An exotic tour of the town with Houston Motor Club: Inside the culture of hot car swapping

For me, the dream of attaining an exotic car was my No. 1 life goal at a very young age. Long before I could drive, I had picked my favorites and my reasonings for why.

It wasn't even about driving, or speed, or horsepower; my obsessions was purely aesthetic. I couldn't understand why every car on the road didn't look like the Lamborghini Countach posted on my bedroom wall. It didn't make sense. 

The Houston Motor Club hosted a "Rally" where a very special convoy of six supercars made stops at five high-profile destinations of interest, with members swapping cars at every stop to get a sense for what each has to offer. 

The meetup began at the Houston Motor Club, located in City Centre. After some hanging out and hellos, members grabbed the keys to the six waiting supercars and headed out in a row.

The group made stops at The Angler's Edge off Post Oak, Araya Artisan Chocolate in River Oaks, Lucho in Uptown Park, and Nos Caves Vin near Kirby before ending up back at the Club.

At each destination, the hosts rolled out the red carpet and gave a special behind-the-scenes tour.

The Houston Motor Club presents itself as the ultimate ownership alternative. Once a member, you have access to over a dozen cars, without ever having to pay for maintenance, storage or insurance for them.

The Club is exclusive about how many people it lets in, so you won't be waiting in queues for the car you want. For those who love rare and exotic machinery, it's a tantalizing proposition.

If you're indecisive, it's even better.

Yearly memberships start at $24,900 and run up to $100,000 with required monthly fees of $1,950 to $1,250.

Ford GT

The GT packs a mid-mounted 5.4-liter supercharged V8 with 550 horsepower, making it the most powerful car here. The rear clamshell engine cover opens up in a dramatic fashion, showing off the intricate suspension, chassis rails and motor. 

Lamborghini Gallardo 

The stunning all-wheel drive Gallardo stands out in any crowd, even amongst other exotics like these.

Maserati GranTurismo

Audi R8

Aston Martin DB9 Volante

Aston Martin has been building beautiful cars for decades, but the Ian Callum-penned DB9 is considered one of the finest yet. The term "grand touring" is overused to a near-criminal degree.

It should be reserved only for cars such as this one. 

Half a dozen supercars with if-you-have-to-ask-you-can't-afford-it price tags turns heads when traveling together. 

Everyone should drive a mid-engined car at some point in their life. It was in the 1960s that racing engineers discovered the benefit of moving the engine back, to centralize the weight between the wheels better and to give the rear tires more traction.

It's been the foundation of almost every super high-performance car ever since. 

Maserati's famous trident fits in at River Oaks Shopping Center.

The GT's interior is all business: toggle switches, aluminum and a fat-rimmed steering wheel. Watch your head when you close the doors — the door opening cuts into the roof, just like on the original LeMans winning GT40, to help clear the driver's helmets.

It's a fantastic sight (and sound) seeing these six exotics traveling in a row through Houston, nose to tail. 

The open-top cars came into their own once the sun went down and the temperatures dropped (a little). Seeing Houston with the top down at night is one of the best ways to view the city.

Seeing Houston in a convertible with five loud exotics accelerating near you is even better.

After a lot of laughs, smiles and friendly back-and-forth, the big Ford GT seemed to be the favorite in this group. It's the rarest, the loudest, and pulls at your heart the most.

A truly special car, in a very special group.

The Club offers a lot of the perks of having a garage full of exotics, without the upkeep and hassles. Which is perfect because when I stared at those posters on my bedroom wall, I was only dreaming of a garage full of exotic cars and not the upkeep and hassles.

The Houston Motor Club holds exclusive events every month for its members. The Club works because it has a great group of cars, but this event succeeded because it brought a fun group of people who are obsessed about cars together.