Elite Auto Rental Blog

Although I am not a regular viewer of The Oprah Winfrey Show, I know her story and have always admired her for her faith in the capacity of people to excel, no matter their circumstances. She recently did a segment profiling young millionaire moguls that included a story about Gurbaksh Chahal, one of the more successful entrepreneurs in recent history.    (Photo credit The Oprah Winfrey Show website.)

In 1985, his parents received visas to emigrate from India to the United States because they won a lottery for visas held by the government of India. The family settled in San Jose, California. According to the biography on Mr. Chahal’s website, he and his family arrived in the United States with only $25.

In spite of the premium placed on his schooling by his parents, Chahal left high school at 16 to start an Internet advertising company. Two years later, he sold the venture for 40 million dollars. His second entrepreneurial venture, BlueLithium, was also an Internet advertising business that improved ROI for clients using sophisticated behavioral targeting. Yahoo purchased that business from Gurbaksh Chahal for $300 million in cash, which a single fellow can live comfortably on.

In the Oprah appearance, Chahal shared his belief that there is always more than one path to success for those driven to attain it. Normally, I would be a little skeptical of a guy writing a business memoir at age 26, but Chahal tells an inspiring story.

His new non-fiction account of his Horatio Alger story is entitled The Dream. According to his website (http:www.cahal.com), the book was released on October 23rd, 2008. It is available on Amazon.

When Gurbaksh sold his first company, he made his priority taking care of his parents and family. He paid off the mortgage and made certain his family was financially secure. He gives credit to his family for keeping him on track and instilling in him the discipline to achieve remarkable things.

He also indulged a little by purchasing the dream car that he had desired since boyhood–a Lamborghini. (I’ll have to settle for renting an Audi R8 until I can sell my business for a few million.)

(Photo credit for Audi R8 image to Fort Worth photographer and web developer Josh Davis.)

The media is filled with attacks on business people. In films and on television, capitalists are mostly portrayed as being like Monty Burns, yellow, greedy and conniving. The world has its share of Montys and Bernard Madoffs, but it also has its share of Chahal Gurbakshs.

For the owners of small businesses who want to build businesses, reading The Dream is a great idea. Another way to grow a small business in a down economy is by joining an industry specific business mentoring group.

Entrepreneur and small business consultant Ron Sturgeon, a.k.a. Mr. Mission Possible, attributes much of his business success to membership in such a group.

“I was very successful in growing a business that was ultimately purchased by Ford because I belonged to a peer mentoring group for my industry.” The group met twice a year and shared best practices and innovations that allowed owner-members to lead the industry.

“Customers are going to be harder to come by. Joining an industry specific business peer mentoring group is one path to make your business prosper, even in tougher times,” said Mr. Sturgeon.

Over the next several months, the Fort Worth, TX-based business mentor and keynote speaker will be organizing groups to bring together owners of non-competitive small businesses in the same industry to share best practices and business building strategies.

To learn more about joining a mentoring groups for entrepreneurs in your industry, visit http://www.mrmissionpossible.com.

This post written by SEO web writer Eric Anderson. See Eric’s portfolio of web writing at http://www.pdqwebcopywriting.com.

The plain and ugly truth is that I’m fat. Not rotund, big boned, husky, or a wee bit plump. I’m not biggest loser fat, beached whale fat, or for God’s sake put your shirt back on fat, but I’m fat.

And like most Americans, I’m hoping for some painless way to take the weight off.

You know sort of like the big three automakers are hoping that the Obama administration will pay their legacy health care costs or loan them billions of tax dollars when they have a cost structure that makes them non-competitive.

We’re Americans; we believe that there is an easy answer.

We can take two maxislimdetatrimfasts and the pounds will just melt away while we sleep.

Forgive me for being in such a foul mood, my college roommate keeps sending me things that make me think we’re all doomed and that we are sinners in the hands of an angry God.

Naw, we’re just suckers for someone who tells us what we want to hear.

One of the greatest recent examples has to be a new — I kid you not — cookie diet from Dr. Siegal.

Forget exercise, more veggies, or 45 minutes with a German personal trainer named Helga.

Have a cookie. The pounds will come right off while you’re sleeping. The cookie diet lets you eat your choice of chocolate, blueberry, banana or coconut cookies.

Shut up. They’re meal replacements. Letters are flowing in from everywhere with news about the cookie diet.

(Images in today’s post courtesy of talented photographer D. Sharon Pruitt. See more of her pictures in her Flickr photostream. Images licensed under Creative Commons attribution only.)

The cookie diet slogan: “Controls your hunger so that you can stick to your diet.”

Uh-Huh. Nothing like replacing two of three meals with cookies to break you of the desire to eat.

Only in America. The place where people believe the government can borrow (or worse, print) 850 billion dollars and spend it on buying votes and that will create prosperity.

You can have free health care and a first time home buyer mortgage that you don’t need to repay. We’ll tax the rich to pay for all of it.

Have a cookie, no really, they work.

What next? The thick cut bacon diet?

These meal replacement cookies are low carb and low calorie, but according to Jodi Mallender-Farrell’s article in the Miami Herald, the cookies might be dry and not taste good.

They may even taste so awful that you’ll be able to control your hunger.

Fat chance.

(Image courtesy of DFW Elite Car Club, a car sharing club in Dallas, TX.)

Wake up America! No one is going to take your beater on a trade for a dream car or let you experience driving a Ferrari for free. No tooth fairy and no Santa Claus.

Actual results may vary. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

You can have a cookie if it makes you feel any better.

I’d recommend the thin mints from the Girl Scouts. Grab the milk container, open a sleeve and watch bikini girl on American idol. I heard she got that body from the cookie diet.

This article written by SEO web copywriter Eric Anderson. His recent writing projects include a Fort Worth car storage site and a Tampa Florida mortgage website.

Classic car buyers and muscle car buyers are lined up for a great event put on by Mecum Auctions. The event is being held in the shadow of Disney World, in beautiful sunny Kissimmee, FL.

This year, despite all the gloom and doom, the Mecum Auction being held at Osceola’s Heritage Park, beat the number of cars in the previous Mecum auction.

Noted for auctioning classic American muscle cars, particularly Corvettes, Dana Mecum, owner of Mecum Auctions, was recently quoted in Forbes Autos giving some tips on spotting tomorrow’s collector cars.

His advice: look for cars purchased primarily for pleasure, rather than basic transportation; look for a car that is notable; and look for a car produced in limited quantities.

I’m thinking Tesla Roadster or maybe the 2009 Audi R8.

Of course with the state of American car makers, lots of great American sports cars could be getting the axe. I’d like to have a Ford GT or a 2008 Dodge Viper about now.

Both of my fantasy supercar drives were once in the paddock of the premier sports car sharing club in Dallas,

Anyway, the cool thing about the Mecum auction is that you can watch it live on the web at http://www.mecum.com or if you are lucky enough to have Discovery Channel HD, you can get the auction live in four hour blocks.

Check out the auction TV schedule here.

According to good article by Steve Cole Smith of the Orlando Sentinel, among the more exciting items up for bid are 21 cars from the Bob McDorman collection in Columbus, Ohio. Among them, a one-of-a-kind 1953 Buick Skylark hardtop.  Also up for bids will be an ultra rare 1963 Corvette Z06 race car.

Be sure and tune in. I’m sure the auction will make true car buffs long for bigger garages or some other place for collector car storage.

Pity, I’m not the Sultan of Brunei because I’d buy them all to stimulate the economy.If you live near Orlando, for $10, you can attend the Mecum car auction.

This article was written by SEO web copywriter Eric Anderson. Eric’s recent writing projects include a Tampa mortgage website and a web site for a small business strategic planning consultant.

If you’re tired of commuting through Dallas traffic in your old car or if you want to get better gas mileage for your commute, the Scoot Coupe might be just the answer you’re looking for.  Not only are there many practical features to this vehicle, it also offers a great opportunity to drive an exotic car for a reasonable price.

Basically a cross between a scooter and a small car, the Scoot Coupe appears comfortable on its three wheels.  It offers many important safety features like emergency flashers, rack and pinion steering, seat belts, overhead bars, and disc brakes on all three wheels.

In addition, Panther Motors calls the Scoot Coupe “easy to operate” and “the coolest scooter you’ll ever own.”

The coolness factor is definitely high with this vehicle.  Just as renting an exotic car will turn heads, so will the sleek looks of this scooter.  It can really only be described as “cute.”

The Scoot Coupe is available in four very bright colors:  red, blue, yellow, and the aptly named “mantis green.”  Other cute features include a small trunk for luggage or groceries, a car-shaped front end with slanted headlights, and fancy colored stripes on the upholstery.

Despite its small size, the Scoot Coupe claims to be comfortable for drivers as tall as 6’3”.  Two passengers can fit comfortably in the vehicle, but there is no back seat.

Technically, the Scoot Coupe has many advantages over typical commuter transportation.  Its 4-stroke, 1-cylinder engine is capable of speeds up to 45 miles per hour and gets about 70-80 miles per gallon.  In addition, the small size of the vehicle, just 96” long, makes for easy parking and remarkably easy car storage in Fort Worth or wherever you may reside.

There are two models of Scoot Coupe available:  the P50 and the P150.  The primary difference between the two models is the maximum power of the engine.  The P50 gets 1.9 horsepower at 3000 RPM, and the P150 gets 9.28 horsepower at 7000 RPM.

While these stats don’t even begin to compare to the horsepower you get when you rent a Lamborghini or other exotic car, the vehicle would still make a decent and head-turning commuter car.  The gas savings alone would help pay for a classic car rental like the BMW Isetta if you want to experience driving a gas saver from the post WW II era.

Panther Motors, the manufacturer of the Scoot Coupe, is a Florida-based company that began in 2004.  The company is devoted to producing high-quality three-wheeled scooters for commercial and private use.

The Scoot Coupe is manufactured in the United States and retails for $6300 to $6600.

Bill Rucker’s car lot in Haltom City, TX is aptly described by Star Telegram writer Chris Vaughn in his January 19th article as “a bizarre time warp to the days of Smokey Robinson, sideburns and Steve McQueen, and most of all, to the long-lost primacy of the American automobile.”

For sure these cars are barn finds, but they are not exactly like the fine Bugatti Type 37S that an eccentric English M.D. recently left to his children. Instead, the cars on Rucker’s vintage auto lot are badly in need of mechanical repair.  They also need deep-pocketed car collectors wanting parts for a project car or an antique car or two to restore from the ground up.

According to the Star Telegram article, “There are Mustangs, T-Birds, Galaxies, and Impalas, and there are Fleetwoods, Chevelles and Bel Aires.”

The cars were collected by Butch and Richard Jarvis, the one-time owners of Little John’s Wrecking Yard and sold to Rucker by Jason Jarvis, the current proprietor.

Rucker sold some of the cars on E-Bay and others using listings on Craig’s List. Doubtless the publicity from the Star Telegram will attract Dallas area classic car fans to Haltom City to buy and restore many of these classics.

Rucker’s operation is not a salvage yard. It’s a car dealership. You can’t buy parts off of a car; it’s an all-or-nothing proposition. Rucker also owns a company which restores cars and motorcycles.

Car collectors making the trip to Haltom City to check out Rucker’s vintage cars ought to stop by and visit Ron Sturgeon’s Fort Worth vintage automotive toy museum to see a fine collection of Michele Conti models, German driving school models, and other automotive toys.

(Michele Conti model of the Lamborghini Espada. Image courtesy of DFW Elite Toy Museum.)

Should your purchasing of a few project cars from Rucker cause you to suddenly need to store a classic car in Fort Worth, check out DFW Elite Car Storage, the finest secure, climate controlled Dallas Car Storage.

“Certainly there are a lot of good reasons for collectors to store their cars securely in a climate controlled facility,” said DFW Elite Car Storage leasing manager Josh Davis.

This article was written by SEO Web copywriter Eric Anderson. Eric’s recent projects include writing websites for a Tampa Mortgage broker and a Montana vinyl graphics design company.

You know you’ve always wanted to let a 2008 Lamborghini Gallardo loose on the streets of Dallas Fort Worth. However, perhaps, remaining happily married has prevented you from dropping the nearly 2k neccessary to rent a Lamborghini Gallardo in Dallas?

(Image courtesy of Photographer Josh Davis - Fort Worth, TX. and used with permission.)

Well, DFW Elite Auto Rental, DFW’s premier luxury car rental company, is offering up a chance to drive a dream car for a full day for only $50.

They are holding a random drawing open only to the first 40 people to respond. That’s right a ticket gives you a 1-in-40 chance at a day driving the Lamborghini Gallardo or some other super exotic dream car.

The other cars that you may choose to drive instead of the Lamborghini: a Ferrari F430 F1, the brand new 2009 Audi R8, the Dodge Viper convertible, a sweet jet black Ferrari 360 Spyder. You can even convert the winning ticket to rental dollars. To enter call, DFW Elite Auto Rental at 214.247.4700.

Those odds aren’t bad for a day behind the wheel of a Lamborghini that typically rents for between $1450 and $1800 a day.

Winner must provide proof or proper insurance and hold a valid driver’s license. Winner may exchange winning ticket for rental dollars to use on other Dallas exotic car rentals from DFW Elite Auto Rental.com.

Sometimes the clever antics of marketers on the web amaze me. Although this space is mostly devoted to news of exotic cars and car clubs, I really enjoyed a story I saw on Richard McKinnon’s blog about a novel promotion for Australian tourism done by the Queensland Tourism Board in Brisbane, Australia.

They have created http://www.islandreefjob.com to entice visitors to apply for “the best job in the world”. Their best job involves earning a salary of 69k pounds for serving as the caretaker to an Australian island paradise for 6 months.

(Photo of island paradise courtesy of talented photographer Natu and licensed under Creative Commons attribution only. See more of Nattu’s photos in his Flickr photostream.)

Although, my dream job might be serving as a food taster for a gourmet Fort Worth restaurant or perhaps director of a Dallas exotic car sharing club, I can appreciate the draw of living rent free in a luxury home for six months in the paradise that is Hamilton Island and being required to maintain a pool with an automatic filter, feed the fish and turtles, pick up the mail, and participate in leisure activities such as snorkeling and scuba diving off of the island.

To get the job you do not need to have hospitality or caretaking experience, but a love of the outdoors and reasonable skill at water sports and snorkeling are helpful.

Fluency in English is recommended, by not required, as the person chosen will write a blog during their sojourn on Hamilton Island and field media inquiries, and produce a photo diary on the blog. Not too tough to qualify for that and even if your English is rusty, it’s nothing that a professional English tutor couldn’t help you overcome.

The hours are manageable also, with an expected 12 hour per month flexible work schedule. That makes the salary a little less than one thousand pounds an hour. The whole take from the job would pay the average Tampa mortgage for years.

Predictably the Australian tourism website pulling this stunt has garnered some hits from their target market of British vacation travels. The blogosphere is also ablaze with chatter about this strongly crafted tourism promotion.

During the first day the job opening was announced the site received several hundred thousand hits and a few hundred people applied before the site’s web hosting company’s servers crashed.

Anyway, if you don’t mind dropping your vehicle off at car storage and heading off to paradise, there is still time to apply for the Australian island caretaker position. Applying involves submitting a 60 second video outlining the reasons you deserve to be hired. Get it done before February 22 at http://www.islandreefjob.com.

Story written by professional SEO Web Copywriter Eric Anderson. Eric’s recent web copywriting projects include a Montana business sign company website and a Dallas car storage website.

Maybe you want to drive a Bentley Continental like Britney Spears. Or perhaps you envy Ashlee Simpson’s Fendi bag. The celebrity lifestyle looks attractive, but the price tag makes it impossible for most of us to attain.

Fans of exotic car clubs have long understood that ownership isn’t the only way to make your celebrity lifestyle dreams come true. You can drive a Bentley Continental without shelling out more than $200,000 to buy an exotic car. Rental of exotic sports cars, along with car sharing clubs and automotive dream tours, offer an attractive alternative to ownership.

And when it comes to carrying the latest couture bag, similar options exist. Bag Borrow or Steal, which featured some very clever product placement in the “Sex and the City” movie, is now expanding its wares to include jewelry, clothing, and sunglasses. The new expanded business will be called Avelle.

Don’t worry they’ll still be able to hook you up with handbags like the 42k Louis Vitton. Image licensed under Creative Commons attribution only and courtesy of San Francisco photographer Brandon Baunach. See more of Brandon’s photos in his Flickr photostream.

The reasons to join Bag Borrow or Steal are similar to the reasons many people join exotic car clubs. Rented celebrity style has many big advantages:

• You really can live the celebrity lifestyle. You don’t need to emulate your favorite celebrity by carrying an obvious knock-off bag or trying to pretend your Buick is a BMW. You can experience the real thing instead.

• Exotic car rental and handbag clubs like Bag Borrow or Steal are the ultimate choice for those of us who might be just a little shy of commitment. After all, an exotic car is a major purchase, and couture handbags run well into the thousands of dollars. That’s just a waste of money if you know you might change your mind at some point.

• Both ownership alternatives help you make peace with your spouse. Is your husband tired of seeing expensive handbags piled up in your closet? Borrow instead. Is your wife a little less than supportive of your dream to buy and drive a Ferrari? Rental will help set her mind at rest.

We all want a little luxury sometimes; it’s perfectly natural. But if the success of exotic car clubs and Bag Borrow or Steal are any indication, consumers are starting to realize that owning luxury isn’t the only way to enjoy it!

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

It’s no secret that car sales have been in a slump lately, and many auto industry experts expect continued sales declines in 2009.

Difficult times are forcing automobile dealers to get creative in overcoming buyer resistance. Korean automaker Hyundai has even begun to offer a new type of loan that allows car buyers to return their automobile if they get laid off or are forced to file for bankruptcy.

“A tighter economy means businesses are going to be more innovative in generating sales,” says Tom Warren, GM of a Dallas exotic car sharing club.

“Hyundai has been in the midst of reinventing itself in the American market and they have done very well in changing American consumers’ minds about the quality and desirability of their cars,” says Warren.

Warren notes that some American exotic car buyers are also changing their minds about car ownership. In an era of belt tightening, many affluent consumers are electing to join exotic car sharing clubs rather than purchase an exotic car.

Membership in an exotic car sharing club like DFW Elite Car Club allows for members to experience driving different exotic cars without maintenance, depreciation, or the hassle of finding a place to store an exotic car in Dallas.

Hyundai’s return program, called “Assurance,” gives strapped consumers a way out if they lose their jobs or file for bankruptcy. In addition, the program covers overseas deployment for servicemen and provides protection in case of illness or accident.

The program covers automobile consumers for 12 months following the purchase of their new Hyundai. If the vehicle is in good shape and payments have been made on time, Hyundai owners can walk away from their loan owing no money. In addition, buyers’ credit will be unaffected.

The  is not for everyone, though. Hyundai officials caution that in order to qualify, buyers must provide proof of a layoff or other qualifying event. Simply racking up too much debt or quitting a job does not give buyers the option to return their Hyundai.

The Assurance program covers as much as $7,500 in negative equity on a loan and is available to all buyers.

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.