers access to top models and a membership presents a cheap and relatively risk-free way to indulge in luxury motoring.

Alex Grose of Scuderia 250, which aims to have 100 members by year end.

When Ian Evans wants to go for a drive, he chooses among 10 supercars, ranging from a Ferrari California to an Aston Martin DB9 Volante convertible. That makes a dream garage for any car lover. Mr Evans got them all for just Dh95,000 (US$25,865), the annual fee to join Scuderia 250, the first supercar club in the Middle East.

"I own a supercar myself anyway, but to have access to all of the cars in Scuderia, if you tried to own them or rent them it could cost a fortune," said the 45-year-old regional sales director for a software company. "It's a cost-effective way to have access to supercars." Many car dealers have been hurt by consumers shying away from big-ticket purchases such as cars because of the economic downturn, with the market expected to shrink by 8.5 per cent, according to one research firm.

But that thriftiness is a boon for Scuderia 250 since the membership fee is a cheap and relatively risk-free way to indulge in these luxury machines. "People still want to be seen in the right cars," said Tim Connif, who owns Scuderia. "But with there being a recession out there, people need to consider before spending every dirham, and what they're getting out of it." Over the past three months, membership has accelerated, with seven to 10 new members joining each month. Scuderia, which is an Italian word that roughly translates into "stable of racing horses", now has 40 members. It plans to have 100 by the end of the year.

Club fees range from Dh120,000 for the top package, called the Monaco, with as many as 65 driving days annually, to Dh55,000 for the Silverstone, a six-month membership with fewer driving days. While membership is not cheap, it still comes in at less than the million-dirham price tag for a supercar, as well as the interest payments on a loan, said Alex Grose, the club's general manager. "Putting those costs aside, the insurance on one of these cars is expensive," he said. "The servicing is expensive. All those general wear and tear costs add up to more than our top-tier membership."

While the club is open to anyone, the membership, so far, is all male, and typically between the ages of 35 and 55. The members tend to be managing directors or chief executives, Mr Grose said. "They sell one or two of their pride-and-joy Lamborghinis, but they're still petrol heads through and through," he said. "And somehow or another, they're looking for avenues to get behind the wheel." The club was originally started last November by two entrepreneurs from the UK, Mr Connif said. The pair had arranged a loan for the venture from a local bank just before the downturn took hold in the Gulf. As the economy worsened late last year, the bank withdrew its loan offer.

But Mr Connif, a former property developer in Europe, saw the venture's potential and bought the business. Early this year, he bankrolled it himself. The economic slump that mired Mr Connif's predecessors became his advantage. In these hard times, dealerships were offering deep discounts and private owners were resorting to distress sales of their luxury cars, he said. That enabled Mr Connif to buy 10 luxury road cars and two full-fledged racing cars for the club for about Dh5 million. Scuderia 250 recently moved into a new warehouse in Al Quoz and was building a members' lounge, Mr Grose said. Nestled in the loft above the car showroom, plans are for the lounge to have a cafe, pool table, putting green, racing video game and TVs for watching races.

Members can also take one of the two racing cars for laps at the Dubai Autodrome. The club's Seat Leon Cup Car, a red hatchback kitted out with a single racing seat and a full roll cage, was used on the British Touring Championship circuit, Mr Grose said. Scuderia's operations manager, Sean Stephens, is also the former driving instructor at the autodrome and teaches members how to navigate the track's tight curves.

For some, membership is more about arriving than driving. "I hate to say it, but Dubai has a streak of vanity in it," Mr Grose said. "They like to be seen doing the best things, driving the best things, wearing the best things. "For a lot of our members, being able to turn up at a hotel and valet park in the latest Ferrari is a nice thing." For Mr Evans, it is all about adrenalin. "The opportunity to have hundreds of horsepower about six inches behind your shoulder is an amazing experience. And you never get tired of it."