A week with classic cars

It has been a funny old week. At Great Escape Classic Car Hire we've had an unseasonaly hectic period with lots of car hire activity in the run up to Santa's busiest day. Cars out, weddings and 2010 bookings. It's given me the chance to test some of our cars back to back in some pretty tough conditions. Driving the Mazda MX5, Aston Martin DB6, Jensen Interceptor, Jaguar Mk2, Jaguar XJR and Porsche 928 back to back has been great fun and taught me a few lessons about classic cars old and new. So here goes:

1. Truck drivers hate Aston Martins of any age - maybe it's something to do with James Bond

2. The Mazda MX5 is the perfect all weather, all year classic car - it's popular because this car really is that good

3. Classic car heaters are programmed to pack up in December

4. Batteries will perform faultlessly for 364 days of the year until the first really cold day arrives and then they commit suicide

5. The Jaguar XJR has four massive fuse boxes dotted around the car in the most unlikely and awkward places (see 4)

6. Driving up the M40 in a Jensen convoy is an effective but expensive way to warm the immediate environment and defrost the road for other road users

7. The Jaguar Mk2 is a great trooper - always ready, always starts even 45 years after it was built

Having sampled all these different cars over 1000 miles this week in snow, rain, sleet and ice the car I'd jump into again first? It's not that easy but it would have to be the Porsche or MX5. Which is a pretty ringing endorsement of the remarkable little Japanese sportscar.

Give Him the James Bond Effect This Christmas

Forget aftershave, expensive watches or even the Karma Sutra, if you want to make a man you know really feel and act like James Bond, get him behind the wheel of 007’s favourite car. With a gift voucher from car hire specialist Great Escape Classic Car Hire you can give the man you love the keys to a classic Bond Aston Martin for the day or weekend.

The Great Escape Aston fleet includes a 1967 Aston Martin DB6, as driven by Sean Connery and Daniel Craig in films like Goldfinger and Casino Royale, a 1977 Aston Martin V8 coupe, which was used in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and an Aston Martin convertible as used in The Living Daylights. Prices start at £295 for 24 hours hour and include 24 hours use, unlimited mileage and insurance. The cars are available to hire from Great Escape’s bases in Suffolk and the Cotswolds.

Gift vouchers, which are valid for 12 months, are available for individual cars for a day or weekend or Great Escape also offers combination packages that let customers sample two or more Aston Martins over a weekend. Great Escape can also help you put together a romantic weekend away including hotels and dinner reservations.

“Nobody ever forgets driving an Aston Martin,” says Graham Eason of Great Escape. “And it’s a great Christmas gift to share. While he gets into the role of James Bond you can enjoy a great weekend away in some of Britain’s best countryside. We design everything so it’s easy and simple to hire one of our cars. We can deliver the car to a local hotel or collect customers from local train stations. Our Suffolk and Cotswolds sites are 2 hours from London and close to rail connections.”

Great Escape has a fleet of self drive and chauffeur hire classic cars from the 1930s to the 1990s including coupes, convertibles and saloons from Bentley, Jaguar, Alfa Romeo, Jensen, Rolls Royce and Morris as well as Porsche. Classic car hire starts at £125 for 24 hours and every hire day includes a full 24 hours use, unlimited mileage, insurance and breakdown cover. For more details visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/, call 01527 893733 or email info@greatescapecars.co.uk.