IMAGINE THAT?!

Add a dash of excitement to your next businsess trip. Get behind the wheel of a Shelby GT350-H. Only from Hertz.

Irecently had the rather disappointing experience of trying to book a rental car in the US for a forthcoming trip in August. Gone are the days when you’d be perusing which boat to book – “Hmmm, Lincoln Town Car, Chrysler New Yorker LHS or Cadillac DTS…? that’s the question”! No, now it was a depressingly long list of appliance-like Japanese/Korean and German cars (okay, I know they’re built in the US!): Camrys, Sentras, Kias, Jettas…

In fact, actually finding an American car was like finding a needle in a haystack (sorry, a Taurus just doesn’t cut it!) although there’s still the good old SUVs… even convertibles were thin on the ground, with Mustang supplying the only wind in the hair experience but were all sold out. Gone are the days when you could rock up at a Hertz dealership and rent a Shelby Mustang… Gosh, imagine that?!

Yet, for a lot of British folk, an American road trip across the States is only the real thing if you’re behind the wheel of a real American car, preferably V8 and preferably rear-wheel drive. About the only thing left supplying that experience is the hoary old Chrysler 300 which must imminently be facing euthanasia now it’s not far off entering its third decade in production. Well, if that’s all there is, so be it!

After a two-year absence, Wheels Day was back with a vengeance and what a great show it was, helped no doubt by superb warm weather (you can read all about it on page 69). And with the Kingstown Shipping Car of the Year Competition back in full swing, well things are starting to feel like they’re getting back to normal – hoorah!

Ben Klemenzson, editor bklemenzson@mortons.co.uk