VeloceToday.com

This month we’ll officially launch our Premium Subscription Service, which will probably cause a bit of confusion. Above, the Gilda Epic begins next week for our Premium Subscribers. Please allow us this space to explain in some detail.

VeloceToday now effectively has two different subscription services—one free, just as before, and another paid subscription which offers exciting new features as well as access to our massive archives.

Regular Free Subscription—Nothing has changed
The regular, free subscription is easily accessed by putting your name and email address in the blue and white pop up box that you often see when you open VeloceToday. If you are not subscribed, but wish to receive VT every week for free, sign up there. To eliminate the pop up box, just click on the circled X. Subscribers will continue to receive VeloceToday fifty times a year with three or four free articles, just as before. If you already are a subscriber and do not wish to have the Premium Service, nothing changes, there is no need to do anything.

New Premium Subscription service—Subscribe only if you want
Our thanks to the many readers who have already subscribed to our Premium Service! As many have noted, most of our 1000 plus archived articles are now part of the Premium, or paid, subscription service. But in addition to that, for our Premium customers only, there will be additional, exclusive and in depth features, pdfs, and mcuh more. Next week we’ll begin with the first of four new and exclusive articles about the Ghia Gilda, the car, the legend, and a two part article about the designer, Giovanni Savonuzzi. There is much to come and a lot lined up. You will see banners such as above (the art thanks to Jodi Ellis) which will announce the new features as they go online. You can tell it’s going to be good!

If you choose not to pay for the premium service, but are a regular subscriber you will continue to receive VeloceToday just as before. You need do nothing.

If you would like to subscribe to the Premium Service, simply follow the form, using either credit card or paypal. Best bet is one year at $4.95 a month ($59.40 per year). Your credit card will show “Media Pass” as the biller, not VeloceToday, as Media Pass is the company handling the software and service. I’ve been working with the staff at Media Pass for a couple of months now, and I am very pleased with their help, knowledge, and ability to solve any problem or work any issue. If you have any problems, there is a help number, or email me directly at pete@velocetoday.com. We want to make sure ALL of our customers are satisfied.

Why are we doing this?
Premium Service seems to be the best of both worlds—VeloceToday continues on for free, maintaining a growing a huge subscriber base, and as an option, we can offer Premium Services for those who chose the new service. There are many other reasons, and I’d like to list four:
1. Overhead costs continue to rise. For example, once our mail out subscription service was free; is it now $50 a month and will double soon. Office supplies, computer upgrades, new software, increased server capacity are all on the increase. We also pay for advertising in “Classic and Sportscar” magazine every month, which unlike Internet ad rates, is very expensive.
This is a business, albeit a small one. So, Please Subscribe!
2. We would like to be able to pay our contributors—something we have not been able to do before. I’d guess a lot of our readers were not aware of this. Since other Internet periodicals are also beginning to charge and offer to pay contributors, we must stay ahead of the curve to retain the wonderful men and women who give their all for VeloceToday. How much and how often we pay will depend upon our reader’s willingness to subscribe to the Premium Service. So, Please Subscribe!!
3. Over the past year we have conducted a very successful contribution drive. IF the Premium Service succeeds, we can do away with the contribution drives, and actually offer something special to our supporters while costing them less. That’s the plan, and again, only our readers will determine if we can totally drop the rather annoying contribution drives. So, please Subscribe!
4. If VeloceToday is to survive, and in particular survive the editor and publisher, we must actively seek and train a qualified person who can assist when necessary and take over the reins when the time comes. We would be amiss if we did not address these needs now, while we can. Needless to say, such a position, unlike now, will require a salary. Our help wanted sign is out, btw, so send in your resumes.

Click here to sign up for the Premium Service! Form is at bottom of article.

And now we return you to our regular (and free) scheduled programs featuring OSCA Berlinettas, Bugatti World Record, and the Ferrari 458 Challenge.

On December 9th at the Royal Automobile Club (RAC Club) in Pall Mall, London, Roy Smith was awarded at the Guild of Motoring writers dinner the 2010 MERCEDES BENZ AWARD and THE MONTAGU TROPHY, presented personally by Lord Montagu for his two books Alpine & Renault- The Sports Prototypes. Roy also contributed to the R5 Turbo article published by VeloceToday last week.

Said the otherwise unflappable Smith, “Apparently it was a hotly contested award with nine nominations. I knew was nominated but I was up against much more experienced and eminent writers in the field of historic motoring.” The names on the Trophy read like a who’s who of British historic motoring writing for the last 30 odd years or so; the name of Roy Smith is now added the trophy held in perpetuity at the RAC Club.

“The runner up was Sir Stirling Moss who has done a book with Alan Henry, so we had a bit of banter, it being the only time I would ever take a ‘class win’ over Stirling Moss!!…”
Congratulations to Roy from VeloceToday!!

And, order at left!