Supercar rental Cont: which car to accompany your grand tour?

Continuing from my previous post Supercar Rental CONT. Where do I go now? I take a look at what car to take with you on this Grand Tour.

Supercar cont: which car to accompany your grand tour?

Where do we begin dream cars? Fast cars? Expensive cars?

My initial thought was rather obvious: Grand Tourers what with this being a grand tour and all.

So I set out with a list:

Nissan GT-R

Ford GT

Porsche 911 GT

Ferrari 550 Maranello

Ferrari F40

Ferrari 458 Italia

Ferrari F12 berlinetta

Ferrari 612 Scaglietti

Ferrari California

Ferrari FF

Ferrari 599

Audi R8

Mclaren mp4-12c

Aston Martin DB9

Aston Martin Vanquish

Bentley Continental GT

Bentley Continental GTC Speed

Maserati GranTurismo

Maserati Coupé

Maserati spyder

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

Mercedes SL

Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren

Jaguar XJS

Jaguar XKR

Jaguar E type

 

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What I very quickly realised was I’ve got a job on here because the above list is huge (I can only take two cars on this trip) and also it doesn’t include any of the following cars which I would want to consider:

Jaguar F-Type V8 S

Lotus Evora

Bugatti Veyron

Ferrari  LaFerrari

Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione

Mclaren 650 S

Mclaren F1

Lamborghini Murcielago

Lamborghini Aventador

Lamborghini Huracán

Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera

Zonda Revolucion

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Ok so how to get down to a short list, I guess start by establishing what credentials the car needs to have to be worthy of spending lots of time and money driving 60hrs with. It needs to be Beautiful, Fast, Sound ridiculous (for tunnel runs), have a stupid price tag and be an instantly recognisable super car. So were still no closer to a short list? For me my top five comes down to preference as it is so difficult to decide.

The short list…

5) Jaguar E type – The E type may be an antique but its just beautiful and while not the fastest car in the world it would be fun to drive, the E type is a car that posses something that you cannot just build: a soul. The E type was the last jag that truly set the world on fire and is worthy of a spot on the short list.

4) Aston Martin Vanquish – The ultimate grand tourer since 2001, do I need to add anymore? On release this car was most surely on everyones walls just beautiful from every angle and unlike the E type it will probably manage the whole trip without breaking down. The current 6.0L V12 model has a massive 565 BHP and its 457lb ft of torque will race to 60mph in 4.1 seconds so its very fast too.

3) Jaguar F-Type V8 S – This makes the list for two reasons one because Jaguar have finally found something to take over the mantel from the E type as a true super car and two because it just sounds mad (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjJopTsqevs). Ohh and its so so so nice to look at!

2) Bugatti Veyron – The ultimate hypercar, doing what couldn’t be done and still retaining style comfort and the allure of a mystical beast (loch ness monster or big foot). While it is stupidly expensive (rightly so considering the development) and its fuel tank won’t get anywhere near the consumption of the others on the list. The Veyron (in a similar way that the Mclaren F1 changed everything), changes everything, even if its horsepower record has been beaten or a car can go faster it was the first and for that its noteworthy and deserving of the runner up place. The Veyron doesn’t win and probably can’t win in my eyes not through fault of its own, but because of it being placed on a pedestal by so many others the Veyron has become the top trump king, the go to car of brash people perceived to have little imagination who just want the biggest most expensive or fastest. With that said and typecasting aside it is a technically and visually wonderful car (even in gold or pink)!

 

1) Ferrari F12 Berlinetta – Everyone dreams of owning/driving/seeing/hearing about a Ferrari and I too am one of these people! The Berlinetta is my favourite Ferrari its insanely fast, its supermodel type good looks and like all top supermodels its looks divide opinion. A Ferrari tops the list because the Berlinetta like all Ferraris has a unique appeal that other cars don’t, the appeal of a Ferrari is a car that every man (and most women for that matter) would sell their mother just to sit in the passenger seat of one. In the UK they are so sparse in there viewings i’m sure just to see one would be a treat for most, this in itself is a reason to be top dog.

The final word… 

So theres my top five and I’ve probably upset every car fan everywhere with my choices…. Thoughts?

 

Supercar Rental CONT. Where do I go now?

Continuing from my post last week about Supercar rental:

Supercar Rental Where to?

So You’ve rented the supercar or at the very least are considering it… If you’ve already rented it I hope you’ve done so somewhere exciting with good roads and no speed limits!

If not then Perhaps I can persuade you to rent abroad not in the UK, so some background: I spent a year of my life living and studying in southern Germany (in a small town called Worms am Rhine) while there as I was in the heart of Europe I went on several road/rail trips as you do. Having driven in many countries I can safely say that driving in Germany and most of Europe for that matter for more pleasurable than driving in the UK, not sure if that is because on the highways of Europe, drivers tend to be more disciplined and tend not to hog the lanes as much as over here.

The other thing about driving in Germany is that the managed motorway system (that is slowly coming into force in the UK currently) was introduced sometime ago and drivers obey the posted speeds without the need for the overbearing enforcement of speed cameras, although contrary to popular belief the Autobahn is not always unrestricted (if the weather is bad, its busy or theres an accident speeds are often lower than UK’s motorways). Despite this fact Germany most certainly gets a vote as a place to start your journey, at the very least the South and a blast through the blackforest (or Schwarzwald in German) from either France or car hating but beautiful (and a must drive for the scenery) Switzerland on route to München Austria and eastern Europe beyond. I can also recommend the coastal roads and countryside roads of Italy particularly in the summer.

So I have been wanting to do a grand tour for awhile and had planned out my route in my head, I decided that today I would put pen to paper(google maps to be exact PDF of tour route) heres my grand tour route: 5,172Km (3 214 miles) 60hrs 7 counties of pure driving heaven?

Starting in Nice the first leg travels to Milano Via Genoa a blast along the coast followed by Italian countryside into Milano. Leg two travels from Milano to blackforest via Switzerland through the beautiful roads of Switzerland onto the fast and efficient roads of Germany to a forests and hills that make up the Schwarzwald. Leg three and blast across the autobahn stopping in Munich. Next on to Austria through Salzburg and on to Vienna winding through the mountains, valleys and lakes that make up the north of Austria. From Vienna its a quick pitstop in Bratislava and on to Budapest to see the old bridge, castle lit up at night and enjoy dinner on the Danube. Southwest we head now towards the sea with an overnight stop in Zagreb. Next we continue our trip towards the sea with a long drive to Dubrovnik via a pitstop in split. After a recovering in Dubrovnik enjoying the beaches and roman ruins we take the ferry across the Adriatic to Bari in Italy. From Bari we travel north along the Adriatic coast of Italy towards San Marino.  Finally after a pitstop in Parma it’s the home leg back to nice.

Nice coast, a nice place to start a grand tour

Blast through Italian countryside

Blackforest  – gateau anyone?

Munich an overnight stop… great for dinner and architecture

Salzburg best seen at night

Vienna another imposing city

Budapest and the famous old bridge

On to Zagreb

On to split and the Adriatic coast

The fortress old town of Dubrovnik

Across the Adriatic to Bari in Italy

on to san marino

The final WORD….

Just do it! So I will next summer as I turn 28 I should be able to rent a beauty and I will do this route… So who is with me any one up for it?

Whats next? 

Next Cars – which car to accompany your grand tour?

 

SuperCar rental – WHO WHAT WHERE AND WHY?

Having spent 3 and 1/2 years working in the car rental industry I think its fair to say I have an insiders view on the rental industry as a whole. One thing that has grabbed my attention recently is Supercar rentals not the standard premium car rental (read BMW, Merc etc) but the mad hatter, fire breathing dragon super car rental.

So where did this interest come from I hear you ask… Well on a trip to Scotland last week (which I will write about later on in the week) we were having lunch at Annandale water – One of the better service stops (J16 A74) when a Ferrari arrived on the back of a trailer (from super cars on demand) and it got me thinking who is that for and why is that up here.

Ferrari being delivered to a service station in Scotland.

From my time in rental I was aware of premium rentals with almost all of the mainstream car rental companies having the likes of 3 series and 5 series BMW, C and E class Mercs which usually go out for a few days for someone wanting to make an impression. However mainly due to insurance excesses (up to £1000) deposit (can be as high as £2000), age restrictions (usual the driver has to be over 30) and the cost of the rental (usually £150-£200/Day) these cars tend to be more commonly rented to insurance and breakdown customers. Which is why amongst other things I had totally ignored this segment of the market, until recently seemed the majority of the big rental companies have also ignored this segment apart from a few locations such as central London and Heathrow. This is now changing with the likes of hertz and Avis now offering super car rentals from an increasing number of locations. Of course there has been minor players (i.e. small operations with one or two locations) providing super premium rentals for a long time for wedding cars or for an experience etc, but the majority of these seem to be shady outfits. Usually located in obscure industrial estates and often have horrendous rental terms (milage restrictions, huge deposits and big insurance excesses).

WHO, WHERE and WHY… 

Who? Anyone who qualifies I guess is the correct answer err, but it depends is probably most accurate. In the UK it seems to rent anything remotely premium you will need to be at least 30 yrs old, have a cleanish licence (i.e. not been banned recently) and a credit card. Ohh and most importantly have funds to cover the rental and the deposit, which for a super premium car will be at the best £500+ per day with a deposit in the £000s. If it wasn’t for the age restriction and credit card, ohh and the cost these rentals would appeal to the ‘boy racer’ type like the experience days do. The people that use these services tend to be mature businessmen/women or celebrities. I am aware of people who have rented a ‘nice’ car for a wedding but these tend to be a premium car like a 3 series or c class not a supercar.

WHERE? This is the interesting point now with the mainstream players becoming increasingly more interested in this area of car rental, locations are now become more geographically spread (i.e. not just London). Although still fairly restricted to major cities but there are some companies who deliver nationally.

WHY? To show off at a wedding, for fun, just because?? Considering the cost per day my impression is that despite these hires are becoming more common they are still not massively typical which is why it has taken so long for the incumbents to enter the market. When you look at it objectively you can see why this has been the case: Consider this the cars cost well north of £70k to buy (yes, some will be leased and re-rented but this is the companies insurance liability if it is stolen), cost to insure a premium fleet, extra hassle (keeping cars secure, vetting renters etc.) and all for maybe 2 or 3 times the rental income is it really worth it? My guess is no but then for the main stream firms it’s a case of having full coverage and not allowing competitors to steal away business at any level.

How much? POE? – Yes mostly so if you have to ask you probably cannot afford – ball park for the Ferrari 458 (pictured above) prices start at £625/day for a hire lasting 8 or more days, 2-7 days £795/day, midweek hire £845/day, weekends from £2495 (Fri PM to MON AM).

 Temped? Let me know your thoughts bellow!

 

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