Is this a gimmick, or actually pretty cool?

So my friend suggested that I do this:

http://manhattan.classiccarclub.com/default.asp

What do people think? Slim chance anyone's a member? I guess I'm most curious about the practicality of getting the cars when I want, and whether it practically works out to a pretty good deal. I live in the city, but I can't live without cars, so about once or twice a month, I rent a car and drive out the Long Island to see friends and family. Longshot, but I'm thinking it may be cool.

Opinions?

I think it is what it is. No gimmicks. However, the name is misleading. They have a good number of non-classic cars.

Yes, its cool, but I'm not sure if it is a good deal or not. $7000 a year got me the Camaro, the SuperSport or the Super Bee for six weekends a year. Seems steep. Cool cars, though.

Um, the best Ferrari they have is a Ferrari 348 GTB? Really? I mean, yes it's a Ferrari, it's a lot of fun to drive, but it's hardly an F430. They need better cars, and then it might be worth the $7000 asking price.

Jon.

Originally Posted by Earthmover

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So my friend suggested that I do this: http://manhattan.classiccarclub.com/default.asp

I'm nowhere near the income level required to even think about joining this kind of club, but even if I could spare that kind of cash I'd think pretty hard. Buying a classic car gives you an asset you can sell later (even appreciate in value if you pick the right one), whereas renting cars is essentially throwing the money away.

Suppose if $7000 was pocket change to me I'd probably do it though

You can buy a BMW 2002 for $7000.

Originally Posted by LabelKing

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You can buy a BMW 2002 for $7000.

Isn't that for something in the 3 series? And even then, I think you'd be getting a great deal for a 2002 BMW for $7000.

I guess this situation is unique in that owning a car is a huge disadvantage to someone living in NYC. Even leaving aside the insurance costs, parking the car will probably be at least $400 a month in most decent manhattan neighborhoods (i.e. where the car is accessible within 5 minutes of you thinking, "I want to drive it right now"). So that's $5000, right there. That's a lot of money to be spending for easy access to a car that, frankly, you will not use every day.

This was basically my thought: Let's assume that I have enough free time to drive a car about twice a month, for 2 day weekends at a time (on average). That's 48 days out of the year. If I rent a car from Hertz, the cheapest I can get the car is about $80/day, which doesn't include insurance, and getting their subcompact car, like a Pontiac Grand Am or something of that ilk. If I upgrade to a midsize, like a Buick, and get insurance, I can look to about $110 to 120 range. Assuming about $100/day, I'm spending something like $4800 a year.

The car club seems to imply that a standard membership will get you about 30 to 40 days a year. If you're paying $8500 to join for the first year, essentially you're paying a premium of $3700 a year (or approximately $77 for every day of rental) to drive cooler cars and having good insurance coverage.

And while I surely can use the money for more practical stuff like feed the needy, support the arts (read: Cleverley), or a gambling binge starring Mr. Daniel and Marlboro Man, it seems kinda cool to do for a year or two, when I have no girlfriends giving me a look of disdain for frivolous spending.

I think if you like driving cool cars, it really doesn't sound that bad. When else am I going to drive a '72 Jaguar outside of Gran Turismo 4?

I thought the possible pitfalls may come from (1) Lack of availability in a practical sense, (2) takes more trouble to get to the rental place than the local Hertz, which is 3 blocks from my apartment, and (3) me miscalculating/leaving out an important expenditure associated therewith.

But I still can't shake the idea of a weeklong driving tour through Maine on crisp Autumn days in a 1965 AC Shelby Cobra.

Craziness? Lunacy? Blinded by the prospect of cool cars?

Originally Posted by Earthmover

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Isn't that for something in the 3 series? And even then, I think you'd be getting a great deal for a 2002 BMW for $7000.
I think he means the model named 2002:

Originally Posted by Kent Wang

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I think he means the model named 2002:

That is one hot car! Look at those cur-- um, angles. My, they are very complementary.

A rather pitiful collection compared to the clubs available in London (which presumably inspired the founders of this one).

Yes, the model called 2002. However, that particular example is a rather unfortunate one.

I've seen the BMW 3.0CS 2800 for about $7,000-10,000. Even some Porsches, notably the 912 series, can be had in that range.

Originally Posted by whoopee

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A rather pitiful collection compared to the clubs available in London (which presumably inspired the founders of this one).

Actually, the NY club is an outpost of the London one; owned and operated by the same people.

It doesn't have the "classic car focus", but I was thinking of Damon Hill's club and one of its competitors.

None of those cars are classics.

Originally Posted by Nantucket Red

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None of those cars are classics.

I guess the 'Pretty Cool Car Club' didn't test well.