The US Traffic Life

Hire of Japanese Cars In the USA

To hire the car in the USA, it's necessary to have at itself the international driving license or the drivers license of the USA and to possess a credit card (some agencies ask only the cash). The personal life insurance is obligatory. All insurance operates only in territory of the USA and Canada.
The insurance will be action in several cases: if the driver was sober if the driver did not make a criminal offense at the moment of a road incident, in case of physical injuries, traumas etc. At observance specified above insurance conditions come into force without dependence from the one who was guilty in incident.

The Driver Knowledge is the Life of a Driver!

To get the drivers license in the United States, it's necessary to carry out the driving test. The examination is divided into two stages: the sad theory and the crazy practice. For a training I recommend to practise a free DMV practice test.

The theoretical part of the driving test represents the written test for knowledge of the State traffic regulations, whose driver's licences you receive. This test is not difficult, because the traffic regulations in the USA are made so that as much as possible to simplify the driver's life (and to the pedestrian, of course). The driver's manual can be received free of charge directly at the local DMV office (for example, my DMV office is the DMV of North Carolina).

After the successful theory the candidate receives the Learner's permit which grant the right to limited driving (two-three, sometimes 6 months). Such drivers licence in the USA have a number of restrictions. For example, a public conveyance can be forbidden, usual driving without a supervision of the person having the high-grade driver's license also can be forbidden etc.

When you will be ready to the test driving (in some States not earlier than in three months) you can register in the DMV for any convenient time. The road test is simple who has the true driving experience (video games is it jokes).
Special attention for Americans — the traffic safety. Don't forget to supervise «blind zones» at maneuvering and to look back when you hand over back. All these features of traffic are carefully deciphered in the DMV Test Virginia.
You are to be constantly attentive!

The US Traffic Police: Law & Rule

Don't argue with the policeman if you broke the rules, to be better the frankly confess. For frivolous infringements the police most likely doesn't make a foul card, and will be limited to short lecture on a theme: «Why small trolls break the true rules?», but if you have a true infringement of traffic regulations — the penalty will need to paying into a 15 days period, or welcome to the court.

If the police car or the motorcycle with "flashers" follow to your car — slowly use a turning movement and smoothly stop on a road shoulder (don't disturb the road rules especially in this moment). Further, put down the hands on a car wheel and wait, wait, wait...
Welcome to the USA!

Jensen Interceptor makes music again

Great Escape Classic Car Hire has provided a car for the video to R&B star McLean's forthcoming new single. The production team chose the metallic blue Jensen Interceptor because of its 1970s high rolling GT style. The car, which has a cream interior, features heavily in the video.
The latest musical outing for the Jensen is quite a contrast to its last foray into the popular music scene, when it featured in the video for folk singer songwriter Alan Pownall.
Great Escape Classic Car Hire regularly provides classic cars for static and video photoshoots across the UK. The company operates a fleet of 50 classic cars from sites in Worcestershire, Suffolk, Dorset and Yorkshire.
"We provide cars for all kinds of shoots," explains Graham Eason of Great Escape. "Our cars cover all types of cars from the 1950s to 1990s and we can work to short notice deadlines anywhere in the UK."
The Jensen Interceptor featured in the music videos is available to hire by the day, weekend or week from Great Escape's base in Worcestershire. The company also has Jensen Interceptor cars for hire in Suffolk and Dorset.
For more information on the Jensen Interceptor click here.
View external link

Rewind to the 1980s

When your business is running a classic car hire fleet you can end up spending quite a disproportionate amount of your time ruminating on what's going to be the next classic car that everyone will want to drive.

At Great Escape we like trying to second guess what cars people will want that we don't already have. Certain cars like MGBs, Jaguar E Types, Morris Minors and Jaguar Mk2 will always be popular. But for many customers in their 30s and 40s these are cars from an older era. What we've realised is that people love the cars they grew up with.

So here at Great Escape Classic Car Hire we've rolled up the sleeves on our collective white jacket, pulled up our white socks, smoothed down our rumbled Stay-Press trousers and donned our comedy baseball cap with cap-mounted beer and drinking straw to ponder the 1980s.

The decade that fashion apparently forgot is now actually extremely fashionable. Pop stars have raced to revisit the age of gold Bacofoil jumpsuits and frightwig hair. And we're racing to cars like the Rover SD1, VW Golf GTI, Porsche 928, Jaguar XJS, Ford Capri and Ford Granada Ghia X. These cars epitimosed motoring 1980s-style and if you're like us you'll remember seeing or being in these cars when shorts were something you wore rather than something to help you unwind.

We've spent the last 12 months developing our fleet of 1980s cars and several iconic classic cars from this list are already on our fleet. If you fancy rewinding the clock and either getting behind the wheel of a car you've always loved or reliving your first car or your dad's car, call us on 01527 893733 or visit the Great Escape Classic Car Hire website.

Classic car downturn?

Does an economic downturn mean bad news for classic car enthusiasts? So far the signs are mixed. Through my website at http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/ I've noticed an increase in the number of people offering me cars for sale, which may suggest that people are starting to offload their toys. But coming in the other direction, reading the classic car magazines seems to suggest that those with cash are switching out of shares and buying tangible assets like classic cars.

Both scenarios are part of the same sorry economic story. If you need cash you liquidate your assets and classic cars are often first to go. I sympathise with anyone who's got to face that tough choice - owning a classic is a great experience and the market is going to see a lot of well cared for cars coming up for sale no doubt at prices that barely reflected the investment that has gone into them. I know if I was to sell one of my own cars right now I wouldn't get back what it has cost me over the years.

So I feel a little ambivalent about rich shares traders switching from bonds to - more often than not - Bond's DB5. On the plus side, their investment is helping to keep classic prices fairly buoyant at a time when they would otherwise be on the floor. But I do feel a huge amount of sympathy for those people who have to sell their classic cars so that these people can benefit.

If you can afford to hang on to your classic, please do. You bought it because you love it. And classic prices have generally always remained stable over the long term - with the best cars continuously increasing in value. Alternatively, if you've got money, consider investing in up and coming classics from the 70s and 80s like the Ferrari Boxer and Testarossa and the Lamborghini Countach (have a look at Classic & Sports Cars cover story this month to whet your appetite).

But if you really do have to sell, maybe there is a way to keep your hand in with classic cars. Joining a classic car club or hiring a classic car are both good ways to sample great cars without the upfront investment - or the maintenance costs. With most classic cars travelling less than 4,000 miles a year, hiring a classic or joining a club may work out a cheaper option.