Toying with starting a classic / exotic car hire business, so I'm conducting a straw poll as to what you lot might be interested in.
Right, the possible choices are these
Jag E Type 4.2 Roadster Jag E Type S3 V12 Mid 60's Mustang Convertible Jag Mk2 3.8 Porsche Carrera 2 Porsche Boxter S Ferrari 308 or 328 GTB / GTS Ferrari 456 GT or possibly 550 Maranello. Mazda MX5 (for the cheapskates who want reliability) Bentley Turbo R or possibly Arnage Red Label MGB Roadster (for the cheapskates and real ale beardies) Aston Martin DB5 Caterham 7.
So, my questions are these;
Would you be interested in hiring any of them? If so, which ones?
What other cars would you suggest as possibles?
Nothing too bleedin' exotic please. No Spagthorpe Bolognas.
I'd also go for some contemporary 'cheap' fast cars that would appeal more to younger generatons (sort of 21-30ish). Such as an Impreza STi, VX220 Turbo, Evo8, Mini Cooper S, Nova 1.1 Merit etc etc. Also you could go for some retro 'cheap' classics such as an SD1 TP, Capri V6, mk1/2 Escort, Audi Quattro etc. I'd probably more interested in renting something out of my lists than yours TBH.
GTO? Hehehehe. 512TR or better, a proper mid 80s Testarossa.
The latter, perhaps.
Red Label for common sense, Continental T or R for hooliganism. Azure for wannabe scouser whiggers.
Prefer an AMV8 Volante, really. Or a Lagonda SII.
If you're up to maintaining it, a Delorean DMC-12 would be right up my street. Be happy to look after it for you, too, of course. And a Talbot Matra Rancho.
Well, I may have been joking about the Matra Rancho, but the Delorean I wasn't. Do not underestimate the power of 80s nostalgia and the spending power of 30somethings.
A Delorean will cost you about £15K. You might get an RHD under £20K. Many people would love to own one, but are (rightly) worried about the cost of upgrading and maintaining them accordingly - except, of course, they're only still carting that reputation around online because all the enthusiasts are flat broke - the £8K imported US POS is turning into the "my wife just left me and my dog needs feeding" £15K lovingly restored model in the autotrader.
The Delorean, and to a lesser extent, the 512/Testarossa (I prefer the classic look with pop up lights and square jaw, myself), are serious suggestions, as is the Continental R or T. I think you can pick up the T for around £50K, the Turbo R as we all know is a £20K runabout. Both are a fair bit cheaper than the Arnage Red Label.
Likewise, I reckon you'd get good mileage out of buying a 1984 Trans Am in black and spending some time and money on a KITT conversion, a good one (with the twin-screen dash and some time wiring up, it'll run you about £10K, and £5K is about the right ballpark for a V8 Firebird). It would be a sort lived market, about 5 years I reckon, but at an outlay of around £15K you'd get a hell of a lot of interest from people wanting to be Michael Knight. It's cheesy as hell, but it's like wanting to be Elvis, or wanting to be in Miami Vice (perhaps that's just me - would you believe that I've never actually watched an episode of that yet?). You price it fairly and people will fall over themselves to get married in, go to parties in, be seen with a good facsimile of KITT before getting back into their repmobile and back to the office.
Also maybe hard top mustang, like the one in Gone in 60 seconds :)
I don't really know what that is :)
Be dangerous, how about an old 911 Turbo idiot killer ;)
Yea i suppose it would be more exciting than the 206...
*dribble*
I don't think i'd dare.....oh go on then :D
This seems a little out of place...
They have always intrigued me.
I have a mate who will flog you on, that only has one bit of rust on it where its had a small prang next to the front right head light. He had it given, probly worth a few quid? Drum brakes all round are entertaining when braking from 80mph for a sharp corner....
Awesome.
With Hayabusa engine :) ? My mates dad is building an R1 engined Westfield....
Yes, but i probly am A) too young and B) too poor :)
Aston DB9 because they make me moist - but i'm not sure if thats the sort of thing you're looking for.... or a 205 T-16/Delta Integrale 16v best one in full Martini colours. Maybe a few other rally reps might be a laugh? Celica in Castrol colours etc?
Probly rules the 205 out :) Heh, rules out a 205, but not a Ferrari 550, awesome :D
You wouldn't want me as a customer then. When I was 11 or so, a mate of mine's Dad had a Carlton CDX, and I thought that was a really nice car, and really hoped I might have one one day.
You think that's bad? I liked the Talbot Tagora down the road, and I always wanted a yellow FE-series Victor, or better yet, a droopsnoot Firenza.
I was thankfully saved by a car nut called Peter Drake (IIRC, I was like
10) who had amonst other things, a Jubilee Minx (I walked past it every day in a carpark in Tuxford, then it moved into his yard), a 1920s Chrysler, a Triumph Mayflower and a Sunbeam Alpine (Series IV, I think) which I watched him restore.
In news: snipped-for-privacy@individual.net, DanTXD decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows
Think Inspector Morse.
heh, my favourite car of all time is the 911 Turbo 3.3.
Lol..
More likely with a 1760 Crossflow.. we want *something* reliable.
DB9s are gorgeous, but cost enough to mean they'd be probably the only car available.
Integrales, as Chet will no doubt confirm, can cost more to maintain than a Ferrari 328...
Can't see too many of my target punters wafting across the Dales searching for a pub in a Sainz spec Celica GT4. I can, however, picture a lot of trees with 205 T16s half way up 'em.
Pete M ( snipped-for-privacy@blue-nopressedmeat-yonder.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
It'd be perma-booked. Especially if it was an s1.
Not for me.
Not for me.
Gonna be popular.
- and they'll attract the wrong crowd.
Filing-cabinet shaped Turbo R, no question. The Arnage is just plain naff.
but it'd be popular.
Again, popular.
Popular among the dwarves.
They're all a bit mainstream, but that's where the business is, of course. There's plenty of competition, though.
If you're going Boxster/MX5/Caterham, what about an Elise?
What about something 30s? Nice and simple to fix, not going to get thraped, not hideously OTT to buy. Austin 7?
How about something like a Mk 7/8/9 Jag? A half-decent C- or D-type rep? DS? Everybody and their dog rents out MGBs - what about an MGA? You've got modern Bentleys, what about their older sisters? Shadow's the obvious - why be obvious? Cloud? No exotica - what about Alfas? Bertone GTV or Spiders, p'raps? Jensens? Proper Bristols? "Exotic", but not that bad to maintain - nice sensible solid 'merkin v8...
It's also going to depend on where you are - if you're near London you've got the "rent something to get away for the weekend" crowd, but you're also going to have a lot of 'em used around town - which is going to cause havoc on cooling systems and the like.
What about somewhere like the Peak District?
Get the pricing right - and plenty of "gift package" deals - and think away from the obvious cars, and you're on a winner.
I'll have a summer weekend in a Mk 7/8/9 as my consultancy fee, by the way. Thanks.
You'd also get people like me getting one to do an event in. If you're lucky it'd come back plastered in mud and shit, if you were slightly unlucky it'd be stuck a mile down a track that looks to be inpassable in anything but a Landie, or if you were really unlucky it'd be all of the above but also wrapped round a tree on its roof :)
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