Here’s some advice from a racing pro: “Think of driving like dancing with a good-looking girl: Be nice, be gentle, and she’s going to reward you. If not, she’ll kick you.”

It may sound smarmy coming from anyone else, but when Roland Linder offered that advice to drivers at a recent World Class Driving (WCD) U.S. Supercar Tour, it made perfect sense. (The fact that he’s a dashing 60-year-old Frenchman didn’t hurt, either.)

It certainly paid to take the tip to heart as I jumped into (what I like to think of as) my Ferrari F430 Spider, a $220,000, 503-horsepower Lipizzano of a car. World Class Driving hosts 125 drive events nationwide each year, and at mine, a 140-mile meander by the banks of the Delaware River, the convertible supercar was just the first of six cars slotted for the day’s drive.

It turns out the scarlet stunner was the least of my worries. Afterward came a Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, Maybach 62 and Audi R8 V10–each of which packs more than 520 horsepower and (excepting the Maybach) can hit 60 miles per hour in 4.1 seconds or less.

The day began at the headquarters of Chester, N.J.-based car club Vulcan Motor Club with a safety and driving briefing from Linder, a two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans champion who drove professionally for Porsche and Ferrari. He told us how to brake and corner (“you must respect the car or it’s going to bite you”) and explained the cars’ manual paddle-shift transmissions. Vulcan acquired World Class Driving several months ago; they operate one combined fleet of 18 vehicles. Prices start at $1,695 for the day, not including a $5,000 insurance deductible carried by Vulcan.

My fellow drivers–a husband and wife celebrating his birthday, an older British gentleman, a father/son duo–looked to be typical participants for the half-day drive. Vulcan’s club memberships cost from $12,000 to $40,000 annually, but nonmember activities account for 60% of business, according to CEO Aaron Fessler. He says revenue has remained relatively steady through the economic downturn.

Many Dream Car Tour participants already have a Porsches or BMWs in their garages, Fessler says, but Vulcan provides a cost-effective way to actively indulge their short attention spans: “They like the club because it provides the cars they always wanted to drive and always dreamed about being close to, but out of practicality or cost they had never bought–a car with swinging doors or a lime green exterior that you couldn’t get your wife excited about.”

The day was a lesson in extremes. At one point, I found myself lounging on a cloud–er, in the back of the Maybach–fully reclined beside the champagne fridge pondering life under a 12-square-foot windowed roof. The next minute I was barreling down on the R8 in front of me, driving an achingly stylish Ferrrari 599 GTB–a car that seeps elegance and grace through every touch of the brake, every turn of the wheel.

Still, the GTB seemed downright domesticated, having just jumped out of the Gallardo Spyder (the aforementioned F430 was also undoubtedly more aggressive than its Ferrari brother). Gallardo’s combination neon paint job and roaring 520-horsepower, V12 engine created such a cacophony it was impossible to forget even for a second the beast struggling within–and I mean that in the very best of ways.

With the Gallardo, corners became opportunities to accelerate, and straightaways became ab-strengthening exercises. I may have also developed an addiction to the attention we drew blowing through small towns and bright farmer’s markets.

Tamer by a tad was the $146,000 Audi R8–out of all the cars in the group, this is the one I’d actually buy, a still-super-cool-but-practical daily driver. But let’s not go crazy here: In this case, “practical” means it has a 3-inch ledge behind the driver’s seat for a handbag or jacket, and that it doesn’t leave your ears ringing when you finally wrench yourself away from the wheel.

The R8 is a brilliant offering from Audi, expertly combining pluck (zero to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds) and plush (leather-shod sport seats, alcantara-wrapped wheel, carbon-fiber inlays galore) with supple handling and an exciting hum from the back upon acceleration. I can’t wait to drive the R8 Spyder when it comes out this fall.

Its distinctive tone was indeed reassuring–different from the fearsome growl of the McLaren, certainly, but welcome and fitting: The last words I heard from Linder before wrangling a cumulative 2,785 horses in one day? “Forget about the radio. Your radio is the engine in the front and in the back of the car.”

He didn’t have to tell me twice.

Reposted from Forbes.com

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

Joe Bartlett

Listen here.

Heard of fractional jet ownership? Well, now there is fractional supercar ownership.

Check out the Vulcan Motor Club’s exotic car club. It’s Kompani Group’s pick for innovative company of the week. Great answer for those recession weary playboys. Wonder if there are some other big ticket items that can be turned into fractional owner business models? Luxury houses, handbags, watches?

(Reposted from the Kompani Group.)

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

When Aaron Fessler goes to work, he walks into a garage that is wish fulfillment for the world’s dreamers and Car and Driver subscribers. An Audi R8, polished and gleaming, sits next to an all-business Ford GT-40, which is blocking the exit of a V-12 Aston-Martin DB9, Mercedes SLR McLaren and Lamborghini LP560-4. Did I mention the British Racing Green Tesla Roadster?

Welcome to Vulcan Motor Club, a timeshare for supercars that Fessler—a serial entrepreneur—started in New Jersey circa 2007 with his friend Tom Mizzone. Sign up for a $35,000 one-year membership and you get 40 days of access to a dozen supercars. They’ll even deliver them to you, full of gas (and given their thirst, you’ll need it). This is not the only entry in the field: Club Sportiva has the same basic idea.

The mangled hood of Vulcan’s first GT-40 sits in the reception area as a reminder of what can happen if you get one of these beasts sideways. It was one of two cars totaled since the club was founded (the other was a Lamborghini), but that hasn’t deterred 100 people from buying memberships and then, mostly, renewing for another driving season.

Fessler says that the club, which was funded by private investors and is a for-profit venture, will break even for the first time this year, and it is expanding. It has a $2 million auto inventory, but also 100 paying customers. You do the math. A second outlet has opened in Glen Cove, Long Island and a third is planned sometime next year in the Greenwich/Stamford, Connecticut area.

“Everything’s available as a timeshare this year,” said Fessler, whose last company, Media Sentry, rode herd on Internet pirates. “You can share yachts, vacations, handbags, watches.” Handbags and watches!

The club started with Dodge Vipers and Porsche twin turbos but soon discovered that these weren’t exclusive enough. The members already owned those: They wanted the real exotics, aspirational cars they’d only dreamed about and seen in glossy magazines. “We’re in the business of making happy people even happier,” said Fessler.

Since $150,000 supercars lose $50,000 of their value the minute they’re out of the showroom, Vulcan buys most of its cars “used.” The cars they buy are, to put it mildly, lightly used—many have 100 or fewer miles on them. For many, supercars are garage queens, rolling sculpture that doesn’t need to actually hit the road.

As an attitude, that’s rather unfortunate. These cars were built to be driven hard and put away wet, which is precisely what I—as a guest of the club—did with them.

It’s interesting to note that Fessler said the recession has, in some ways, been a boon to his business. The hedge fund managers who would simply have bought a new Ferrari last year now see the wisdom of simply sharing one. “They want to preserve their capital,” Fessler said. “They also have short attention spans, and we play to that, too—if you’re bored with the Ferrari you can drive the Lamborghini or the Aston-Martin.”

Originally posted at BNET Auto

“Car enthusiasts looking to bypass the 1,100+ people on the waiting list for the Tesla Roadster can do so with a membership to the Vulcan Motor Club, which just added this green monster to its extensive roster of high-performance luxury machines. With clubhouses in New York and New Jersey, Vulcan Motor Club puts its members in the driver’s seat of today’s most sought-after cars, ranging from the ultra-exclusive Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren and the Lamborghini Murcielago to the legendary Shelby Cobra 427 S/C, all at a fraction of the cost of ownership.”

Robb Report -Vulcan Motor Club - Noteworthy

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