As has been hinted before, we are on the threshold of making some huge changes to the club. All of you should have received a letter sent last week by now, but for those of you who are yet to read it, I'm going to add it below. Please let us know what you think of these proposals. Currently our lawyers are preparing the structure and necessary documentation, and as soon as that is finalisd, I'll put together a proper offer document!
Dear All,
We’re writing to you today to share some exciting new ideas we have for the Club which will enhance the Members’ enjoyment of the Club and the fleet. We have always sought to develop the fleet into more reliable, and thereby more available, modern cars as well as still providing diversity of driving experiences. Historically we have managed this through organic growth of membership and investing excess income in the Fleet as and when we could. However, today’s financial and oil markets means that the appeal of luxury car ownership is waning, and with many forced car sales imminent there will be an opportunity to snap up some bargains in our market.
As some of you know, we've spent the last 2-3 months thinking up our ‘dream’ fleet. The cars in our current fleet have become overly dependant on maintenance and can disappoint members through their non-availability. So, we've put together a fleet that should be much more reliable and hence available more of the time, but that also should be considerably more desirable. Both these factors will make membership even more fun! Whilst some of the cars may appear to be similar to those on the current fleet, they will be 10 or so years younger (911, S600, Bentley). We also have a reserve list of cars to be swapped in and out as opportunities arise - but would love to see this topic stimulate some real discussion as to the sort of cars members would like to see in the club! This is our initial ‘dream’ fleet:
2000 Ferrari 456M GT* 2002 Maserati 4200 GTA*
1999 Aston Martin DB7 V12 Vantage* 1999 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 (996)
1995 Honda NSX 1995 Bentley Turbo RL
1995 AC Cobra 2002 TVR Tamora
2000 Honda S2000 1997 Lotus Elise Sport160
2001 Mercedes S600L 2002 Caterham Super Seven SV
1958 Porsche 550A Spyder (with a new gearchange mechanism)
1966 Jaguar E-type s1 Roadster (with new interior, seats and roof)
1974 Rolls Royce Corniche (with a bodywork restoration)
1960 Jaguar Mk2 3.8 MOD (with new engine)
16 cars that we think are a great mix of classic, luxury, sports and supercars. Something for everyone, and cars that should be much less arduous for the club to maintain than the current fleet, giving much higher percentage of time on the road and thus be less frustrating for members. Cars that won’t depreciate, and ones that to most owners would be seen as luxuries. What do you think?
Now we are well established, with a long standing and stable membership, we are looking to move the Club ‘up a gear’ with this step change in the Fleet as suggested earlier. However, we will need to act quickly to take advantage of the cheap cars available in the current financial climate, and so will be unable to achieve this without raising some additional funds above the normal membership input. We have discussed this development with the other Classic Car Clubs in London and New York (who have successfully done just this), sought professional advice as well as being ‘steered’ by some of our own Members, and have arrived at what we feel is the perfect scheme!
To this end we are offering our membership the chance to invest in the Fleet to enable this transformation, with investors gaining some unique rewards in the form of special membership options and special cars. With a far more valuable fleet we will introduce ‘premium’ cars – as marked with an asterisk in the list above. Post renewals, these will be available only to platinum members and investors and will attract excess miles payments (paid in points). This is consistent with the way all other clubs function.
Our intention is to provide members the opportunity to invest in such a way that their money is secure, offering a return equivalent to some 4x that offered by the best savings accounts, allowing the member some of the pleasures of ‘ownership’ and enabling the club to buy a selection of cars that investors can enjoy at the same time as reaping the above benefits. Members who are not in a position to participate in this will still benefit as they will get the enhanced fleet to drive with increased availability!
The current company will be split into an operating company and a fleet holding company, with the latter only holding cash and car assets with no liabilities other than to its investors. Investment would be into this fleet holding company and these investments would thus be backed by assets of an equivalent value. We plan 3 levels of investment: £10k, £20k or £30k and each investment would reward the investor with an annual membership equivalent to Country, Standard & Platinum respectively. On top of this, investors would get full access to the entire fleet (members would need platinum level to get this), plus enhanced upgrade options, and should we raise enough money, we would buy a car for investors only – a Lamborghini Gallardo!
The deal is being structured by lawyers and tax accountants right now, and the formal offer letter should be ready by the end of the month. Having spoken to many members, it seems there is a real appetite for this, and we would anticipate it being very popular. As we only need to raise a fixed level of funds, investment will be allocated on a first come – first served basis, so if you’ve any queries contact us now and be ready to act when the offer letter is finished.
