Hertz Offers Opportunity to Rent and Destroy 100th Anniversary Chevrolet Corvette Z06
While the process of renting a car is frequently obnoxious, the actual vehicles are incredible. Assuming you get damage protection, you can basically do whatever you want to them. These vehicles are the prostitutes of the automotive world, willing to engage in activities too explicit for the model that currently lives in your garage. The only limitations are dictated by your own twisted imagination and how much you’re willing to spend.
That bar for vehicular perversion just got a little higher over at Hertz, which is celebrating 100 years in the car rental business. The company is offering a special edition Chevrolet Corvette Z06 to customers in select cities. Fortunately, you probably live near one and will be able to take the custom Vette to an abandoned parking lot in the middle of the night and absolutely destroy its rear tires or drive it over a poorly maintained road a little faster than you should.
Of course, you don’t have to be a complete sicko to rent one. The Hertz 100th Anniversary Edition Corvette Z06 is available to normal people and lunatics alike. You just need to be near Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Orlando, San Diego, San Francisco, or Tampa and have a valid credit card.
Limited to just 100 examples, Hertz Vettes come in yellow with black center stripes to better match the corporate color scheme. As these are all Z06 models, power for the special edition rentals comes via the supercharged 6.2-liter LT4 V8 (650 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque, mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission). They also come with Chevy’s competition sport bucket seats and a custom black leather interior accented with yellow stitching.
Sounds like the makings of a wild weekend. However, Hertz didn’t specify how much the rental will set you back. After a brief investigation, the Anniversary Edition Corvettes all seem to adhere to a flat rate of $199 per day with a 150-mile limit. Every additional mile is $0.75, so you’ll probably want to keep your hooliganism or responsible cruising localized.
“Hertz is a leader in the car rental industry for delivering a premium experience that is fueled by our longstanding commitment to provide our customers with caring and efficient service, and access to a variety of specialty and top-rated vehicles,” said Hertz Senior Vice President of Brand Jayesh Patel in the official statement. “We’re thrilled to continue to delight our customers and build upon our legacy of superior service and unique vehicle offerings with our special Hertz 100th Anniversary Edition Corvette Z06.”
We’re not sure how long Hertz plans to offer these Vettes, but they’ll probably be publicly ravaged over the course of a few months, leaving them too haggard to keep around.
[Image: General Motors]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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N.B. re mileage restriction: these can be lifted by the local branch staff. A couple years ago at the JFK Hertz I had a res for a regular car, but inquired about the GT-H in the lot. They were asking $450 per day. I offered $250 per day and unlimited mileage. They accepted, and demanded like 4 forms of ID. I returned the car two days later with an additional 1k on the odo, since I had to drive to extreme western PA for a cousin's wedding. Totally worth the extra cash. Very fun car that sounded great.
Two hundred bucks (plus insurance, taxes, etc.) for a day? If you live in one of those cities and there are SCCA Solo II or track events nearby, rental from Hertz would be cheaper than ownership.