Elite Auto Rental Blog

With a stock price that hasn’t been this low since the Eisenhower administration, GM is shifting the focus of its auto production away from big pick-ups and toward small cars like the new Chevrolet Beat.

“The long product development cycle for cars has made it tough sledding for all of the American automakers, but they are making the transition to more fuel efficient cars. The Chevrolet Beat should sell very well to customers who are concerned about rising gas costs,” says Ron Sturgeon, owner of a DFW luxury car rental company.

The Chevrolet Beat was one of three non-hybrid concept cars that GM introduced at the New York International Auto Show in 2007.

In addition to the Beat, GM also showcased two other compact concept cars: the Groove and the Trax. Auto enthusiasts cast their votes for the best of the three concept cars on the official GM survey website.

So far, the Chevy Beat has been the favorite among survey participants with 885,000 votes, 46% of the total number of votes cast. It also got the nod from Wired Autotopia’s Chuck Squatrilia as a heart stopping Aveo in hot pants. Its highly chromed interior is wickedly cool, but we will have to see how much of it makes it into the production version of the Beat.

Originally, the Chevy Beat was going to be produced for sale in Europe and Asia only, but high US gas prices have prompted GM to offer the Beat in the American market.

The Chevrolet Beat is a two-door subcompact that gets an impressive 40 miles per gallon. The 1.2-liter supercharged engine promises to deliver fuel efficiency, decent acceleration, and a fun driving experience.

Sturgeon, who also owns a exotic car sharing club in Dallas TX and a business that provides fantasy sports car driving tours is impressed by GM’s innovation. “The Beat is going to be the most fuel-efficient car in GM’s line-up,” he says.

The Beat will not arrive at US dealerships for more than a year, but it should sharpen GM’s appeal to drivers feeling pinched at the pump.

Before John Krasinski became famous for playing cute-boy-next-door Jim on The Office, he didn’t always travel in style. In a video, Krasinski details his adventure with a college friend and a very old Honda Accord, complete with a spot-on impersonation of a crazy mechanic.

Now that Krasinski has made it big, he probably drives an exotic sports car or other luxury automobile. Since most of us have a lifestyle more like Krasinski’s character Jim, we can’t afford to own a Mercedes or BMW. Instead, an increasingly popular option is exotic car rental.

When asked what kind of car Jim from The Office would rent, Ron Sturgeon, who owns a Dallas exotic car rental business and exotic car club in DFW, didn’t hesitate.

“Jim would rent a Porsche 911 Cabriolet,” said Sturgeon. “He’s kind of an everyman character, and I think every guy I know dreams of driving a Porsche 911.”

Rental of exotic cars seems to be the alternative of choice these days. Owning an exotic car means not just the expensive up-front price tag of the car, but also costly upkeep, storage, and hefty depreciation.

When you rent a Ferrari, rather than buying one, you get all the joys of driving a supercar and none of the hassles. You get to turn heads at stoplights, impress clients and dates, and experience the thrill of driving one of the most sought after performance cars in the world.

“We do have a number of celebrity clients, but we don’t divulge any names to protect the privacy of those who rent from us,” says Ron Sturgeon when asked if Krasinski has ever rented an exotic car from him.

In the video, Krasinski tells about dropping the transmission in his friend’s old Honda Accord and having to ask for help at a nearby gas station. The story gets even more funny when he begins to describe his encounter with the mechanic at the station.

Proud of his car, which could go 210 miles per hour, the mechanic proceeds to demonstrate the car’s performance to Krasinski and his friend – in the middle of a busy parking lot.

You’ll have to watch the video to get a real feel for the story, but you can be sure that Krasinski or the mechanic won’t be borrowing my Honda anytime soon.

Kate Miller-Wilson is a freelance writer living in the Twin Cities. Visit her website or email her for information about her freelance writing services.

As the first blockbuster romantic comedy in years, the Sex and the City movie is getting a lot of attention. Based on the popular HBO TV series, the movie picks up four years after the show ended, showing us turning points in the lives of its four main characters: Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda, and Samantha. But the movie is more than just a showcase for flawed female characters and high fashion; it also gives us a glimpse of some great exotic cars.

“I first heard about the film in August last year,” Ferdinand Froning, the head of Mercedes’ Entertainment Liason Office in Los Angeles, told the Telegraph. “I’ve a friend who was a PR for the project and they wanted to work with us. This is so influential, it’s the same cast as the TV series, the same crew, Sarah Jessica Parker is executive producer, we just had to be linked.”

[Photo Credit New Line Cinema for both images.]

Mercedes appearance in the film reflects the company’s real life sponsorship of New York Fashion Week. They also worked out a deal with producers to feature Mercedes automobiles in many of the scenes. Mercedes has also launched a cool minisite dedicated to the film.

“Product placement is a great way to expose people to a car brand,” says Ron Sturgeon, owner of a Dallas exotic car rental company. “Some people may choose to buy a Mercedes based on the company’s film exposure. Others will choose to rent a Mercedes and avoid the hassle of owning an exotic or luxury car.”

Exotic, classic, and luxury car rental may indeed get a boost from the film. Sex and the City is all about brands. Carrie wears Manolo Blahniks. Samantha famously sacrifices her integrity to get a Hermes bag. Charlotte had an engagement ring from Tiffany and Co. And you can bet Miranda’s business suits don’t come from the nearest Dress Barn. If the girls drive the lastest Mercedes, women everywhere will want to do the same.

However, wanting to ride in a Mercedes and actually plunking down $90,000 for a luxury car are two very different things. Most of us just don’t have the bankroll to run down to our nearest Mercedes dealer and drive away in the new Mercedes SL500. That’s where exotic, classic, and luxury car rental comes in. You can afford to splurge on those Manolos and still drive the exotic car of your dreams.

“I’m sure the film will be a major influence,” says Sturgeon, who also owns a Dallas exotic car club and a company that provides automotive dream tours. “Exotic car rental is a really popular alternative.”

Froning told the Telegraph that product placement is a delicate art. “If you are too blatant, the audience will realize it is a commercial,” he said. “You have to trust the director and the creative people.”

Only time will tell whether Mercedes sales and Mercedes rentals will increase due to the exposure they receive in Sex and the City or on their Mercedes minisite dedicated to the film.

Kate Miller-Wilson is a freelance writer living in the Twin Cities. Visit her website or email her for information about her freelance writing services.

Well in advance of an official debut at the Paris Motor Show in October, Ferrari dropped a trio of photos of the 2009 California on the Web. Strongly influenced by the V-12-engined 599 GTB Fiorano and the 612 Scaglietti, the aluminum-bodied California sports the company’s first retractable hard top.

Beneath the hood, a 4.3-liter direct-injection V-8 produces 454 horsepower at 7500 rpm. Power is delivered to the rear wheels by a new seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. The company claims 60 mph will arrive in less than four seconds.

Ferrari calls the California an “original 2+ concept,” though two-plus-what remains to be seen.

Photos courtesy of Ferrari.

Americans are addicted to slang.  As recent examples, I would offer up “cool” which doesn’t have anything to do with temperature or “bad” which actually means good.
 
As the environmental movement rolls through our society, it too is adding words to our everyday parlance.  Consider the use of the word “green” to describe practically everything.  I recently came across a new slang term that I wasn’t actually sure what it meant. 

The term is hypermiling.
 
A little research enlightened me to the fact that hypermiling is the practice of incorporating extreme automobile driving techniques in order to get more MPG out of the old family battle wagon.
 
These hypermiling techniques are not just gimmicky; they can be effective.  For example, putting your car in neutral and coasting downhill, drafting closely behind other cars on the highway, and gentle acceleration can all add up to a 30% improvement in fuel efficiency.  Since nowadays a 30% increase in fuel economy can prevent your having to get a second mortgage…hypermiling is hot!

Although this is all fine and good, I must admit that when I first saw the term “hypermiling” I instantly thought of breaking the sound barrier in a 2008 Lamborghini Gallardo.  Imagine my surprise when I found out the real meaning of the word.

 
Armed with this knowledge, I had to contact my friend Ron Sturgeon to get his thoughts. Sturgeon is the author of Green Weenies and Due Diligence, a book that catalogs the meanings of some of the more colorful phrases in use in America’s boardrooms.

“Hypermiling sounds like it should mean driving really fast,” said the author and owner of a DFW exotic car rental company.

Good, I’m not crazy.
 
This just demonstrated that people’s perception of the meaning of words depends in part on their backgrounds.  I’m sure that if you start talking about hypermiling at an Al Gore rally, the eco-conscious crowd will instantly chip in with their own tales of high-mpg driving in their Priuses.

Hang around with Sturgeon and his friends and mention hypermiling and you may get an earful about the latest V12 or the new 2008 Viper SRT-10 that just arrived at his Tarrant County exotic car club.  Sturgeon is also apt to start making suggestions for exotic car rentals in Dallas TX that he can set you up with to increase your hypermiling experience.
 
Whatever you think of hypermiling, just make sure you don’t show up to Gore’s Earth Day rally in Sturgeon’s Ferrari 360 Spider rental because the lack of fuel efficiency may not be “green” enough to earn you “cool” status and that would be bad.

 
Written by G.D. Gregory.  If you are interested in having me write stories for you or seeing my portfolio, please contact me at ggpsu@yahoo.com.

Wow, have you heard of this new thing called the internet where you can, uh, buy stuff from your house?  Okay, I realize that I’m not breaking any Earth-shattering news with the notion that items may be purchased on the world-wide web.

But I am ever intrigued and surprised by the pure range of items that are available for purchase.  In this pursuit, I am always drawn to both the quirky and the over-the-top.  With that in mind, I offer you Candy Direct. 

Now everybody knows that candy is available almost anywhere.  Just try checking out of a grocery store with your kid and you’ll learn just how readily available candy is.  So why would I need to go online to order the stuff?

The folks at Candy Direct aren’t just selling your typical fare; they are going all out to offer anything anyone could ever want that is candy related.  Looking for hard-to-find candy, they’ve got it.  Looking for bouquets made out of candy, they’ve got it.  Looking for retro-candy from eras past, they’ve got it.  And on and on it goes.
 
Candy Direct will take you back to the simpler times of Jujubes, Jujyfruits, and bubble gum cigars.  What better way to develop cavities and life threatening lifestyle habits simultaneously!
 
My search for internet quirkiness has also led me to some somewhat grander discoveries.  Take for example Ron Sturgeon’s family of exotic car businesses that he operates with a strong online presence.
 
“In this day and age, you are really a dinosaur if you don’t have a strong Internet presence, regardless of what business you’re in,” opines Dallas sports car rental company.
 
Sturgeon appears to be trying to turn “kick the tires” into ”click the tires” when it comes to his exotic car businesses.  Perhaps his strongest internet presence is seen in his exotic car rental agency.  This company boasts an impressive garage of exotic cars that can all be reserved online by the day.  Additionally, the company’s website offers weekly internet specials that allow customers to choose from a changing menu of DFW exotic car rental special deals.

For those for whom cars are like candy, Sturgeon’s exotic car club allows members to drive a garage full of exotic cars for far less than the price of direct ownership.  This Dallas TX exotic car club accepts online applications and communicates with all of its members via the company’s website. Exotic car sharing is an excellent way to drive exotics without taking out a second mortgage.

Finally, Sturgeon operates a Texas exotic car tour company where participants are treated to an eight-hour sampling of an assortment of five exotic cars.  Again, the company’s website offers exotic car tour route descriptions, videos of past tours, and allows for exotic car tour reservations.

Whether you’re into licorice or Lamborghinis, the Internet has you covered.

 
Written by G.D. Gregory.  If you are interested in having me write stories for you or seeing my portfolio, please contact me at ggpsu@yahoo.com.

If you’re the sort of person who likes to wait until the last minute to file your income taxes, today is a very busy day for you. Income taxes must be postmarked by midnight tomorrow night to avoid late fees.

If you need more time to get your tax materials together, tomorrow night is also the deadline for filing for a tax extension. Filing for an extension will give you an extra six months to get your paperwork together, but any taxes you owe are due now. On the other hand, if you know you’ll be receiving a refund, it makes perfect sense to bite the bullet and get those tax papers together now.

According to an article in USA Today, “…the impact on the U.S. economy when about $230 billion in tax refunds starts hitting the streets in March, April and May is so great that it’s known as the ‘April problem.’”

“Although our business isn’t too sensitive to tax refund time, we do see a small up tick in Dallas luxury car rentals around the time tax checks start arriving,” says DFW Elite Auto Rental.com GM Tom Warren.

“However, I’d say we do get some business for our fantasy car driving tours around tax time,” says Warren. A division of the Fort Worth-based rental car company organizes full day fantasy car driving tours. “Every year we have one or two people that decide this is their year to experience driving a Ferrari F430 and four other dream cars in a single day,” insists Warren.

Recently introduced standby ride along passes mean that a car enthusiast can get in the passenger seat for a dream car tour for far less than the full fare when seats are available on a drive your dream ticket. “It’s great for couples or as an anniversary or birthday gift for a car buff,” says the Dallas rental car executive. “The standby seats aren’t guaranteed, but if you happen to hit a tour that doesn’t fill up, they’re the fantasy car bargain of the century,” says Warren.

Check out tour dates, videos and pictures for recent DFW Drive Your Dream Tours on their website (www.dfwdriveyourdream.com)

The IRS website has a special note for taxpayers who do not usually need to file returns: “For tax year 2007 only, many taxpayers who would not normally need to file a federal income tax return will need to file one in order to ensure that they receive an Economic Stimulus Payment (commonly referred to as “rebate”).”

In other words, no file, no free money. Seems strange that folks that don’t normally file still can get money back. But why quibble when the government is buying support for incumbents during an election year stimulating the economy for the good of the common people?

Kate Miller-Wilson is a freelance writer living in the Twin Cities. Visit her website or email her for information about her freelance writing services. She is a regular contributor to our exotic car blogs.

Dynamically, the Aston Martin DB7 is as good as it needs to be, and at $125,000 ($135,000 for the convertible), it needs to be plenty good. But the obligation of a car like this is to provide its owner that which isn’t measured by stopwatch or skidpad.

Aston Martin DB7 was the first Aston Martin developed under Ford Motor Company, and the DB7 qualifies as the highest-volume Aston Martin ever.

 

Introduced in Europe in 1995 and in America in 1996, the Aston Martin DB7 was the first Aston Martin developed under Ford Motor Company, which took control of Aston in 1987. Ford also owns Jaguar, and the DB7 shares with the new Jaguar XK8 a Jaguar XJS central floorpan; its engine block is also of Jaguar origin. Ford money helped develop, test, and certify both cars, but the DB7 was designed by Aston to be an Aston — to carry on its defining DB series, in fact.

Thus it has a refined dohc inline-six enhanced by an Eaton supercharger. Acceleration is best described as rapid; the DB7 is too heavy to be quick. It feels sportiest with the Getrag five-speed, though virtually all U.S. cars get a General Motors four-speed automatic. Ride is composed on every surface, braking is strong and, despite uninvolved steering, the car is balanced, sticky, and predictable in turns. This is a sporting machine that makes few demands on its driver, but it is not the DB7’s performance that will compel a purchase. Neither will the 2+2 cabin, which relies on Connolly hides and gleaming walnut to divert attention from generic switchgear.

The Aston Martin DB7 has a central floorplan and engine block of Jaguar origin, which is a popular sports car also owned by Ford Motor Company.

 

A stronger lure is the voluptuous body. The mix of steel and composite panels is unique to the Aston Martin DB7, despite a visual similarity to the XK8. Styled by Aston’s Ian Callum, formerly of Ford’s Ghia studio, the shape is contemporary but respects the magnificent DB4, DB5, and DB6, especially in the charismatic grille opening.

Combine that look with exclusivity — production of just 650 per year, a scant 200 for America — and the DB7’s nature is revealed. The new sports car from Aston Martin represents discriminating taste, a certain breeding. It is not Italian, and it certainly is not German. In a realm where price is irrelevant, a car must make its owners feel special. The DB7 does.

Given the uncertain fate of Aston Martin remaining a part of Ford’s Premiere Automotive Group, it’s understandable that the high-end British make has decided to keep its presence at the Geneva show decidedly low-key. As a result, the Vanquish S Ultimate Edition wasn’t on the Palexpo’s show floor, but instead, will be rolled out to customers who request one of the 40 models that will be handbuilt at the firm’s Newport Pagnell works. Priced over $360,000, the Vanquish S Ultimate features no real changes to the mechanical package, but features a new exterior color, Ultimate Black, and a semi-aniline leather interior with coarse stitching and black chrome accents. Each car is fitted with personalized sill plaques denoting the limited-edition number. Aston also announced that owners of existing Vanquish models can now order a factory retrofit 6-speed manual if they wish to convert their automatic paddle-shift models to a conventional gearbox. The price for the conversion is approximately $26,000.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=15&article_id=4844

The Bentley Continental GT coupe has been a runaway success, but that hasn’t stopped the engineers in Crewe from working on the next phase of the project, the 2007 Continental GT convertible. In the product plan right from the start, our latest spy photos show that the convertible Continental GT is well on its way to showrooms. Disregard the Mercedes grille and Maserati taillights, as the rear-quarter panels are a dead giveaway that this is indeed a Continental GT-based drop top.

It’s expected to keep all the same specs as the coupe, meaning a 552-horsepower W12 under the hood and standard all-wheel drive. The convertible soft top will most likely add a few hundred pounds of additional weight, but as we have seen in the case of the Continental Flying Spur a little extra weight doesn’t hold the big 12-cylinder back much. Expect an official announcement of this Continental GT convertible from Bentley by the end of the year.

I heard Dfw Elite has one of these on order. I can’t wait to rent that one….