What would you pay to rent a classic car?

[Vintage914Racer]

This may or may not be the best forum to ask this question, since most already own a fun car, but I'll ask anyway. I work for a moderate sized auto group and we've built up a collection of heritage rentals from the 1960's and 1970's. Most tie back to brands we currently sell, but there are and will be a few outliers.

Some of the cars we already have include the following:

-Two 1968 Broncos
-1967 Mustang Fastback
-1966 Mustang Convertible
-1979 Mazda RX-7
-Datsun 2000 Roadster
-Sunbeam Tiger
-1965 Lincoln Continental Convertible
-OJ Era Bronco (don't ask why we have it....)
-1968 Ford Ranchero
-1963 Lincoln Continental

This summer we plan on kicking off the rental program and I'm trying to gauge what the public will swallow in terms of daily rental rate. Obviously it will be somewhat variable on the car rented, its value, etc.

I'd love any feedback you could provide.

[Jim Richards]

No. I've owned a variety of sports cars throughout my life, and wouldn't be drawn to do this. Good luck with your venture.

[pete3799]

None of those are on my bucket list........but good luck.

[Chocaholic]

He asked a legit question. But there's no easy answer. You have to look at the reason behind the rental. Most are business and as such, this probably wouldn't fly. But for novelty/personal rentals, a modest premium might be acceptable but I doubt most would pay a significant premium unless the novelty was significant (Ferrari, Porsche, etc.).

So, $70 - $80/day plus the usuals at most. My thoughts.

[johnco]

A guy i know gets $200 an event with his car. weddings, homecomings, even a funeral the other day. usually only a few hours each time. those lincolns should be easy to rent at a premium rate.

[Joe Bob]

The Tiger and the Lincoln 'vert are the two I would play with.....

[herr_oberst]

"Drive it like a rental car"

[Head416]

For me... I would probably refuse to pay more than $30/day, or I would just get a cheapo rental. But I'm not your target demographic.

I would think you could get $50-100/day without too much of a problem, depending on which car.

[Neilk]

plus mileage I assume, after x miles have been driven?

[johnco]

I have a bunch of classic (old) cars. parts are hard to find and even harder to find cheap. although I let just about anyone drive my cars for a short ride, no one I don't know would be allowed to take it for hours/days. certainly not for $30-50 a day. not often anyone gets to own or drive a classic car much less rent one. either pay a premium price to rent a classic, one of the few still on the road or rent a toyota. demolish a toyota and it can be easily replaced. good luck finding another decent replacement for some of those cars, or parts to fix any major damage.

[june82000]

You'd make more money buying and selling them...

[LakeCleElum]

If they get $250/day to rent a Harley in some areas, I'd think you could charge the same.

[widebody911]

I can see a niche market for special occasions, ie weddings, but the roster of potential cars is probably small. Even then, I'd be leery of turning people loose with anything even remotely "classic" without strict adult supervision.

[Bill Douglas]

A problem may be when someone blows the engine up, then who's fault is it. "It's a sports car so I was driving it around at 9,000rpm". "What do you mean it's not an auto, I just put it in a gear and drove it all day."

[Ferraripete]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

The Tiger and the Lincoln 'vert are the two I would play with.....

my two picks as well!!

[GWN7]

I have a buddy that has a vintage limo service. I think he's at $350 for 4 hrs minimum ...$75 a hour there afterwards. Does lots of weddings.

[wdfifteen]

$200 a day for the Lincolns, $120/day for the sports cars and Mustangs, $75 for the rest.

[Reddog2]

Not sure who would be your market for these. Maybe special occasions as some have mentioned, maybe someone looking to buy a similar car and wanting a days worth of test drives to see if they even like them. So a very specific (and likely small) market.

I would think your rentals chargeout in 200+ per day plus the usual nickel and diming would not be out of line. Higher for special ones.

Need to keep an eye on your parts and part swappers. I think Hertz had this problem in the older days with their mustangs. Make sure your 390 mustang doesn't come back with a 289 in it. I would like to put a 273 in my Valiant

[id10t]

Need to hack hte radios to contain a mp3 player loaded with period music for each one

[mikesride]

Originally Posted by Reddog2

Not sure who would be your market for these. Maybe special occasions as some have mentioned, maybe someone looking to buy a similar car and wanting a days worth of test drives to see if they even like them. So a very specific (and likely small) market.

I would think your rentals chargeout in 200+ per day plus the usual nickel and diming would not be out of line. Higher for special ones.

Need to keep an eye on your parts and part swappers. I think Hertz had this problem in the older days with their mustangs. Make sure your 390 mustang doesn't come back with a 289 in it. I would like to put a 273 in my Valiant

I know of somebody who got a "new" transmission for his mustang this way....
It still bothers me to this day that I didn't do something about it. We were still kids really, and he was a friend at the time......but still.