Survey: Interest in duPont REGISTRY Rally (Austin - April 25-28th)...

Respectfully DuPont, these pay "rallies" have gotten out of control.

• Four days/three nights April 25-28, 2024 @ Four Seasons Austin
  • $800/night, but let's be generous and call it $1k. $3k
• COTA Ferrari Challenge VIP hot laps and suite for races
  • $1400/ea x 2 = $2800
• fine dining
  • Again, being generous and figuring lunch is provided by Hospitality daily, 300/person/night = $2400
• rallies
  • $0
• private collection tour
  • $0

$8200 (which is already absurd). Wheres the other 4 grand going? I mean, hell, figure out your own hotel and food and I'll show you several hundred miles of Hill Country roads for only $4k a car.

 

Sure, profit is ok. DuPont is not simply in the business of these rallies, so assigning FTE and advertising costs recoup to this singular event is a bit of a stretch.

Even by my generous estimates, that's a 30%+ margin PER CAR. Even at 10 cars (and I've a hunch it'll be 20 or more) that's $40k in pure profit for 3 days. The prices I quoted aren't made up, that's literally the cost of the hotel those nights, that's literally the full price FC hospitality for 3 days, and the venues you could even spend $300/night on dinner are very limited. I would have to imagine that the discounts available to prepaid bookings for all of that is more than enough to cover your buffer for the things you called out.

It's nothing personal to you Rob or DuPont, but there is an increasing number of pay-for-play tour operators that are coming into communities like this one (the enthusiast car community as a whole, not FChat) where group drives were a hobby and free event put on by community members looking to profit on the back of those communities. Even worse is that some of them are glomming on to the actual community to steal routes given freely to turn around and charge for them. That's where my POV comes from.

Let me give you another perspective. I was booked (but had to skip) a week long rally through the alps last fall. I had gone in 2013 with the same group and wanted to do it again in a more fitting car. Starting at Lago Magiorre and winding through the Italian, Swiss, and Austrian alps for 6 days and 5 nights at world class hotels equalling and surpassing the Austin Four Seasons. The best roads in the world vs one lane roads across mostly flat pastures over cattle grates and low water crossings. The cost didn't include all meals, but did include lodging, and was about half the cost of this half as long trip. Even renting a suitable luxury sports or supercar for the week still came in below this. Even adding my flights.

 

Keith Martin at Sports Car Market was doing 4-day, 250 miles a day, driving rallies for about $8,500. (The SCM 1000) The hotel was four star. Food was edible. Booze and lies at night were overflowing. This was a driving rally. You left in the morning and came back early evening.

He had to cancel the last one due to lack of interest.

I would say it sounds like this Dupont deal is trying to do too many different things.

4 days of driving. Is this all day or half day?

COTA, are the VIP hot laps ride-a-long or run what your brung?

The lifestyle stuff? Is this for the wives?

Frankly, I'd suggest better defining your target market. The people who like to drive may not be that interested in hot laps at COTA, and vice versa. It is aimed at guys or guys and their wives?

Just my two cents.

 

You're probably right! Appreciate the friendly discourse.

 

Just FYI. I don't think the price is out of line, but the event probably needs to be more focused. It is COTA or a rally?

 

I love driving, I love going on very nice long tours solo or with a group of other cool/fun cars. But I'm interested in driving, not hot laps, racing, fine dining, or high-end hotels. And certainly not interested in going to Texas for any reason (lived there the first 35 years of my life, don't ever plan to go back). And I'm sure as hell not interested in paying THOUSANDS to drive my car. Just give me a route and I'll stay at a motel and find food from local hole-in-the-walls.

 

Right on, bro.

 

All theses luxo tour promoters should take a lesson from events like Going to the Sun and Vintage Rallies. They aren’t lifestyle events! They aren’t track events! They’re driving events. And they aren't insultingly expensive like every Canossa alleged driving event.

 

Spot on!

 

I agree, Crescent Classic is the best bang for the buck and the best driving roads. GTTS and Vintage rallies aren’t cheap, but they are 5 days of driving great roads, hanging with interesting people in some of the coolest places in the US and Canada. They make it worth the price. There may be some who appreciate VIP track events, but I think most folks sign up for a rally to drive.

 

All of what I have read so far is telling me there IS a market for a few 'Crescent Classics'
in different parts of the country at different times of the year.

Just from MY perspective, I would not run my car on a racetrack because my insurance
would be nullified as soon as I get on the circuit, but beyond that I just wouldn't do it anyway.
And I don't need a 5-Star hotel with 5-Star service because there are too many damned good
4-Star (and 3-Star) places that are fine.

I KNOW some will say 'If you can afford the exotic (car) then you can afford the amenities', but
I'm finding more and more folks that CAN afford the amenities simply don't want to, anymore.

 

Yep. Moreover, most people don't want to do the old school competitive timing rallies.

 

Yep. Too much work. Give some great roads with nice scenery and I am very happy. If the rally is on good roads, then you are most likely remote and accommodations may not be 5 star. To me that is OK as if a rally is done well, participants are spending very little time in the hotel.

 

Having organized / led well over 150 Sunday Morning Drives, long weekend drives, out of state drives, and even a Ferrari rally in Maui of all places, I can see both sides of what they are trying to do.
Is there a market for high dollar , exclusive ( I did something you didn't do ) lifestyle events? Yes!
Are most Ferrari Dealerships in the US already tasked with organizing Ferrari owner rallies each year? Yes.
Are Ferrari owners more interested in a unique experience involving their significant other and their Ferrari? Yes
Are Ferrari owners, as a whole, interested in driving as fast as they can on unfamiliar roads, unsure of what's around the next blind corner? No

Ferrari Club Chapters all around the USA organize dozens of drives each year, all for the $175 per year membership fee. ( Maybe a small registration fee that covers lunch )
Some are exclusive, some give members access to venues they wouldn't otherwise have access to, fancy meals, hole in the wall's, they vary based upon member feedback.
Shawn R and I have been doing a East Texas weekend Halloween rally for the past 3 years, that prices were under $1,000 per couple all-in, that Ferrari owners are already asking if we're doing it again for
2024!

All of the above to say, is there a market for $12,500 weekend, yes there is.
I feel that it would be better to start off smaller, build the reputation, and work up to $12,500 per couple per car.

I like Canossa events, I like FCA DFW 2 hour drives ending at Babe's Chicken in Sanger TX as well.


I wish DuPont luck.

Steve


p.s. We're hosting a week long Hill Country drive for 12 owners, starting in Dallas on Tuesday, driving around the Hill Country till Thursday, then into Austin for Friday/Saturday/Sunday Ferrari Challenge weekend and we're no where near $12,500
We're no where near $12,500...

 

One last thought...

There is a value to signing up and having someone else handle all the logistics.
Create Route ( taking into account road conditions, rail road crossings, right turns vs left turns, low water crossings, construction, police stations, speed traps, traffic, and so much more that goes unnoticed )
Pre-Drive the route or routes
Locate accommodations
Meal reservations
Support Staff
Figure out where gas stations are
bathroom breaks

I think the last rally I went on, where I wasn't leading it, what the Hanging at the Hanger event in Austin, and I still ended up leaking a section of the group, but I was still following someone else a majority of the time.

Steve

 

If you're in California, check out the rallies Driving while Awesome does, the same people who came up with RadWood.

Here's a recap on one of their rallies, check the blog for more content
https://www.drivingwhileawesome.com/blog/2018/3/11/coastal-range-rally-2018