And, when automotive enthusiasts get serious about supercars, they join Vulcan Motor Club.

When it comes to expensive cars, Edward Douglas has commitment issues.

Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Aston Martins, Bentleys — he has the urge to swap them as often as most drivers fill their gas tanks.

“My friends tease me for having a short attention span,” said Douglas, 39, who owns a Porsche and Mercedes but finds himself flipping through Automobile Magazine thinking, “What’s next?”

That’s why Douglas, who heads a wire and cable manufacturing company in Randolph, prefers to rent the ritzy cars instead of owning them.

For a fee of $29,000 a year, he can have access to a dozen exotic cars at the Vulcan Motor Club in Chester — a fair price, he said, considering his choices include new releases like the $495,000 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren and the $100,000-plus electric Tesla Roadster.

While the rest of the auto industry struggles, the high-end car rental industry appears to be gathering speed in New Jersey, where at least a handful of exotic-car clubs and their multimillion-dollar fleets are headquartered. Company owners say a growing number of consumers are renting the sleek, glossy vehicles for joyrides and daylong outings.

“We’re in a renter’s market,” said Vulcan co-founder Tom Mizzone, who estimates business is up 60 percent this year and the number of annual members has grown to nearly 100.

Exotic car clubs charge either by a single-day rate, ranging from several hundred dollars to several thousand dollars, or by membership, a timeshare-like arrangement that costs $10,000 to $50,000 for 20 to 80 driving days a year.

That makes them attractive to a surprisingly wide swath of customers, from casual drivers to car aficionados, who drive the brightly colored exotics to country clubs, Manhattan theatres, Atlantic City casinos and Cape Cod beaches.

Tom McDermott is one such customer. The 46-year-old photographs boats and runs a helicopter training school, where he owns 25 helicopters. But when it comes to exotic cars, he prefers to rent.

The owner of five Ferraris over the years, McDermott quickly learned that while helicopters usually appreciate in value, cars almost always depreciate. Exotics are costly and time-consuming to maintain, with insurance and repairs adding up to several thousand dollars a year — a scraped bumper alone can cost $400 to repaint.

They attract a lot of unwanted attention from curious passersby, making it impractical to drive them every day. And, like computers, once you invest in one, there’s always a newer, sleeker, faster one.

He said he would rather pay $20,000 a year to cruise around in any of 20 new cars — valued at a total of more than $4 million — offered by Gotham Dream Cars. The Hasbrouck Heights company has seen a 15 percent jump in business volume to about 80 rentals a month.

McDermott’s favorite ride? The fire-red Ferrari F430 Spider convertible, which can accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in 4.1 seconds. Inside, the tan leather interior is so supple it can be easily marred by the slightest brush with a key or cell phone.

“You get a sense of happiness driving it,” he said.

Still, he craves variety. “It’s like if every night you have lobster, you might say, hey, I want to try a hamburger instead,” said McDermott, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who rents from the club’s two locations in New Jersey and Florida.

So, on a recent afternoon, McDermott took part in the club’s “Legend” tour, a $1,500 afternoon event during which drivers in six cars travel as a caravan along back-country roads and winding mountain passes. Every half hour, they pull over and swap cars until everyone has had a chance to test out each car.

“It’s like wine tasting,” he said.

JERRY MCCREA/THE STAR-LEDGER
Bryan Zagaro of Teaneck familiarizes himself with the dashboard controls for the 2006 Lamborghini Gallardo at Vulcan Motors in Chester.
CHANGING NEEDS

Like the cars they crave, the industry’s clients come in a variety of molds. There are newlyweds and other one-off customers, like Victoria Kennedy, who once surprised her husband, Sen. Edward Kennedy, on his birthday by renting an Aston Martin Vanquish from Gotham — the car James Bond drove in “Die Another Day.”

Others are would-be buyers who are hesitant about buying an exotic car that could fall steeply in value during a time when the economy is shaky.

“People are becoming commitment-phobic,” said Noah Lehmann-Haupt, the founder of Gotham. “They don’t want to sign a lease for five or six years. A lot of people don’t know what the world will bring them.”

Then there are the “ultra-affluent” consumers, generally people with inherited wealth for whom several thousand dollars is “chump change,” said Scott Rothbort, a professor of finance at Seton Hall University’s Stillman School of Business. “These are people who will drink champagne out of glass slippers,” he said.

Perhaps the biggest chunk of business, however, belongs to the class of “aspirational” consumers, who come and go as industries rise and fall. They pass through the exotic car business like it’s a revolving door — entering when they’re flush with cash, exiting when their finances dwindle.

“One year it’s Wall Street mortgage brokers, the next year it’s oil and gas tycoons,” Rothbort said.

These days, those customers at Gotham include entrepreneurs, a bill collector, an anti-piracy software developer and a building contractor who got a boost from the economic stimulus, Lehmann-Haupt said. “The reality is, even in a recession, there’s always someone doing well,” he said.

A NEW KIND OF CLIENT

Meanwhile, at Xotic Dream Cars in Toms River, owner Deric Tikotsky said business has soared 250 percent year-over-year, in part because the recession has ushered in a new kind of client: Former exotic-car owners who were forced to sell the vehicles after losing their money in the stock market.

“They’re selling off their cars, they’re selling off their boats and they’ve started renting because they don’t want to lose that lifestyle,” he said.

In these tough economic times, however, clients are trying to enjoy that kind of lifestyle with more discretion, so as not to appear insensitive. In recent months, Douglas, the wire and cable manufacturer, has avoided driving the glitzy rentals to work because “it wouldn’t appear proper to my employees.” Instead, he opts for his Porsche 911 Turbo or Mercedes minivan.

And yet, for those who can afford it, resisting an exotic simply because there is a recession takes backseat to the adrenaline rush that comes from having all that horsepower, speed and luxury at their fingertips, Lehmann-Haupt said.

“People still feel the need for an escape,” he said. “It’s exhausting not to spend money.”

Leslie Kwoh may be reached at lkwoh@starledger.com or (973) 392-4147.

The Vulcan Motor Club, based in New Jersey, owns a dozen supercars, including a Tesla Roadster and a Ford GT40. Vulcan has about 100 members and annual memberships that cost up to $35,000. The founders, Aaron Fessler and Tom Mizzone, are serial entrepreneurs rather than hard-core car enthusiasts, and they began the business in 2007 because they saw an opportunity. Despite the economy, Vulcan has opened a second outlet in Glen Cove, N.Y.

Mr. Fessler said he noticed that the high price of exotics was followed by a precipitous drop of $50,000 to $60,000 once they had 100 miles on them. “For many people, and especially in this climate, it’s hard to justify that expense,” he said. “And people are time-sharing everything else, from yachts to watches, so why not cars?”

[Excerpted from Fractional Life, July 2008]

Ever wondered what it was like to drive a Lamborghini, Ferrari or Aston-Martin? Me too. I was able to find out as I got access to an exclusive country club for cars. They only allow 100 members. And they let me in for the day.

CHESTER, NEW JERSEY—I am at the wheel of a $495,000 Mercedes SLR McLaren Coupe, which offers sick acceleration and probably the most conspicuous automotive consumption this side of Koenigsegg (which makes $1 million supercars and just bought Saab).

My car, which is a brutal barely disguised racer, was once owned by a New Jersey groundskeeper who hit Powerball for a cool $77 million after taxes. But now it—and 11 other over-the-top road warriors—belong to the Vulcan Motor Club, which you can join and do what I’m doing if $35,000 a year is burning a hole in your pocket. That buys 40 days with the fleet, and they even deliver on flatbeds.

The idea for this business occurred to founder Aaron Fessler when he picked up a car buff magazine and noticed the insane price asked for Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Aston-Martins—and how quickly they depreciated. With 100 miles on the odometer, a $150,000 car is worth $100,000. For Vulcan, Fessler and partner Tom Mizzone buy garage queens and hand them over to the club’s 100 members—who include doctors, lawyers and hedge fund managers who’ve suddenly decided to be more prudent with their shrinking supply of available cash. A second outlet just opened in Glen Cove, Long Island, and the Greenwich, Connecticut area (where the rest of the hedge fund managers live) is next.

But enough nuts and bolts: What are these cars like to drive? Usually, only Road and Track reviewers and Arab oil sheikhs get to sit in these drivers’ seats. In point of fact, they’re very different. I drove a Ford GT-40, a Lamborghini LP560-4, an Audi R8, a V-12 Aston-Martin DB9 and a Tesla Roadster, and some were snarling snakes and others relatively docile.

My favorite was the R8, which had the perfect balance of criminally rapid acceleration and civility. The gated gearshift was heaven to use, and it made all the right noises, but underneath it all was a sensible Audi. On the other extreme were the McLaren and the GT-40, which as almost anyone will tell you is practically uncontrollable in the rain. And guess what? It was coming down hard all day. Keeping Ford’s hairy-armed beast in check gave me new respect for the drivers who won Le Mans with them four times in a row. It took two arms and a lot of push just to get it in reverse. Check out the video above.

They made me fill out insurance forms, but I didn’t come close to wrecking anything. Aside from the GT-40, most of these cars have redundant safety systems and tires the width of a T-Rex’s foot, with serious grip on the road. But if you were entirely sane you probably wouldn’t want to have anything to do with the Lamborghini or Ferrari brand. Two Vulcan cars, the first GT-40 (whose mangled hood serves as a warning in the reception area) and a Lamborghini have been totaled by members.

At the end of the day, I had the most fun in the green Tesla roadster. Although zero to 60 comes up in four seconds and 135 mph is possible, it feels incredibly fast even when pottering along at 50. The Aston-Martin made 90 seem slow, and that might be dangerous if the local constabulary is an issue.

There’s also the carbon footprint question. The Tesla has zero emission. The Lamborghini Murcielago averages 11 mpg—you pay gas guzzler tax for a reason. By spending this high-octane day in New Jersey I probably equaled car nut Jay Leno’s carbon output for the day. The Tesla lets you have your fun and wave the green flag, too.

Oh, if $35k is too rich for your blood, they also have five-hour “Wind and Fire” tours that give you a chance to drive the whole fleet.

Originally posted at Mother Nature Network

Can’t decide between the Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder and the Audi R8? No need. With membership in the Vulcan Motor Club, you can slip behind the wheel of one today and the other next Tuesday. Then there’s the Ford GT, Ferrari F430, Bentley Flying Spur – they’re all part of the club’s exotic fleet, available for members for up to a week at a time.

“We have the perfect car for every occasion,” asserts president Tom Mizzone, who founded the Chester, N.J.-based club last year. “Members can make a phone call and have an Aston Martin delivered to their office in pristine condition, drive it for five days, then make another phone call and have it disappear.”

Vulcan offers three levels of membership to sate any automotive appetite: True connoisseurs may choose the Platinum option ($25,000 annually), which provides 40 days of use and up to 4,000 miles. Gold ($14,500) offers 20 days, up to 2,000 miles. For enthusiasts in the making, Silver ($9,500) provides 10 days, up to 1,000 miles. And don’t worry about exhausting your options.

New luxury cars are added frequently, and Mizzone promises the ratio of members to vehicles will never exceed seven to one.”We’re really committed to keeping the fleet new for our members,” he says.”