By Alicia Kelso

The dinner reservations have been made, the flowers ordered. But are you still looking for that extra spark for date night?

How about picking up your special someone in a Ferrari 348? Or why not spice things up on Valentine’s Day by cruising in a Lotus Elise?

Now you can do both without compromising your life’s savings. The Sports Car Club, a Dublin-based “car share,” is similar to NetJets’s fractional ownership concept, except with luxury and classic cars.

Founded by Dublin resident John McGinley, the Sports Car Club (SCC) currently has a fleet of four cars, including a Ferrari 348, a Lotus Elise, a 1965 Corvette and a 1997 C5 Corvette. McGinley anticipates adding cars to the fleet based on new membership and member feedback.

This exclusive club allows members to rent cars they’ve always wanted to drive without worrying about insurance, maintenance, storage or car payments. Members pay an annual fee of $250. There is also a “use fee” for each day a member borrows a car: the cost per day for a vehicle ranges from $83 to $283. There is a three-day minimum for borrowing a car.

“Riding asphalt never felt as good as it does in a 1965 Corvette or the Lotus,” says McGinley, a software development manager by day.

McGinley started collecting high-performance cars when he was 18 and still owns his first car, a 1966 Mustang he spent 15 years restoring. In 2004, McGinley was struck with an idea that combined his hobby, a business plan and perfect timing.

“I have always had a passion for high-performance cars and have owned many different ones. Often, I would let anyone interested drive them so they could experience the fun,” McGinley says. “I have seen the success of similar business in other industries sharing airplanes, boats, vacation homes, etc. I first read about car sharing when there were only a handful of companies. I waited three years and by that time there were 20 car sharing companies in the U.S.”

He decided to start one up, too, officially opening the club in May 2008. It remains the only club of its kind in Ohio. Members can borrow SCC cars for as little as three days or as many as 365 days a year. SCC members also can attend workshops taught by driving professionals to optimize their driving skills.

Aside from the excitement involved in driving an exotic car, McGinley also notes that membership is economical. For ownership of these cars, the cost associated with a 30-day per year use is more than $82,000 for five years or $16,400 a year, on average. This is in addition to the $70,000 purchase price.

“I think this club is a great way to allow car enthusiasts a way to experience a number of unique cars without the expense and headache of ownership. I, like most other owners of these cars, only use them on nice days, but still have to pay to maintain them all year,” McGinley says.

Still, the biggest draw, according to McGinley, is that the club simply gives people the opportunity to drive cars they would otherwise never get a chance to drive. There were about 8,000 Ferrari 348s made worldwide in the five years they were built, for example. By comparison, there were more than 2 million Ford Taurus cars built during the same time.

Members, McGinley says, use the cars for all kinds of occasions, or no occasion at all. “Some people have bought the memberships as gifts, others because they recognize the value. Most have just used them as a fun car to drive around town for a few days,” he says.

Members must be over age 26 with a valid insurance policy. Membership includes supplemental insurance coverage on the club cars while you drive, one free tank of gas and 24-hour roadside assistance.

The Sports Car Club has been adding members at the rate of about one per week. McGinley’s goal is to grow the club to 200 members with a total of 30 to 40 cars.

For more information on the club and membership, visit www.JustDriveMe.com.

Alicia Kelso is editor of Dublin Life.