Supercars or a super day?

Our recent article, Supercar Experience Days: What to Expect, highlighted just how little you get for your £199.  In the name of balance Graham Eason, the Managing Director of Great Escape Cars, shows us the flip side and how much they are able to offer for £199.

It’s every schoolboy’s dream. Standing on a wet and windy airfield somewhere near Derby waiting for 3 laps in a Lamborghini. Such, according to a recent article on Speedmonkey, is the reality of a Drive the Dream supercar day.

I read that article with interest because I run a classic car hire company. We don’t work with the big experience day providers because they take too big a slice of the income. This leaves even less to provide customers with a good day out. And that is what I think we do, for £199.

So here’s the flipside of those supercar days. For roughly the same price as 3 laps in a Lambo we offer a full day out driving at least 5 classic cars on some of our favourite roads. We are running 5 Great Escape classic car rallies in 2013 from our Yorkshire and Cotswolds sites and the format is simple and proven. Each rally includes a selection of cars from our local fleet – usually an E Type, Jensen, MG and Mk2 Jaguar with maybe a DeLorean or Aston thrown in for good measure.

Our main business at Great Escape is hiring cars for 24 hour periods. But I devised the rally idea after realising that lots of customers don’t want to spend 24 hrs in one car – often an hour or two is enough to say ‘I did it.’ Providing the chance to drive several cars in one day adds a lot of variety to the experience without boredom. Couple that with a specially chosen route on some great driving roads and you have a pre-planned day that means you just turn up, turn the key and drive off.

We allow no more than 16 people on each rally, with two people per car, in order to keep the day flowing smoothly and maximise time in the cars. Each route is hand-picked by us to provide real variety and interest and covers at least 120 miles. This means that everyone gets around 60 minutes driving each car – more than enough time to get to grips with each model. We stop regularly for driver and car changeovers and refreshments. The £199 price includes insurance, fuel, lunch and the help of our support crew who follow the cars – and sort out problems if they occur.

The rally idea originated with our corporate clients. Since we started offering the same package to individual customers in 2011 it has been hugely popular. The feedback is always extremely positive, with some claiming it’s the best driving experience day they’ve ever done.

Our rally days will always be fairly low key because we don’t want to sell them through activity providers. If we did, the price would have to virtually double or we’d have to cut a lot of corners. By selling direct to enthusiasts we can provide a unique and personal service that we think provides decent value for money. Far better, I think, than 3 laps of a dreary airfield in a tired Lamborghini.

You can find out more about our rallies on our website at www.greatescapecars.co.uk or call 01527 893733.  Mention Speedmonkey and we’ll knock 10% off the £199 price.

This article was written by Graham Eason of Great Escape Cars at the invitation of Matt Hubbard, owner of Speedmonkey.