Despite launching his business as the recession nightmare enveloped Britain, Andrew Walsh has turned his dream into a driving passion.
The ex-Formula Renault European champion from Swansea began offering performance driving days in a second-hand Lotus Elise and has built Car Limits into a high-speed success story.
He now maintains a stable of 22 cars worth over £1.2M and including three Lamborghinis, two Ferraris, two Aston Martins as well as Porsche, Audi R8 and a Maserati GT.
From time to time he adds something unusual like a Ford Mustang or Chevrolet Camaro.
Based in South Wales where the supercars are maintained by his own technicians, Andrew runs experience days in Essex, the east Midlands and South Wales, and this year he’s looking to expand to meet the enormous demand.
From the initial handful of people who wanted to drive that Lotus all those years ago he now has to run a booking system at the circuits he uses every month and gets about 250 people a day into the supercars they choose to drive. They are often sold out weeks in advance.
Because the driving days take place in tightly controlled secure locations on tracks, Car Limits can offer a seat in a supercar to anyone from 12 years of age, so its possible the first car a young man or girl drives is a Lamborghini.
And there are no exotic prices with drives from £20 for a supercar lap.
Andrew (pictured below) said, “About 80% of our bookings are made by ladies but 90% of those taking part are blokes.
“We can offer supercar experiences of one or three laps and all our instructors are trained to get the most out of the cars and the drivers’ time in them.”
Participants are fully briefed before driving and can get more track time with sighting laps to pick out the braking, turning and acceleration points of a circuit as well as seeing themselves recorded on in-car cameras and by a trackside photographer.
A special DVD has been created by Car Limits to build on what they learn to improve their car control which can be applied to every-day road driving as well.
The tremendous popularity of the high performance courses mean they have to be carefully marshaled and Car Limits has a staff of 15 at an event and the supercars burn their way through £1,500 of petrol a day.
“When I set up, I looked very hard at what other companies were charging and there really was no justification for their fees,” added Andrew. “I set it up just as the recession arrived in the UK and I think my policy was the right one because my business has just kept growing while others have failed.” There is certainly no sign of the brakes going on this business.
Rhys fulfills lifetime ambition to drive a Lambo
Rhys Roberts always wanted to drive a Lamborghini and has now fulfilled his ambition.
“It was really amazing,” said the 22 year old who has been driving for five years. “I have always wanted to drive a Lamborghini before my dad and it happened. The briefing was very good and helped while the sighting lap meant I learned more about the circuit for my drive in the Lamborghini.
“The instructor with me was very knowledgeable and helped a lot to make it an experience I will always appreciate and never forget.”
