Thursday, 1 August 2013
Supercar membership club now open
Singapore’s first supercar membership club was launched yesterday and it will offer 100 high-net worth individuals the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a super sports car for a fee. Gran Superdrive is founded by Henry Goh and his associates - a group of car enthusiasts who are also veterans of the car industry.
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Supercar membership club now open
By Samuel Ee
01 August 2013
Singapore’s first supercar membership club was launched yesterday and it will offer 100 high-net worth individuals the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a super sports car for a fee. Gran Superdrive is founded by Henry Goh and his associates - a group of car enthusiasts who are also veterans of the car industry.
Mr Goh, a businessman in his mid-30s, says his associates prefer to keep a low profile. What is clearly more attention-grabbing are the cars, such as the Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, Ferrari F430 Spider, Jaguar F-Type, Maserati GranCabrio and Porsche Boxster S.
“At the moment, we are featuring 12 cars, with one or two to be the first to appear in Singapore,” explains Mr Goh.
Some are newly registered, like the F-Type roadster, and all are “not over three years old”. He declines to state their total value but it is understood to be close to $10 million.
He adds: “We want to have as many unique cars as possible, and a convertible is always more exciting.”
To jump into a Gran Superdrive car, one must be a member and there are four tiers of membership fees - $10,000, $25,000, $50,000 and $100,000 - with bonus credits of up to 60 per cent during the current launch period.
That means someone signing up for the $100,000 VIP tier will get a total of $160,000 in credits, which he can use to rent a Gallardo Spyder, for instance, at $2,500 per day including insurance.
According to Mr Goh, this is more attractive than the market rate of $2,800 to $3,000 for a Gallardo Coupé. He adds: “The VIP tier also includes delivery and pick-up service.”
Getting a supercar experience without having to own one is already possible in Europe and the US, where such clubs charge members a fee for access to a fleet of high-end sports cars.
But this is the first time this model is taking off here. In fact, one source says some mainland Chinese are also planning to launch such a supercar club because “it is common in China”.
“Over there, as in Europe and the US, there are more driving roads, so the concept can be successful,” says the source. “Also, the cars don’t cost as much.”
Here in Singapore, however, Gran Superdrive is more than just about driving a wider range of supercars without having to contend with high depreciation. “It’s on-demand, like changing clothes. You drive the car you like,” says Mr Goh.
But more than that, he wants to foster the “club culture”. “We want to energise the networking of members,” he says, adding that there will be exclusive weekly gatherings.
So far, there have been “1,000 registrations of interest” for the 100 available places. Mr Goh expects “a good mix of members, generally wealthy” and with experience or ownership of high-performance cars.
“Maybe at the Porsche level but not to the Ferrari or Lamborghini level.”
But one thing all of them have to do before they can become Gran Superdrive members is to sit down for a chat with Mr Goh first.
“I want to meet them personally to understand them.”
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