Van Horssen Group » Announcements

For all those times you saw professional racers and wanted to feel for yourself the adrenaline and excitement of competitive wheel to wheel racing, you should join us at the Bondurant School on Saturday, December 2nd for one of their most popular programs, the ProKart Grand Prix. Utilizing their Briggs & Stratton ProKarts capable of 50mph, this is the ultimate individual driver’s challenge and a great time with friends or against enemies. The race will be held from 5pm to 7pm with a casual dinner and drinks afterwards. 1st place gets a free day in their desired car! Prizes for 2nd, 3rd, last and ugliest drivers as well. Price is $150 before 11/17, $200 thereafter. For the official registration form click here.

The Shifter Kart class is almost full. If you enjoy pure speed and performance, this is the best bang for your buck. The class is scheduled for October 26th, from 6pm to 9pm. For more information, click here.

We will be running our Tony Kart again this Saturday, October 21st, from 6pm to 9pm. This is a casual karting session where up to 4 people can use the kart for practice lapping sessions. You must have already taken the Shifter Kart class to be eligible to participate. Contact us if you would like more information.

Our full day High Performance Driving Experience with the Bondurant School will be on Saturday, November 4th. This is a very rare opportunity to drive cars of this caliber on a closed track with professional instructors. For more information click here.

The Forza Series is back. For those of you who don’t know, Forza is the Xbox racing simulator game considered the best by many. The simulators will be up and running this Friday the 20th, from 11am - 2pm. Get some seat time and participate in the races for a chance to win an unspecified amount of VH$. A light lunch and drinks will be served. Bring your friends but please let us know if you plan to attend.

Staged on the runways and taxiways of NAS North Island with Navy aircraft and ships in the background, the Coronado Classic Speed Festival features over 200 of the world’s top racing machines from years gone by competing on a spectator-friendly 1.6 mile course. These vintage racecars are chosen to compete on the basis of their historical significance and certified authenticity.

Van Horssen Group staff, members and friends will be attending the races and guest passes can be arranged for anyone else interested.  As cool as the cars from the Van Horssen Group fleet may be, they do not make the cut for the races.  They are, however, available for members to use in San Diego for that weekend or any other for that matter.

When it comes to experiencing true sensations of speed, handling and racing, karting is as pure as it gets.

Van Horssen Group is the proud new owner of a 125cc Tony Kart which is made available to members.  At least once a month in Chandler, Arizona an organized 2 hour karting session is offered on Bondurant’s purpose built kart track where participants can jump in for part or all of the time.  Access to the kart can be made available at other times by request.  Members can also use this kart to participate in sanctioned karting races.  The first karting session is October 1st.

In addition to the ongoing karting series, we have scheduled several karting events with the Bondurant SuperKart School for this fall.  The Ultimate Shifter Kart Experience will be held on October 26th and a ProKart Grand Prix, for some long awaited wheel to wheel racing, will be held on December 1st.

Once again, Van Horssen Group was proud to be the host of an exclusive previewing of an important new car, the Rolls-Royce 101EX Coupe.

The 101EX has been traveling around the country, stopping at Van Horssen Group’s headquarters at Scottsdale Hangar One on September 5th.  Rolls-Royce owners, Van Horssen Group members and other influential auto insiders from Phoenix got a sneak peak at this innovative coupe.

In addition to a world class car, fine jewelry from Molina jewelers and art from Calvin-Charles Gallery was also displayed creating an evening of elegance and distinctive luxury.

One of the most highly acclaimed new tracks will be the site of one of our many upcoming Performance Driving Experiences.  On October 28th, Miller Motorsports Park will be ours for a full day of exciting driving.  Participants will have the opportunity to run various supercars from the Van Horssen Group fleet or shipping arrangements can be made for personal cars.  A full package is available including the tracktime, luxury hotels, fine restaurants and an organized Sunday drive near Salt Lake City.  

With the weather cooling down in Arizona, we have scheduled several driver training programs with the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving.  These programs are an excellent way to improve one’s driving skills while having a blast behind the wheel.  Adding supercars from the Van Horssen Group fleet turns this into an unbeatable driving experience.  The two scheduled dates are October 14th for a half day and November 4th for a full day.

In conjunction with the Skip Barber Racing School, California Speedway will be the location of yet another Performance Driving Experience on Thursday, October 19th.  Much like the Bondurant programs, the Skip Barber program will allow the driver the to learn essential driving skills while experiencing high performance driving on a world famous circuit.  In addition to the incredibly fun Formula Dodge cars provided by Skip Barber, participants will have the opportunity to drive a variety of supercars from the Van Horssen Group fleet.

With two more of the world’s greatest cars, the Ford GT and Lamborghini Gallardo, tucked neatly in the Red Room when they are not being enjoyed by members, we are now looking ahead to the next great cars.

Firstly, it needs to be announced that the largest and most luxurious SUV has been added to the fleet, a 2007 Cadillac Escalade ESV.  This black on black behemoth brings diversity and functionality to the collection.  Van Horssen Group members’ road trips just got a lot more comfortable.

Although supercars will continue to make up the core collection, the resurrection of a classic muscle car has inspired us to get on the list for an early delivery of a 2007 Shelby GT500 Coupe and Convertible.  By spring 2007, members will have access to a white with blue stripe and black interior coupe and a triple black convertible.  This 500 horsepower beast may remind you of an 8-track player, but it will blow the socks off most modern BMWs. 

Our Gallardo Spyder and two incredible cars soon to hit the market like the Ferrari 599GTB and Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 are eagerly awaited additions to the fleet.  These and other great cars like the Porsche 997 Turbo and Rolls-Royce Phantom will be added with the continued growth in membership. 

As always, members are encouraged to give their input and opinions in the continual building of the world’s finest collection of modern cars.

Four cars, three days, and never the same course twice…that’s the essence of Van Horssen Group’s Golf & Drive Tour. 

On September 21st - 24th, four supercars from the Van Horssen Group fleet will be the humble transport from one incredible golf resort to the next.  The tour starts in San Francisco when you are relieved of your baggage burden and eased into the leather seat of your supercar.  The first stop is CordeValle in San Martin, just one hour from San Francisco, which offers a beautiful and challenging course designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr.  After playing CordeValle there are numerous routes available, from fast to scenic to twisty, experiencing the joy of driving a supercar as we reach our next destination near Carmel.  Our last stop is overlooking the coast of the Pacific Ocean where we will stay and play at the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay.

Spending several cool California September mornings on an incredible golf course is a great way to spend the weekend.  Add supercars to the mix and golf takes on a whole new dimension, bringing speed, scenery and the ability to enjoy other great courses on the same weekend.  All arrangements are taken care of and each participant need only worry about the right golf club or whether to downshift before taking the next corner.

One of the most famous tracks in the USA, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, will be the site of our next Performance Driving Experience.  If you have ever been amazed at the sight of a race car screaming through one of motorsports most challenging turns, the corkscrew on turn # 8, this is your chance to try it!

On Monday, August 21st, in conjunction with the Skip Barber Racing School, Laguna Seca will be available to a limited number of Van Horssen Group members and friends.  The experienced, professional drivers from the Skip Barber School will provide the necessary track orientation and driver training to ensure a very safe and fun day.  In addition to the Formula Dodge cars provided by Skip Barber, participants will have the opportunity to drive several supercars from the Van Horssen Group fleet.

This Performance Driving Experience is a rare opportunity to drive on the very same track on which world class races are held every year.  And with access to numerous track oriented supercars from the Van Horssen Group fleet, this is also an opportunity to experience a variety of exceptional cars allowing each participant to feel the different driving dynamics of each car.  With Skip Barber providing their expertise, experience and safety, this is sure to be a day at the track to remember.

Unless you own a fleet of supercars and rent out a track, there is no way to re-create the experience a number of Van Horssen Group members got at our recent Performance Driving Experience.  The supercars were lined up, professional drivers were on hand, and the track was at the disposal of the lucky drivers.

Included in the cars from the Van Horssen Group fleet were an Aston Martin Vanquish S, a Caterham Super 7, a Corvette Z06, a Porsche Cayman S and a Porsche Cayenne Turbo (used mainly for track instruction and a few groceries).  In addition, several members and friends added their own cars to the impressive inventory by showing up in cars like a Ferrari Challenge Stradale, a Ford GT, a Mini Cooper S from Miniworks, and a Porsche Carerra GT. 

Everyone got more than enough tracktime and appreciated the abundance of professional drivers that gave helpful instruction and guidance. 

Van Horssen Group will be regularly organizing Performance Driving Experiences like this one. 

Why should one drive the new Corvette Z06?  Because it is the quickest, best handling car that Van Horssen Group is currently offering to its members.  As odd as it may sound, there is no car in the Private Collection that is quicker around a racetrack than the C6 Corvette Z06.

Members seeking the world’s very finest in power, speed, and performance, should be lining-up to get behind the wheel of the new Z06, right?  Wrong.  Short of the Caterham Super 7 – which is debatably the most impractical sports car ever created – the five hundred and five horsepower Z06 is far from first on every member’s list.

While the sixth-generation C6 Corvette has proven itself to be a substantially refined successor to the formidable C5, the new Z06 is a radical departure in terms of design and performance as compared to the fifth-generation Z06. The car is absolutely astonishing.    

Chevrolet has entered its fastest and most powerful Corvette to date in the ever-expansive, international supercar arena wherein it has sufficiently embarrassed the world’s leading manufacturers.  Here are a few reasons why the Z06 has made such a dent: it outweighs the Carrera GT by one pound, it has a better power-to-weight ratio than the Ford GT, the Z06’s carbon body benefits from a revolutionary construction method called RTM (Resin Transfer Molding) used in the development of just one car – the Mercedes SLR McLaren, and lastly there is only one production car quicker than the Z06 around Nordschleife at the Nürburgring – the Porsche Carrera GT.

What all this means is there is a serious supercar hiding under a Corvette badge that needs to be driven.