FORGET GOLF AND TENNIS; These clubs thrive on exhaust fumes.(automobile clubs)

Byline: J.P. VETTRAINO

You've coveted cars like the Gallardo Spyder for as long as you can remember. Problem is, your annual salary reaches only 60 percent of the Spyder's retail price.

So what if you could get real seat time in a Lambo or a dozen more vintage, sports or exotic cars for what it takes to lease a Mustang GT for a year? Or maybe you can afford a Gallardo, but can't stomach the depreciation. Or you can't be bothered with the care and feeding, or simply can't decide between the Lambo, Ferrari or Aston Martin.

Whoever you are, you're the basis for an industry that is only beginning to find its legs. The premise is simple: Pay a prescribed amount each year to participate, get 10, 20 or more days in a bunch of desirable cars. The generic name for these enterprises could be car-share clubs, but the guys behind the clubs prefer you think of them as country clubs for car people.

"It was sort of `Build it and they will come,''' says Torbin Fuller, president and founder of Club Sportiva (clubsportiva.com) in San Francisco, the first such club in the United States. "We were fortunate to get some high-profile members, including Mario Andretti and [astronaut] Dick Gordon, early on, but each one has come hard-earned. It's such a new concept, people need to be convinced.''

Fuller worked in Ford's finance department in Detroit when the idea for Club Sportiva began to coalesce. He owned a Ferrari 308, but most of the time it was parked, frequently with him leaning over the engine or writing another check for something it needed. He found a business partner in the Bay Area and began working on Sportiva in earnest in December 2002. The club opened in March 2003, with a dozen cars ranging from a 1969 Jaguar E-Type to a 1990 Bentley Turbo R and an equal number of members.

Club Sportiva is similar in concept to the industry pioneer-Classic Car Club London (classiccarclub.co.uk). CCC was launched in 1995 by brothers Phil and Dave Kavanagh, who formulated the idea as a business school project.