Living The Supercar Life
*Five thousand bucks is a ton of rent-a-car money, but if there are fivecars involved-a Ferrari, a Lamborghini, a Porsche, a Mercedes-Benz and an Aston Martin-then this is the Supercar Life. It's a new hire and driving instruction scheme set up by Jonathan Kaplan, a car salesman from Massachusetts, and Jan Otto, a cattle baron from Wyoming.
The first Supercar Life sessions were conducted at Beaverun Raceway last summer, but the school will spend the winter months at a track in Florida-either Moroso in West Palm Beach or Homestead near Miami. It will move to Thunderbolt Raceway near Atlantic City, New Jersey, for the spring, and go back to Beaverun for the heart of the coming summer.
Anyone 25 or over (and with the means) will drive F430s, Gallardos, 911 Turbos, AMG SL65s and DB9s-back to back, all day long at the racetrack, with professional one-to-one driving instruction, hotel accommodation, airport transfers, three meals, plus snacks and refreshments at the track. The cost is broken down into $995 up front, with $3,990 charged to your credit card 10 days before the event.
The curriculum includes basic instruction in vehicle dynamics, apexes, braking points and driving tips, plus a familiarization session with each of the cars and a vehicle dynamics exercise including steering, slaloms and panic braking exercises. The next step is one-on-one in-car instruction, then lead-and-follow sessions. There are two of each model, so you can follow your instructor in a car exactly like the one he's in, the driving dynamics being identical. Instructors are professional racers on the weekends and teach at Supercar Life during the week.
Students drive all five cars over and over again, at increasingly higher straightway and cornering speeds, and the day is capped off with champagne and goody bags before being driven back to the airport. And no, you can't just pay a grand and stick with the 911.
-Jim McCraw
Supercar Life
877.420.0090
www.supercarlife.com