It’s a motorhead’s dream come true: access to a stable full of the world’s hottest (and most expensive) luxury sports cars without having to shell out the impressive number of greenbacks it would take to purchase them. Imagine picking your date up in a Lotus Elise tonight, then cruising down the coast in a 1965 Corvette tomorrow. Want to take a Ferrari 348 out for a spin? No problem, just call the club.

Exotic car clubs are springing up across the country. Kind of like a country club built around cars instead of golf, they offer members the chance to drive some of the world’s most luxurious sports cars. Generally based on ride-sharing or fractional ownership, these clubs offer high-end sports clubs for their members to drive. A typical annual membership fee can run $250 and up, plus the usage fee which varies by car. At one auto club, spending the weekend behind the wheel of a 1997 Corvette will cost you $250. Trade up to a Ferrari and you’ll have to dig deeper to come up with the $800 required to call it yours for the weekend.

Even at those rates, exotic car clubs say their members are saving money compared to the cost of buying, maintaining and gassing top model sports cars. Annual maintenance on one of these babies can easily run $15,000 or more. The average length of time most members drive club cars is about 30 days a year. At one club that would run you a little over $5,000. Not too bad actually when you consider the cost of buying and maintaining a sports car of this caliber.

With purchase prices starting at $60,000 and climbing, more sports car fans are turning to car clubs than buying their own. A website dedicated to exotic car clubs lists 30 car-sharing clubs in 17 states (including California) and 4 foreign countries. Many clubs have seen noticeable growth in recent months which they contribute to the slow economy. Sports car enthusiasts would rather rent a pricey car from a club than buy it.

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