At Great Escape Classic Car Hire we've decided to extend the season of goodwill by delaying the VAT increase on our prices until February 2011. So you can still buy gift vouchers and book classic car hire for any of our fleet of 50 cars from any of our 6 locations at 2010 prices.
"We decided to extend our 2010 prices and absorb the VAT increase as a gesture of goodwill," explains Graham Eason of Great Escape Classic Car Hire. "Times are tough for everyone and the VAT rise doesn't help. Our decision to offer a Christmas discount proved very popular with customer so we decided to extend the season of goodwill."
Great Escape Classic Car Hire operates the largest fleet of classic cars for hire in the UK from locations in Suffolk, Worcestershire, Shropshire, Yorkshire, East Midlands and Dorset. The fleet covers classic and performance cars from the 1950s to 2000s.
For more details call 01527 893733 or visit www.greatescapecars.co.uk
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Showing posts with label self drive rental. Show all posts
Showing posts with label self drive rental. Show all posts
Friday
Shop til you drop
Great Escape Classic Car Hire has launched its online shop specialising in classic car breaks, driving experiences and automobilia. The range of products are perfect gifts - package prices start at just £125.
We have developed a range of exclusive classic car breaks and experiences that are only available from Great Escape. We've used our experience working with large corporate clients to bring you some genuinely different and unusual packages, such as our Double Oh James Bond break and our English Gardens holiday.
The new packages and experiences are for sale alongside vouchers for our classic car hire. We have a fleet of 50 classic cars available to hire from 6 sites across the UK in Yorkshire, Suffolk, Cotswolds, Dorset, Shropshire and East Midlands.
Great Escape is also developing a range of automobilia including diecast models, posters, photographic prints, keyrings and clothing that can be bought on its own or to complement a Great Escape gift voucher. The new automobilia range will be launched in January 2011.
"Our new online gift shop for classic car breaks and experiences includes unique packages direct from the provider," explains Graham Eason of Great Escape. "They are availabe to buy as gift vouchers valid for 12 months. We have developed partnerships with several local providers and used our experience of great driving routes to create some genuinely unique packages. Prices start at just £125."
For more details on the Great Escape shop visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/ or call 01527 893733.
View external link
We have developed a range of exclusive classic car breaks and experiences that are only available from Great Escape. We've used our experience working with large corporate clients to bring you some genuinely different and unusual packages, such as our Double Oh James Bond break and our English Gardens holiday.
The new packages and experiences are for sale alongside vouchers for our classic car hire. We have a fleet of 50 classic cars available to hire from 6 sites across the UK in Yorkshire, Suffolk, Cotswolds, Dorset, Shropshire and East Midlands.
Great Escape is also developing a range of automobilia including diecast models, posters, photographic prints, keyrings and clothing that can be bought on its own or to complement a Great Escape gift voucher. The new automobilia range will be launched in January 2011.
"Our new online gift shop for classic car breaks and experiences includes unique packages direct from the provider," explains Graham Eason of Great Escape. "They are availabe to buy as gift vouchers valid for 12 months. We have developed partnerships with several local providers and used our experience of great driving routes to create some genuinely unique packages. Prices start at just £125."
For more details on the Great Escape shop visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/ or call 01527 893733.
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Monday
And they're off
It's been a sad old weekend for us here at Great Escape Classic Car Hire. First off our trusty 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee gave up the ghost when the head gasket blew. It's towed virtually every one of our classic cars for hire this year, covering 10,000 miles in the service of delivering and collecting cars for customers all over the UK. It became more than a workhorse, more of a trusted member of the team. Sadly it's not worth repairing it so it's off for spares or repair via Ebay.Then on Saturday we despatched our 1994 Jaguar X300 XJR and 1984 Ford Capri S to new owners. We love both these cars but decided to move them on. Both cars have been popular but we like to keep our fleet fresh - and with space at a premium we had to do some brutal cutting. So until we move to our new unit early next year we won't be replacing these cars. But expect some exciting new additions in the first quarter.
It is a shame for these cars to go as the Jaguar XJR is a real sleeper classic - brutal performancecombined with genuinely cossetting luxury. All for a bargain basement price. They can't stay this cheap for much longer. Same with the Ford Capri 2 litre S. Every Capri fan wants a 2.8 but we'll let you into a secret - in terms of bangs for your buck, the 2 litre is hard to beat. We really like the woofly urge of our Ford Capri Brooklands for hire but the 2 litre is wonderfully chuckable and light. And not much slower than the 2.8.
So congratulations to David and Martin the new owners of the XJR and Capri, we hope you enjoy your purchases. We did.
East Midlands Classic Car Hire Fleet Unveiled
Great Escape Classic Car Hire has announced its launch fleet for its new site in the East Midlands near Nottingham. The new location, which will serve Nottingham, Sheffield, Derby and M1/A1 corridor, launches with a hand-picked fleet of four cars.The new East Midlandsclassic car hire fleet has a Rolls Royce Silver Spirit, Alfa Romeo Spider, Morris Minor convertible and classic Mini Cooper. This range of saloons and convertibles is available at a starting price of just £145 for 24 hours. Like the rest of the Great Escape fleet, the East Midlands cars will be backed by a transparent hire package which includes a full 24 hours use for every day booked, comprehensive insurance, full AA breakdown cover and unlimited mileage. All cars are subject to quarterly ramp inspections to maintain their reliability and an 18-point pre-hire inspection.
The new East Midlands site is run by a local classic car enthusiast who can provide plenty of information on ideal routes and places to visit, stay and eat.
For more information on the Great Escape Classic Car Hire East Midlands fleet click here.
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Wednesday
No business like snow business
As we huddle around the Jaguar E Type heater here at Great Escape towers craving warmth as the snow swirls outside, our thoughts turn to the best classic car for the snowy weather. We've been here before - last winter, without a 4x4 to depend on (the very dependable Larry the Jeep Laredo), we had to skid around in the Ford Capri. Fun at the time, and surprisingly effective as a snow plough.
The first question to ask, of course, is whether you should use a classic in the snow at all. In the face of salt and safety, the answer is probably no. Classics like to rust a lot and they are somewhat bereft of the nannying features like airbags, ESP, ABS and the like which keep modern drivers so well insulated from their actions. But if we just decided never to use them in the snow then it wouldn't make much of an article frankly so lets assume we're talking strictly hypothetically.
To work well in the snow, conventional wisdom has it that a car should be either 4 wheel drive or front wheel drive. This rules out most classic cars, which are resolutely rear wheel drive. And, to be fair, much more fun. The Great Escape Classic Car Hire Ford Capri may have been rear wheel drive but it was a lot of fun in the snow and coped extremely well. Which may be down to the second rule for snow driving success - narrow tyres and high profile rims. Our Capri runs on 175 r14 tyres, which might be laughable in today's world of 245 20 inch rims but it was us laughing as we sailed past the stranded BMWs and Mercedes. Narrow high profile tyres literally cut through the snow and ice rather than skate across it, as fat tyres do.
Snow-plugging cars also need to be light - or have four wheel drive. A light car needs less power to keep going and is inherently more nimble when the going gets tough. On a slippery hill a low power, light car will keep going when a powerful, heavy car gets stuck. Plus, it has the added advantage of being much easier to push out of trouble.
Classic cars also have the advantage over modern cars because they lack so-called driver aids like ESP (traction control), which prevents cars losing traction. ESP cuts power to a spinning wheel. This is great news on damp roads or sudden sharp bends, but unfortunately the car can't differentiate between these and a snowy, icy road. Consequently, when the going gets tough in the snow and the wheels need to spin to clear the ice and gain traction, the ESP system simply cuts power to the spinning wheels. So the car can't move.
The trick with maintaining momentum and traction in the snow is to select a high gear and manipulate the clutch and throttle. This tends to be easier in older cars which have mechanically operated clutch, gearbox and throttle, giving the driver greater feel and control compared to modern 'fly by wire' type systems.
So despite the onset of modern driver aids, perhaps classic cars are better in the snow than modern cars because they are simpler. But what classic would be best for snow driving? Pushing aside classic 4x4s because they're just cheating, at Great Escape Classic Car Hire we'd probably plump for a front wheel drive 1980s classic like a Golf GTI mk1 - light, fairly powerful, no driver aids and narrow high profile tyres. The problem is, we wouldn't want to take our mint 1982 example out in the snow!
The first question to ask, of course, is whether you should use a classic in the snow at all. In the face of salt and safety, the answer is probably no. Classics like to rust a lot and they are somewhat bereft of the nannying features like airbags, ESP, ABS and the like which keep modern drivers so well insulated from their actions. But if we just decided never to use them in the snow then it wouldn't make much of an article frankly so lets assume we're talking strictly hypothetically.
To work well in the snow, conventional wisdom has it that a car should be either 4 wheel drive or front wheel drive. This rules out most classic cars, which are resolutely rear wheel drive. And, to be fair, much more fun. The Great Escape Classic Car Hire Ford Capri may have been rear wheel drive but it was a lot of fun in the snow and coped extremely well. Which may be down to the second rule for snow driving success - narrow tyres and high profile rims. Our Capri runs on 175 r14 tyres, which might be laughable in today's world of 245 20 inch rims but it was us laughing as we sailed past the stranded BMWs and Mercedes. Narrow high profile tyres literally cut through the snow and ice rather than skate across it, as fat tyres do.
Snow-plugging cars also need to be light - or have four wheel drive. A light car needs less power to keep going and is inherently more nimble when the going gets tough. On a slippery hill a low power, light car will keep going when a powerful, heavy car gets stuck. Plus, it has the added advantage of being much easier to push out of trouble.
Classic cars also have the advantage over modern cars because they lack so-called driver aids like ESP (traction control), which prevents cars losing traction. ESP cuts power to a spinning wheel. This is great news on damp roads or sudden sharp bends, but unfortunately the car can't differentiate between these and a snowy, icy road. Consequently, when the going gets tough in the snow and the wheels need to spin to clear the ice and gain traction, the ESP system simply cuts power to the spinning wheels. So the car can't move.
The trick with maintaining momentum and traction in the snow is to select a high gear and manipulate the clutch and throttle. This tends to be easier in older cars which have mechanically operated clutch, gearbox and throttle, giving the driver greater feel and control compared to modern 'fly by wire' type systems.
So despite the onset of modern driver aids, perhaps classic cars are better in the snow than modern cars because they are simpler. But what classic would be best for snow driving? Pushing aside classic 4x4s because they're just cheating, at Great Escape Classic Car Hire we'd probably plump for a front wheel drive 1980s classic like a Golf GTI mk1 - light, fairly powerful, no driver aids and narrow high profile tyres. The problem is, we wouldn't want to take our mint 1982 example out in the snow!
Sunday
The Times recommends The Getaway Driver
Our brand new weekend luxury breaks package has received top notch endorsement from The Times. The newspaper's Saturday 16th October 2010 edition recommended The Getaway Driver in response to a reader's enquiry.The reader was looking for a complete weekend break package involving an Aston Martin, to give as a gift to their partner. The Getaway Driver is the only company in the UK offering a bespoke classic and performance car, hotel and touring route package for weekend getaways and the newspaper's Travel Editor provided our details.
Great Escape Classic Car Hire launched The Getaway Driver after building experiencing helping its hire customers with hotel and route recommendations. We identified a gap in the market for luxury weekend breaks involving classic cars and put The Getaway Driver concept together.
"The Getaway Driver is about being Steve McQueen for the weekend," explains Graham Eason of Great Escape. "It's all about parking up your everyday car, hopping into a gorgeous classic and leaving everyday life behind. We provide the route, the hotels and tourist information along the way.
"Through Great Escape we've been helping hundreds of customers find unusual weekend getaways for 4 years. With the The Getaway Driver makes it simple to create the ultimate weekend break with just one call and one payment."
The Getaway Driver packages are available from each of Great Escape's five UK locations in Suffolk, Worcestershire, Shropshire, Dorset and Yorkshire. Customers also have access to any one of the company's 50 classic and performance cars and a huge range of luxury and boutique accommodation to suit any budget. Prices for Getaway Driver weekends start at just £495.
For more information visit http://www.thegetawaydriver.co.uk/ or call 01386 793887.
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