Autoblog

Click above to view lap video of Monticello Motor Club

They say money can't buy happiness and that is indeed true. But it can buy one helluva good time, especially if you have a lot of it. Case in point is the new Monticello Motor Club. We first told you about Monticello a month ago when it officially opened. The club's management describes the facility as a Four Seasons resort, but instead of a golf course there is one of the best race tracks you'll find anywhere. The facility isn't yet complete but the track layout is already in place. Two layers of asphalt have been put down already with a third going on this fall. Once the final layer of pavement is in place, kerbing will added at the corners. The guard rails and fencing is all in place and a temporary club house has been erected while the permanent club-house and garage facilities are being constructed. We got to spend an afternoon lapping the full 4.1-mile, 22-turn course in the first outing of the new 2009 Cadillac CTS-V and the track is heaven on earth for those who love to drive. Read on after the jump for more.

Science-fiction writers have predicted this time and time again: one day mankind would discover Heaven somewhere in the vastness of Space. Nobody ever figured it would be in upstate New York, though. But so be it: the Monticello Motor Club, a seemingly heavenly combination of country club and racing track that just opened yesterday.

The concept is to provide a challenging circuit with the amenities and exclusivity of a country club. The track runs over four miles long with 22 corners and can be set up in any of 12 different configurations. Members can drive their own cars – at an hour and a half drive (or 25-min helicopter ride) it's the closest track to Manhattan – to the club, have them stored their, or rent from a fleet of sportscars (even a claimed F1 racer) on site. Advanced driving and racing courses will be on offer, as well as logistical planning for members' entry into racing events. And when the moneyed club member gets exhausted from driving all out on the track – or, as the club puts it, for accompanying spouses – the Monticello Motor Club offers a five-star club house, complete with spa and a planned luxury hotel. Membership, which is limited to a maximum of 500, costs $125,000 to join and $7,500 minimum each year, but with facilities like these and charter members including Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Glickenhaus and Jeff Gordon, you can bet New York's car-crazed elite will be lining up to join... and we'll be cozying up for a guest pass.

[Source: Monticello Motor Club]

The Winding Road staff had their camera phones at the ready when they found themselves being overtake on Michigan roads by what appears to be a prototype for a Mercury-badged version of the Ford Freestyle crossover. Apparently these mules have been seen around the Detroit area a lot in the past week. Though Ford has said in the past that Mercury would not get a version of the Freestyle, Ford has decided to continue producing the crossover with a Blue Oval badge, so a Mercury version based on the Meta One concept might still be on the table. Though we can't see it, the Winding Road folk say the mule has Mercury's signature waterfall grille, and we're guessing Mercury might use the name Magellan for such a 7-passenger crossover.

Allow me to refer back to comments made in a previous post when I said a Mercury version of the Freestyle should be made, but also that Ford should discontinue the Freestyle. This would give Mercury an actual vehicle of its own, as well as free up some breathing room for the production version of the Fairlane concept that's a couple years out. Plus, Mercury could offer the Monticello/Magellan right out of the box with Ford's new 3.5-liter V6 to kick things off, just as the Freestyle should have been launched but wasn't.

[Source: Winding Road]