A standout performance

For lawyers who want it all, a new prestige car club is offering a smorgasbord of high-powered vehicles for consumption. Alex Boxsell gets a taste of life in the fast lane.

With the top peeled back like a stocking from the leg of a supermodel, my first drive in a convertible Ferrari F430 sent any thought of mortgages and overseas holidays speeding from my mind.

But the fantasy doesn’t stop there. Imagine taking a Lamborghini Murcielago for an Easter long weekend to the Blue Mountains, only to follow it up with a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti on Anzac Day. Impossible for many, but not for the new members of prestige and performance car club, P1 International.

Co-founded by former Formula One world champion Damon Hill in the UK in 2000, the club has two branches in Britain, and has chosen Sydney as the first of many international sites in which to operate.

Launching in Sydney on 1 December, and Melbourne in March next year, the club opens a full garage of luxury cars to driving enthusiasts. Boasting a $4 million fleet in Sydney with membership currently at around 40, the club will continue to add vehicles as the membership climbs toward a cap of 150.

It will be as though the car at home suddenly has some very attractive friends from Europe to stay for the weekend.

Within reason, members are encouraged to use their elite cars as they were built to be used. Get an Aston Martin DB9 Volante on the Pacific Highway and flog it to Cairns. Or put a Bentley Continental GT onboard a cruise ship to Tasmania and tour the bed and breakfast circuit. The choice is literally yours.

The service is discrete and designed for maximum convenience. Once booked, a car of your choosing can be brought – with full tank and sparkling clean – to wherever you want it to be. Touch down from Melbourne at Sydney airport and jump straight into a waiting Porsche 997 Turbo – then drop it back to a staff driver at the terminal before your flight home.

Membership is sure to attract an exclusive crowd. Already P1 has signed on members from Clayton Utz , Deacons and Allens Arthur Robinson , as well as one barrister based in Sydney.

Although the benefits of networking is not something the club necessarily wishes to stress, it does have five member days throughout the year, including golf tournaments and a December function.

It also plans to run track days, where members will be invited to Eastern Creek to wrap their favourite models around tight corners under the tutelage of professional drivers.

“P1 has been established as a way for savvy car fanatics to indulge their passion for prestige sports cars,” Tim Sommers, managing director of P1 Australia, says.

“We offer members access to an ultimate garage of the world’s finest and fastest cars, without the usual drawbacks and high costs of performance car ownership such as depreciation, maintenance, insurance and storage.”

This is how it works: members join at one of three levels, depending on how much access they want throughout the year. The $4,550 joining fee is standard across the board, with the additional annual fee varying according to the points you wish to draw from. All options allow for around 45 to 70 days of driving pleasure per annum.

The top of the range ‘monaco’ deal will set you back $36,500 a year, but you get 1,000 points to play with. The point system is spread over the days of the week and the seasons of the year, as well as the category of car you can use.

The highest rate is 60 points per day between Friday and Monday in summer for a category 5 car – a selection of two Ferraris, two Aston Martins and a Lamborghini.

Members and their life partners will be fully insured for any motoring misadventures, though the club is not open to absolutely anyone. Your driving record and experience will certainly be carefully evaluated. This is in order to protect the fleet for the enjoyment of the membership, especially considering that many of the models are offered for sale when they become outdated or reach a certain mileage.

A major benefit of club membership is the ability to get the latest cars ahead of their release in Australia. For instance, Peter Dempsey, National Sales Director, says P1 was one of the first three parties to order a convertible Bentley Continental, and the first to lock in the new Audi R8 for mid-2007.

Whatever your taste in luxury, performance cars, P1 has the garage to get your motor running.

23-Nov-2006

Related Tags

p1 international ferrari , car club

Related News

Work-life balance key to staffing Wednesday, November 19, 2008
WORK-LIFE balance is the key factor in attracting and retaining staff and is even more important than salary, according to recent research

Road to work a slipstream Tuesday, September 02, 2008
There’s a very good cure for the commute-to-work blues – buy a bike! Angela Priestley speaks to lawyers who have put their mettle to the pedal

Not so secret desires: Lamborghini’s automotive feast Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Lamborghini’s Gallardo Superleggera is a stunning piece of automotive machinery, writes Andrew Clarke

Pleasing Spain Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Jacqui Gowan is taking tapas up a notch. Zoe Lyon descends beneath Sydney’s King Street to discover sophisticated, sultry Spanish.

Manage your gym investment Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Despite the best of intentions, Gym memberships often end up as money down the drain. Fitness trainer Brian Merril has some tips on how to make the most from your investment

E-NEWSLETTER

Browse Firms:

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

Browse News Topics:

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

News | About Us | Privacy Policy | News Archive | RSS | Advertising | Contact Us | Add My Firm | Industry Links