Driver Tuition Dates...

All in East Lothian and with an Association of Race Drivers Schools instructor. Cost £80 in cash payable on the day, or £100 by card. You need to pass this course in order to drive the Cobra, Maserati, Elise, TVR, Ferrari  and Caterham.

28th April 6pm (tuesday)

16th May 9.30am (saturday)

26th May 6pm (tuesday)

29th June 6pm (monday)

27th July 6pm (monday)

These are sure to be popular, so please book quickly with me to avoid disappointment.

cheers

Matt

We've got an Aston Martin!

I've just returned from the South Coast of England where I picked up a lovely 2001 Aston Martin DB7 V12 Vantage. It's dark metallic green with a tan interior, and only has 21,000 miles from new with a full Aston service history. It's drop dead gorgeous and handled the cruise back up here with no problems. And it came with the private plate V12 TOP which really finishes it!

Pictures to follow soon, but if you want to see it over Easter, head to Ocean Terminal where it will be on display for the big boy's toy show!

So, why a DB7 and not a DB9? In my ideal world we would have bought a DB9, but since october the prices of 9's hasn't really dropped, whilst all similar cars have shown much greater depreciation. We must remember that compared with previous Astons, the current models are mass produced and as a result there are more DB9's for sale than Honda S2000's in the UK (and has been since Oct) this makes me think that reality hasn't bitten and more depreciation is yet to come for the DB9. I suspect even the older, and most depreciated ones will lose a further 25% over the next year. I also know of a city hedge fund manager who bought 50 brand new, unregistered DB9's from Aston for around half price..... So the club's view is that DB7's have pretty much done all their depreciation, and next year the 9's should be a good deal cheaper. And then, when you've all had a chance to try the 7, we'll upgrade to the 9!

Drop me a line if you want to book her!

Supercar day, Sunday 10th May, Corbridge

A couple of members are planning to visit the Dyvel's Inn Supercar day. It's just over the border near Hexham, which is a nice run down from Edinburgh. They are expecting nearly 200 exotica, including a GT40 and De Tomaso amongst all the usual suspects. Click on this link to find out what last year's event was like:
Pistonheads article on 2008 supercar sunday
Book soon if you want to take a club car.
MN

Photos & Video from driving day

28/29 March - OPEN WEEKEND

The darkness is gone and all round Scotland sleeping sports cars get rolled out of garages and washed as it’s time to DRIVE again. Sunshine, long light evenings and slip-free tarmac mean that for those who love to drive, the rest of the year starts now!

And for those of you with curiosity about the merits of some of the most exciting metal on the roads, help is at hand. For here at CCC we’ve spent over £200k on new SUPERCARS. AMG S55L, Ferrari 550 Maranello, Porsche 911/996 Turbo, TVR Tamora, big Healey, Porsche Boxster S, Caterham 7 SV, Bentley Turbo RL and I *think* (long story) an Aston DB7 V12 Vantage - all new for 09.

Ladies and Gentlemen, that is some SERIOUS fun. And the best news is that a membership of CCC allows you to drive the cars above, and 11 other very desirable motor cars, when and where you wish. See www.cccedinburgh.co.uk for full details of the fleet, and how the club works. You could be driving off in a legendary 1999 Ferrari 550 Maranello. 5500cc, V12, 485bhp, 199mph for stat heads. Timeless elegance, genuine object of desire, sheer luxury for the aesthetes. Unbelievable VALUE for £200 per mth!

Even better, is that if you happen to be in Leith over the weekend of the 28/29^th March, and drop in to see all the cars at our Open Weekend, we’ll give you an extra 10% driving free when you join! (Not Country) See you there 11-6? To all current members - bring all your pals to envy at your fine selection of motor vehicles. And if any of them take the plunge and join, we'll give you 10% for each off your renewal!

PS remember the Clocks on Sunday!

A frustrating week for CCC

I just wanted to share some of the frustrations that have wasted far too much of my time this week, and apologise if this impacts any member. As you can see, all of this was out of out my control, but incredibly annoying.

1) The good news - I agreed to buy a 2001 Aston Martin DB7 V12 Vantage on Tuesday. The bad news - since then the owner has turned his phone off and disappeared. Very odd, but back to stage one on the Aston hunt I suspect.

2) The good news - the Exige mentioned in the previous post sold for £2500 less than we originally bought it for. The bad - not to us. British Car Auctions 'Live online' system crashed 2 mins before our auction and didn't let us bid, despite the fact that we would have happily bid higher than the winning bid. I vented my anger by writing stroppy letters to the head of BCA and also to Black Horse, the underlying vendor.

3) The good news - we were offered a low miles 2003 Honda NSX 6-speed gearbox for a good price. As the current one is starting to show signs of sloppiness, and as the current 5-speed takes an expensive twin plate clutch, the new box will not only be nicer to shift, have a taughtness about it and a nicer clutch action, it will also pay for itself after 2 clutch changes. The bad news - despite being expected to arrive a week ago, TNT have managed to lose it. It's only a little gearbox on a pallet, so I can understand how it might have slipped down the back of someones desk. God only knows when and if it might arrive.

4) The good news - the Boxster is in the club garage, complete with V5 to tax it. The bad news - on thursday someone marched into the garage and ran off with the only set of keys that came with the car. This means that the car has to be unlifted to Porsche, who then order a new set of keys from Stuttgart, and then spend a couple of hours being reprogrammed. About £500. Annoying, but it should be ready by the Open Weekend.

I know that after 6 properly great months for the club I really need to put this into perspective, but it still frustrates me that stuff like this can impact on you guys. Anyway, the sun is shining, and I'm off to collect our new Bentley from the paint shop. Pics on Monday!

MN

Boxster S is here and Exige?

On friday I bought you guys a Boxster and an Exige - more of the latter later...

The Boxster is a 2000 S manual in Silver with black leather and sat nav. It's currently sitting on 997 turbo 19" alloys which don't look right on it, but I may put them on our 2002 Turbo and get some original wheels. Here to replace the S2000 it will be an interesting comparison for those of you who enjoyed the Honda. I'm just waiting for a V5 so I can tax it, then it's good to go!

I also bought a 2006 Lotus Exige. Black, with black wheels and black interior, it's everything you'd want an Exige to look like. I bought it at the trade auctions, but shortly after I bought it I threw a strop because driving it away it was clear there was a problem with the gearbox. So, the car will go back to auction with the auction house declaring a defective gearbox, and maybe we will buy it again for a decent amount less!

Remember the open weekend next weekend - come along and see all the great metal we've bought!

cheers

Matt