Throttle Car Club located at the New Innovative District at the Downs/ Photo Credit: Alexis Wells
SCARBOROUGH — The Throttle Car Club is a new social club and workspace dedicated to car enthusiasts. This club is in the industrial area side of The Downs, also known as the innovation district.
The Throttle Car Club is a 35,000-square-foot facility in Scarborough. The club has a strong focus on social, corporate, and charitable events. The club offers a variety of different amenities including a private social club, public event venue, secure climate-controlled storage, auto detailing, specialty services, and much more. The building has leased office spaces on the second floor.
“The three of us have been friends since the fourth grade, even graduating high school together, said Jamie Nonni, part owner. “We were looking to invest in a business and had an old idea for a social club for car people. (Original design was much smaller). After doing extensive research we felt there was an opportunity here in S(outhern) Maine to create a multi-use facility centered around car enthusiasm. While membership and storage are big parts of its success, our event venue space and ability to help people raise money for worthy causes are taking off.”
The new space, found at 10 Dynamic Drive, on the Downs property in Scarborough, officially opened for business on July 3. Nonni said he has always had a passion for cars; he built a successful career for himself by creating and running his own electronic payment processing company. According to a previous statement made by Nonni, he wanted to create a space for a car enthusiast like himself.
“We’re trying to attract all those types of people,” he said.
Standard membership costs $1,800 a year for one person and a guest. As well as access to the club’s lounge space, members also get access to a detail shop for indoor cleaning, and for $50 more per month, they can use the shop’s lifts and tools to work on their vehicles. The premier membership is $2,400 a year and has all the benefits of Standard Membership plus more. They also offer two-season storage packages. Car storage costs extra and rates may vary with the season.
“We currently have over 170 members today, some of which are not even car people who just like the exclusivity of the club and its benefits (i.e. Private lounge, golf, and race sims, shared workspace, conference room, and even season tickets to the Portland Sea Dogs),” said Nonni.
Throttle is the new home of Double S Speed Shop which was previously located in Portland. The garage specializes in 1950s style hot rods. They focus on custom paint, old-world craftsmanship, and fabrication.
Throttle Car Club is hosting a Ukraine Charity Cruise-In event on May 21 from 4 to 8 p.m. The event will include a live band, food trucks, a charity raffle, lots of cars, a rooftop patio, and a tour of the facility. The club is partnering with Ocean House Band and Partners for World Health to help raise money for medical supplies to send to Ukraine. Suggested donation is $25. Those looking to donate can donate on their Facebook link. The event will take place at Throttle located at 10 Dynamic Drive which is off Innovative Way. Check out Throttle for more events including their Friday Karaoke Night, Cornhole Sundays, the 6th Annual Dragonfly Drive Car Show, and more at https://throttlecarclub.com/
The Innovative District is located between Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1 and is within walking distance of the future Town Center. The Innovative District will be home to Costco and IDEXX. The district also includes many small to large businesses that include light industrial, manufacturing, technology, restaurants, and retail end-users. Businesses that have already claimed their spots in the district include: AV Technik, Scorebuilders, Sure Express, Ducas Construction Company, Crown Equipment Corporation, Zoom Drain, and Mainely Tubs. According to Downs, the Innovative District and Town Center are creating over 3,000 new jobs.
“We were looking for a location that was close to the highway and convenient for people to both visit and access their cars. We also wanted the location to not be on the main road (which adds to its exclusivity) and near an area that was growing,” Nonni said. “The Downs was the perfect fit for us.”
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