Auto Vivendi has just celebrated its 20th year, looking back what has it taken to build what is now the world’s largest and longest running private members’ supercar club?

It has been quite a journey. When I first became involved, the Club (known formerly as écurie25) was still relatively early on with a modest 10-car supercar collection and a small but engaged membership base. The opportunity was to take something with a good foundation and develop it by growing the collection steadily, investing in the right cars at the right time, and making sure there was always something new and exciting for members.

Since then, we’ve had over 300 supercars come through the Club, and we constantly add circa 20 new models every year, which shows how much we’ve grown .Today, we have a collection of circa 30 supercars and SUVs, worth around £8 million, from Lamborghini, Ferrari, McLaren, Aston Martin and more. At the same time, we made a conscious decision that lifestyle-led experiences and the social side of the Club were to be just as important.It is about giving people access to something exceptional in a way that feels accessible and enjoyable. That is a part of what has kept Auto Vivendi relevant over the years.

Your own background began in a very different world, how did that experience shape your approach to Auto Vivendi?

My background was in oil broking, which was a fast-paced, high-energy environment that also gives you a certain commercial discipline, and alongside that I had been running Vmax200 top speed events since 2002. That gave me a strong connection to the performance car world and to the type of people who are genuinely passionate about it. Bringing those two things together felt like a natural progression.

How exactly does the Club work?

At its core, the principle has always been simplicity. Members join on an annual basis and depending on membership level they get access to a number of days and miles to enjoy across the collection as they wish. From there, everything is built around flexibility. They choose the car, the timing, the location, and we arrange it around them. That might be a car delivered to their home for the weekend, or to a hotel in Europe as part of a longer trip. The appeal is convenient access to a constantly evolving collection of the world’s best cars. Our members can be behind the wheel of the latest and greatest very shortly after they have seen them in the press.

It makes a lot of sense. Do you foresee the fractional use model having an impact on the traditional ownership market?

Our members are generally in a position where they could own a number of these cars if they chose to, and many of them do. We’re supplementing rather than replacing ownership and we’re offering something that enhances it. In fact, members often use the Club as a way to inform their next supercar purchase. But even the most serious collectors tend to use a fraction of what they own. A supercar becomes something you dip into occasionally, rather than something you fully experience. What we have created is a more dynamic way of engaging with these cars.

You might be in a Ferrari one week, a Lamborghini the next, something completely different after that. You are actually using them properly. And because we are constantly refreshing the collection, members are often driving cars very early in their lifecycle, sometimes long before they would realistically encounter them elsewhere.

As a private members’ club, how do you strike the balance between exclusivity and remaining genuinely accessible ?

Exclusivity is naturally part of what we do, but not to create something that feels closed off or inaccessible for the sake of it. There are no secret handshakes here! What we have tried to build is a community of friendly, like-minded individuals – people who have a genuine enthusiasm for the lifestyle around supercars and experiences, and the same zest for life. That inevitably requires a degree of curation. We do vet applications and we are mindful of maintaining the right dynamic within the Club. Ultimately, the focus is on creating an environment where people feel comfortable and here, exclusivity becomes something that enhances the experience, rather than something that limits it.

You’ve described the business as being as much about people as it is about the cars. Was that always the intention, or something that revealed itself over time?

It has become one of the defining aspects of the Club. The cars bring people in, but the community is what keeps them here Our members tend to be interesting, successful people who enjoy making the most of their time. We have men, women and couples, who through the Club meet others like them, and through a shared passion they travel together on our driving tours and form friendships at our Club events and experiences. Of course, some people simply want to enjoy access to the cars and that’s exactly what the Club is all here for, but for those that want more then we do that too.

Tell us more about these experiences – what is it about these events that resonates with your members?

The experiences are where everything comes together. Driving a supercar is enjoyable but doing it as part of something larger changes it completely. Whether that is a 200mph run on a private runway, a tour through the Dolomites, or driving on ice in Norway, you are experiencing the cars in a way that brings out their full character. At the same time, you are sharing that with other members, which adds another dimension. Our members tend to have interests across travel, yachts, aviation, and we often help facilitate elements of that too. It all sits within the same broader lifestyle.Those are the moments people tend to remember. They create memories rather than just individual experiences, and that is what gives them lasting value.

The definition of luxury has evolved considerably in recent years. Where do you feel Auto Vivendi and the automotive sector sits within this?

We’ve seen experiential luxury become a huge trend across high-end travel and dining, and it’s the same across automotive. Luxury has become far more about what you can access and how you experience it, rather than simply what you own – particularly with a younger generation of members. There is less emphasis on accumulation, and more on how you actually spend your time and what you experience. We sit quite naturally within that. What we offer is access, but access with depth. It is not just about being able to drive a supercar occasionally, it is about having ongoing access to a constantly evolving collection, combined with a calendar of experiences that allow you to use those cars in meaningful ways.

For a certain clientele, service is the ultimate marker of excellence. Have you had any specific occasions where you’ve had to go above and beyond?

There is a quiet sophistication in service that anticipates, and for me, true luxury is when things just work without you having to think about them. At this level, people do not want complexity. They want things to feel straightforward and well-managed. We take care of everything behind the scenes, from maintenance to logistics, and that includes delivering cars wherever they are needed.

There was a situation where a member arrived in Rome and asked if we could arrange a car for the following morning. It was short notice, but we were able to have a Lamborghini Huracán Spyder outside his hotel before he had finished his first espresso. That kind of responsiveness is what defines the service. It should feel effortless, even if there is quite a lot happening behind the scenes to make it work!

Have you seen a shift in your typical member profile in recent years?

Some of our members are living increasingly international lives. Some are moving abroad but want something exciting to drive when they return. We have introduced an Expat Membership to reflect that. It’s a dynamically priced membership that allows them to access the Club in the same way, with the same level of service and flexibility, to suit their movements. So, instead of having a supercar sat on a driveway or in storage, or feeling they have to always be here to justify a full membership, they can have the same supercar lifestyle, on demand, without the stress.

With increasing attention on sustainability and electrification, how do you see that shaping the future of the supercar world and your collection?

It is clearly a significant shift, and one that is already having an impact on the types of cars being produced. Hybridisation and electrification are becoming more prominent, even at the very top end of the market with the Ferrari SF90 and Lamborghini Revuelto being just two examples of the six hybrids we have here.

What is interesting is you have these highly advanced, technology-led cars, which are mind-blowing to drive, while on the other hand there’s a growing appreciation for the more traditional, naturally aspirated models.
For us, it is about reflecting both sides of that. Introducing newer technologies into the collection, while also recognising some of the earlier cars with our ‘Wildcards’ such as the manual Ferrari F355 and Dodge Viper – these are totally different driving experiences that won’t be replicated and we want to share these with our members.

Prices for Auto Vivendi membership start from £15,000 plus VAT. To enquire, please visit:

www.autovivendi.com