Classic Car Club Manhattan
Classic Car Club Manhattan, which offers a fleet of classic and contemporary sports cars to dues-paying members, will expand early next month from its original SoHo branch
to the Upper East Side. “It’s a turn-of-the-century carriage house,” said Michael Prichinello, co-founder of the club, of the new outpost. “We chose it because physically it’s
in the right area: easy to get in and out of town.”
The structure, at 182 East 73rd Street and sandwiched between two parking garages, contains a curious feature: a turntable in the floor, which was probably used to orient carriages. The new branch should accommodate
12 cars with additional room to expand, Mr. Prichinello said in a telephone interview. In keeping with the building’s vintage, its interior will feature Victorian furnishings and offer members 24-hour access
to its lounges.
John Munson, a Manhattan resident and Classic Car Club member, will manage the new location. Mr. Munson’s background is in real estate and private-jet charters, though he is probably best known for his appearance
as a contestant on “Jeopardy!”, when he wore a jaunty ascot and proclaimed himself a “gadabout.”
The SoHo branch of the Classic Car Club opened in 2005 and was the stateside beachhead for the London-based organization, which itself opened in 1995.
From the SoHo location in Lower Manhattan, nuzzled against the New Jersey-bound entrance to the Holland Tunnel, the club operates a fleet of about 50 cars. Insurance and maintenance are covered by members’ fees,
but parking and speeding tickets are not. Despite the global recession, membership has held steady.
Classic Car Club Manhattan
“Downtown is in the mid-300s,” said Mr. Prichinello of the membership. “We’re about at capacity, which is really the reason we’re opening the new branch.”
A member pays an annual fee in return for an allotment of points based on a specific level of membership. The more money paid, the more driving days that are available throughout the year. Premium levels of membership,
like the so-called Carbon Fiber Collection, permit access to more exotic and expensive cars, the midengine Ferrari F-430 and Audi R8 among them.
Points are cashed in each time a car is borrowed from the fleet, with a sliding scale deducting points based on the duration of the vehicle loan, the value of the car and even the season. Driving a Ferrari F-430 for
a weekend in July will burn up more points than opting for a week with the club’s 1969 Ford Bronco in February.
New members pay a one-time fee of $2,000, along with a minimum of $8,000 for the basic 750-point annual membership.
To keep clients signing up, new vehicles are regularly added to the fleet. A Ferrari 458 Italia and Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG are set to arrive within a few weeks, Mr. Prichinello said. He said that more stately classic
cars could play well in the Victorian club atmosphere of the Upper East Side branch. Already in the club’s stable are a 1955 Porsche 550 Sypder and 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet, two cars capable
of turning heads along the Hudson or in the Hamptons.
“But at the end of the day, people on the Upper East Side also like brand-new Ferraris,” Mr. Prichinello said.
Source: https://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/a-carriage-house-for-horseless-classics/