Old car business idea
Discussion
Talking to some mates last night we were discussing how we would all be interested in having a go in quite ordinary cars from decades ago. Cars parents used to own, or that we learnt to drive in 30 or 40 years ago. Morris Minors, Ford Cortinas, VW Beetles etc. They are sometimes available for hire and occasionally offered by classic car clubs, but a whole day is probably a bit much just as an experience. After half an hour trying to keep up with modern traffic and with no air con the novelty would probably wear off.
What we wondered about was whether it would be possible to offer 'old car experience days' on the same lines as Supercar experience days.
IE Hire a circuit and have a fleet of ordinary old cars that people could take turns in.
The big problems I can see are.
1) It would only appeal to motoring enthusiasts, and perhaps not many of them, whereas driving a supercar appeals to a big section of the public.
2) It would have to be priced at an 'interesting day out' rather than 'bucket list' level. Given the cost of the circuit and keeping the cars maintained, it might not be possible to undercut the price of Supercar days significantly.
Is this a total non starter or could it possibly be made to work.
What we wondered about was whether it would be possible to offer 'old car experience days' on the same lines as Supercar experience days.
IE Hire a circuit and have a fleet of ordinary old cars that people could take turns in.
The big problems I can see are.
1) It would only appeal to motoring enthusiasts, and perhaps not many of them, whereas driving a supercar appeals to a big section of the public.
2) It would have to be priced at an 'interesting day out' rather than 'bucket list' level. Given the cost of the circuit and keeping the cars maintained, it might not be possible to undercut the price of Supercar days significantly.
Is this a total non starter or could it possibly be made to work.
It's not a bad idea. Advertise in SAGA and similar publications to capture the gift market as I can really see this appealing to older people. Especially handy as they would be happy taking weekdays for a lower price which means your fleet gets a better takeup rate.
There are old car rental businesses about so spend a bit of time working out how you would be different.
There are old car rental businesses about so spend a bit of time working out how you would be different.
Dr Jekyll said:
.......1) It would only appeal to motoring enthusiasts, and perhaps not many of them, whereas driving a supercar appeals to a big section of the public......
This is the biggest problem of all - The market for this is far too limited.Added to that, the cars you are talking about are simply not very exciting to drive, there's no thrill factor that the other experience days provide.
Sorry if I sound like a bit of a party pooper but I just get the impression that if it was a feasible proposition, someone would already be doing it (or something similar).
4rephill said:
Sorry if I sound like a bit of a party pooper but I just get the impression that if it was a feasible proposition, someone would already be doing it (or something similar).
Must admit that was my initial thought. Mind you I don't want to be like the apocryphal economist who ignored a ten pound note on the pavement because if it was real someone would already have picked it up.I like it and could see myself going for something like this, a few thoughts:
Clearly there is the nostalgia market where people grew up with these cars and want to go down memory lane, but maybe there is also interest in the ancestors of the cars which are popular today. For example I can imagine younger people wanting to have a go in the Golf mk1 or the original BMW 3-series. Personally I would pay to drive a Series 1 XJ for a day or three.
This would need to be restricted to the best models of the last 30 - 40 years rather than any old tat. The ones which either broke new ground or were immensely popular. The cars which in some way defined the era.
The cars would obviously need to be immaculate.
I think that you would have to let people drive them on the public roads. That way people can be seen in them, they can hire them for a day and take the family out, show friends etc. This would be more appealing than offering 2 laps of a Morris Ital around a race track
Clearly there is the nostalgia market where people grew up with these cars and want to go down memory lane, but maybe there is also interest in the ancestors of the cars which are popular today. For example I can imagine younger people wanting to have a go in the Golf mk1 or the original BMW 3-series. Personally I would pay to drive a Series 1 XJ for a day or three.
This would need to be restricted to the best models of the last 30 - 40 years rather than any old tat. The ones which either broke new ground or were immensely popular. The cars which in some way defined the era.
The cars would obviously need to be immaculate.
I think that you would have to let people drive them on the public roads. That way people can be seen in them, they can hire them for a day and take the family out, show friends etc. This would be more appealing than offering 2 laps of a Morris Ital around a race track
AmitG said:
I think that you would have to let people drive them on the public roads. That way people can be seen in them, they can hire them for a day and take the family out, show friends etc. This would be more appealing than offering 2 laps of a Morris Ital around a race track
Public road I agree with, possibly cheaper as well, but not all day. The whole point would be to experience the cars so a short run in each of 5 or 6 cars would be more interesting than all day with one. Let's face it, the novelty of driving a 1966 Cortina would probably wear off pretty quickly. There was a contributor to the big Healey thread who hired a Healey to see if he liked it and quickly decided he didn't. He was glad to have driven it, but a shorter drive might have been preferable.4rephill said:
Added to that, the cars you are talking about are simply not very exciting to drive, there's no thrill factor that the other experience days provide.
I beg to differ - my 1968 Cortina is a thrill to drive, mainly because the brakes are not that good and the traffic around you is going much faster..... Although maybe that isn't quite the "thrill" you want to market.
S
Edited by skeeterm5 on Sunday 1st September 21:04
Dr Jekyll said:
Let's face it, the novelty of driving a 1966 Cortina would probably wear off pretty quickly.
Maybe not to the retiree who owned one in the 60's or 70's and wants to take a trip down memory lane with his wife. As mentioned birthdays are a good shout. I'd recommend finding a decent supplier of picnic hampers to go with this option and include free use of folding table, chairs etc.Conversely sending these cars out on a trackday could be an absolute nightmare. If in anywhere near original condition they'll be ruined pretty quickly.
benjj said:
I'd discount the track element if I were you. I drive old cars on tracks and it takes a lot out of them. Plus everyone gets the red mist on a track, just the way it is no matter the car. Mechanical sympathy goes right out of the window.
Ben is right.Have you done the maths on this? Cost of a "fleet" of 5 cars ( interest etc) + insurance for hire + maintenance + storage + repairs and damage . Extrapolate this over the number of hires expected over a year, then you have the net cost per hire. You will be very surprised at this unit cost! You would need to uplift this unit cost by about 50 - 100% to get a profitable figure. Don't forget to add vat too. Good luck!
V8 FOU said:
Ben is right.
Have you done the maths on this? Cost of a "fleet" of 5 cars ( interest etc) + insurance for hire + maintenance + storage + repairs and damage . Extrapolate this over the number of hires expected over a year, then you have the net cost per hire. You will be very surprised at this unit cost! You would need to uplift this unit cost by about 50 - 100% to get a profitable figure. Don't forget to add vat too. Good luck!
I have and that's exactly what I suspect makes it unworkable. The figure we'd have to charge would be very close to the figure for hiring something a bit special, bucket list rather than day out territory. Have you done the maths on this? Cost of a "fleet" of 5 cars ( interest etc) + insurance for hire + maintenance + storage + repairs and damage . Extrapolate this over the number of hires expected over a year, then you have the net cost per hire. You will be very surprised at this unit cost! You would need to uplift this unit cost by about 50 - 100% to get a profitable figure. Don't forget to add vat too. Good luck!
The Vintage Motorcycle Club runs a similar thing. 'Training Days', where people can have a go on and experience vintage motorcycles off road on tracks for a small(ish) fee.
They rely on people being willing to provide he bikes FOC though, so I suspect that would be your stumbling block.
http://www.vmcc.net/Training11.pdf
They rely on people being willing to provide he bikes FOC though, so I suspect that would be your stumbling block.
http://www.vmcc.net/Training11.pdf
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