This article is a part of the My Favourite Car Story series, where we are asking readers to submit their most memorable stories.
Spur of the moment, I decided to take a weekend trip to Las Vegas with a friend.
As it was cheaper to fly in and out of Los Angeles, I thought I would fly a day early and drive four hours to Vegas to meet my friend. To make the journey more enjoyable, I pre-paid for a convertible rental car from a well-known rental agency via a discount travel website. Due to flight delays, I didn't get into L.A. until after 11PM, where I was informed the agency was out of convertibles.
"I have a pre-paid, guaranteed reservation," I informed the desk agent. Initially he said there was nothing he could do, but after much back and forth, he furiously typed on his keyboard and looked me up and down.
"How many people are you traveling with", he enquired. "Just me, and I'm meeting a friend tomorrow."
The agent again looked down at his computer and continued typing and then said, "How much luggage do you have?"
"Not much… Two guys going to Vegas… underwear, flip flops and a swimsuit," I replied.
He smiled and said "I may have something for you. Enjoy - keys are in the envelope."
What greeted me outside was a yellow and black ZHZ Corvette convertible with 800 miles on the odometer. Top down, sunglasses on and a roaring V8 soundtrack made the iconic drive from the beach in Santa Monica to Vegas the next morning unforgettable. It's not often that you get an opportunity to practice burnouts or have your car valeted in the prime spots in front of hotels when you're in a rental. The best part was that the rental car agency honoured my pre-paid rental rate of $25 a day, for 436 horsepower. That works out to just over a nickle per unit of horsepower, per day. Much better use of a nickel than the slots.
Cars can be about a lot more than getting from point A to point B or horsepower. Every car is filled with memories and we want to hear yours. Do you have a memorable car story? Tell us in 100 words or less and we will contact you for more details. The best stories will be published as part of our new My Favourite Car series. Please use the form below to share your story.
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