The exterior signage at Midway Car Rental’s new LAX location at the corner of Northeast corner of Century and Sepulveda

This summer marks the grand opening of the new Midway Car Rental LAX location — a true boutique car rental experience conveniently located and different than all the others at LAX. The new facility is slick and it’s definitely the most hip place to rent a car. See and be seen by like-minded trendsetters as you pick up wheels to cruise the city in style. Long known for their best-in-class cars and A-list clientele, Midway Car Rental is thrilled with the grand opening of the new location. Midway is now located at the last driveway on Century Boulevard before entering the security checkpoint at LAX.

The selection of world-class vehicles from Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Mercedes, BMW and Audi to name a few — are available to rent from the new LAX location. Midway Car Rental, in business for more than 40 years, offers curbside pick-up in a Town Car providing comfortable transportation to the rental office minutes away. For budget-minded travelers, Midway offers a full selection of compact to full size vehicles, mini vans, convertibles and SUV’s at competitive prices. For those who would rather go straight to their hotel and have a car dropped off, Midway’s sister company Wilshire Limousine services can provide a transfer to any hotel in L.A. or surrounding areas. Midway will arrange to have the rental vehicle awaiting your arrival at the hotel.

The new location is ultra modern with loft-like décor, sealed cement floors and open ceilings with exposed ventilation. We love the steel grey lighting fixtures and vents against the rich blue ceiling with recessed lighting. The flat screen TV’s along the back wall help to complete the modern look.
In addition to helping travelers feel great as they ride around town in top quality cars, this location will be their new call center. Now, when you call 1-800-824-5260 for Midway Car Rental, you’ll be talking to someone sitting in this super cool office (it’s great to see local companies hiring in this shaky economy). Perhaps the reason why they offer such amazing customer service is because they are sitting at a desk that’s as cool as the cars they rent.

This September The Auto Gallery held its Grand Opening celebration for their newest and most unique dealership. Situated in the luxury wing of the Westfield Topanga shopping center just north of L.A. in Canoga Park, Lamborghini North Los Angeles is the first dealership of its kind in the United States. Although the storefront cannot be viewed from the outside of the mall, the store sits among the likes of Neiman Marcus, Burberry, Cartier and other boutiques; meaning its unlikely to have any trouble attracting the right attention.

Also featured at the opening was Lamborghini’s new 2011 Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera. Engineered to be the most raw Gallardo yet, the new Lambo gets a 10-horse power increase over the previous LP560-4 model and weighs in at 200 pounds less due to extensive use of carbon fiber bodywork and alcantara upholstery. Also improved on the Superleggera is its 6-speed E-Gear transmission which features faster shift-times and shorter gear ratios for improved acceleration. COO Wolfgang Hoffmann of Automobili Lamborghini America, LLC explains, “The focus has shifted from huge horsepower numbers and top speeds that most owners will never reach, to making cars that handle better and accelerate faster over a useable range, through the use of lighter materials.”. It comes as no surprise that Lamborghini has recently partnered with aircraft maker, Boeing, one of the pioneers in carbon fiber technology.

Although intended to be the most racetrack-oriented Gallardo yet, the Superleggera’s improved suspension handles bumpy and uneven road surfaces better than any of its older siblings, and still incorporates a front-end lifting system to clear speed bumps. However, with one press of the “Corsa” button located on the center console the dampeners solidify and up-shifts from the E-Gear transmission become bone-jarring, in a very good way.

Owned and operated by Tony Schwartz, The Auto Gallery is among the most successful family of luxury dealerships in the L.A. area; featuring factory authorized stores for Ferrari, Maserati, Porsche, Audi, McLaren, and now Lamborghini. Tony (who races vintage cars all over the country in his free time) cites his passion for automobiles as the major driving force behind the success of the company.

I am not a car person. I truly feel like cars are a means to an end — a tool to get from point A to point B, much like a bus, a boat or a plane. So when our good friends at Midway Car Rental offered me the chance to test-drive the new Cadillac CTS V for a few weeks I was excited but didn’t really know what I was getting myself into. The car reminded me of the DeLorean from Back to the Future. It was über modern with a sleek design. It’s an American made car by GM so it was nice to see what our bailout dollars were contributing to society and this car did not disappoint.

Again, not being a car person, I didn’t really know the significance of a 556-horse power engine but let me tell you that this car rocks! You will not be shy about passing others and really owning the road.

My next favorite part of the car was the sound system. While I don’t really care how I get from point A to point B, any journey is way more fun with some rockin’ tunes and the Cadillac CTS V came with Sirius XM Radio. I heard all of the latest hip-hop on the Hip Hop Nation station and there’s even an Oprah channel. You’ll never get bored on long drives.

After the power and the sound system, my last favorite thing about driving the Cadillac CTS V was all of the attention it got. I would return to the car after an outing only to have strangers standing around it and when I got there, they all wanted to look inside. I took it to a car wash and a smokin’ hot guy — the kind that is usually too cool for school — wanted to chat with me about the car. It made me feel really special.

My boyfriend is a car guy, the type that likes to take apart and rebuild engines and this is what he had to say about the Cadillac CTS V: It’s got a really masculine look to it, beefy wide fenders, aggressive stance, 285s in the back and 255s in the front — tire width. The car gets a lot of looks from guys, doesn’t have the flair of an M3 or another German car but more of a subtle luxury appearance. It doesn’t look like a car that has 556-horse power and that can go 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds, looks more like a luxury car. It does have a presence and a curb appeal and catches the eye of the average pedestrian.

If you look at the in terior of this car, you’ll see suede accents all around, on the steering wheel, excellent job on the door panels, Recaro seats with suede inserts, which hug the body very nicely on the high — G turns.

The car is very impressive with its acceleration, it’s got a 6.2-liter, 556-horse power, super charged V8. The thing hauls, puts the M3 to shame, puts the Audi RS5 to shame — there’s nothing that can compete with it in this price range as far as acceleration goes. Of course, it’s a heavy car, so it doesn’t handle as well as an M3. It weights about 650 lbs more than the M3 so you’re not going to get that light and nimble responses but it depends on what you’re into…if you like power, this thing just flat out moves. www.MidwayCarRental.com

Suzie in the Caddy

Cadillac CTS-V Coupe

When Lexus first introduced the RX in 1998 by marrying the personality of a luxury car with the body of an SUV they not only created the crossover category of automobile, but also a core product that would become one of their defining automobiles.Lexus further revolutionized the crossover market in 2005 with the introduction of the RX 400h, the first (and only to-date) hybrid luxury utility vehicle. When Lexus announced that it was time to raise the bar yet again with their 2010 model, I headed to Napa Valley to see what was next for their top-selling product.

Although not a single body panel is the same as last year, there is a distinct familiarity in the outline of the new model. The new RX has increased in every dimension and features a lower profile combined with a wider stance which contributes to a much more masculine look than last year’s car. A quick glance at the next generation RX reveals the same trapezoidal grille, swept back headlights, and broad shoulder lines that have become synonymous with the Lexus L-finesse styling language.

A more thorough examination reveals new mirror-integrated turn signals, plated moldings added at the base of the doors, projector style headlights with available bi-Xenon HID lamps, and a bodycolored rear spoiler that houses the AM/FM radio antenna while also hiding the rear wiper from view. Eighteen-inch wheels come standard on the RX 350 while the hybrid receives nineteen-inchers from the factory. The RX 450h has also undergone the standard trim upgrades seen throughout the Lexus Hybrid family; these include blue tinted headlamp and taillight covers, an exclusive grille and front bumper, Hybrid logos on the rocker panels, and blue-tinted emblems all around.

Browsing through the interior of the RX you’ll find an elegantly designed gauge cluster with built-in Organic LED display, an evolutionary swooping dashboard and HVAC panel that you’ll either love or hate, as well as an immense amount of storage space throughout the cabin. Perhaps the biggest addition to the interior is Lexus’s Remote Touch controller which works similar to Mercedes’ COMAND and BMW’s iDrive systems, but instead of a meager rotating knob the Remote Touch system works like a computer mouse with controllable levels of haptic feedback that “locks” the joystick in place when the pointer is hovering over items on screen. Using the Hen Lexus first introduced the RX in 1998 by marrying the personality of a luxury car with the body of an SUV they not only created the crossover category of automobile, but also a core product that would become one of their defining automobiles.

Lexus further revolutionized the crossover market in 2005 with the introduction of the RX 400h, the first (and only to-date) hybrid luxury utility vehicle. When Lexus announced that it was time to raise the bar yet again with their 2010 model, I headed to Napa Valley to see what was next for their top-selling product.

Although not a single body panel is the same as last year, there is a distinct familiarity in the outline of the new model. The new RX has increased in every dimension and features a lower profile combined with a wider stance which contributes to a much more masculine look than last year’s car. A quick glance at the next generation RX reveals the same trapezoidal grille, swept back headlights, and broad shoulder lines that have become synonymous with the Lexus L-finesse styling language.

A more thorough examination reveals new mirror-integrated turn signals, plated moldings added at the base of the doors, projector style headlights with available bi-Xenon HID lamps, and a bodycolored rear spoiler that houses the AM/FM radio antenna while also hiding the rear wiper from view. Eighteen-inch wheels come standard on the RX 350 while the hybrid receives nineteen-inchers from the factory. The RX 450h has also undergone the standard trim upgrades seen throughout the Lexus Hybrid family; these include blue tinted headlamp and taillight covers, an exclusive grille and front bumper, Hybrid logos on the rocker panels, and blue-tinted emblems all around.

Browsing through the interior of the RX you’ll find an elegantly designed gauge cluster with built-in Organic LED display, an evolutionary swooping dashboard and HVAC panel that you’ll either love or hate, as well as an immense amount of storage space throughout the cabin. Perhaps the biggest addition to the interior is Lexus’s Remote Touch controller which works similar to Mercedes’ COMAND and BMW’s iDrive systems, but instead of a meager rotating knob the Remote Touch system works like a computer mouse with controllable levels of haptic feedback that “locks” the joystick in place when the pointer is hovering over items on screen. Using the System while driving is fairly difficult but thankfully the RX comes equipped with the best voice-recognition software in the business, which enables you to control virtually everything that the remote touch system would without lifting a hand from the steering wheel.

Receiving a revised version of last-generation’s 3.5- liter V6, the RX 350 sees 275 horsepower along with 257lb-ft of torque (90% of which is available from 2,300 to 6,100 rpm) thanks to revised intake and exhaust manifolds as well as low-friction coatings on the engine’s internal surfaces. Although these figures are only a 5hp and 6lb-ft increase and result in a minor gain in gas mileage to 18/25, the all new six-speed automatic transmission with manual shift mode allows the RX 350 to make the most of it by offering closer gear ratios than the previous version’s five-speed unit.The AWD model also comes equipped with a new electromagnetic clutch in the rear differential which controls front to rear torque bias.

Unlike the gas-only model, the RX 450h receives a completely new Lexus Hybrid Drive system. The new 3.5-liter Atkinson cycle V6 features an exhaust heat recovery system which recycles heat from the exhaust to accelerate warming of engine coolant, allowing engine shut-off to occur sooner and for longer distances. An Exhaust Gas Recirculation cooling system lowers emissions even further by reducing the need for fuel enrichment. Coupling the new V6 to a pair of new, lighter and more powerful electric motors results in a 27 horsepower increase over the RX 400h, bumping the overall power output to an impressive 295hp and an astounding 20% increase in fuel mileage to 32/28mpg city/highway.

Spending a full day piloting all four iterations of the new RX through the winding hills of Napa Valley revealed handling characteristics which were miles ahead of the previous generation; the new doublewishbone rear suspension and wider tires truly pay service to the RX’s road-handling prowess. With Lexus’s VDIM and available Pre-Collision System (PCS) as well as a class-leading ten airbags, the RX stays true to its heritage of being among the safest vehicles on the road. While everyone else on the road may not notice that the 2010 RX is a completely new from the ground up, rest assured that once you touch the push button ignition for the first time, you will know what truly lies beneath.

Kenny Kerzner has been renting cars to Hollywood’s main players since 1969.
He’s charming, fit and handsome, and at the tender age of 61, he looks more like a man in his early 40’s. Kenny and his team at Midway Car Rental rent their fleet of high-end luxury vehicles to some of Hollywood’s most famous characters. He provides discreet, personal services, and has been know to take calls and handle matters at 3 a.m. when “Jane Doe” is arriving by private plane and needs some wheels. We poked and prodded for details of any scandalous dirt but, being the consummate professional he is, Kenny would only divulge that when Notorious B.I.G. was gunned down in 1997, just outside of the Peterson Automotive Museum, Kenny had provided the car.

Kenny got into the car business in 1969, and rose through the ranks with great speed. As a student at Cal State Northridge, Kenny was doing whatever he could to stay out of the Vietnam War. He ended up getting a job with Warren Axelrod just as Warren was starting Southwest Car Rental & Leasing. The original car lot was located right in the heart of Beverly Hills on Canon and Brighton. A peace-loving beatnik, Kenny was also still diligent — tirelessly working three jobs, seven days a week. He says that he “wanted to do something big” so Mr. Axelrod gave him a job washing cars in his fleet and within three years, he was running the show as the President of Southwest Car Rental. At the time, nobody was renting high-end, luxury automobiles to the Hollywood elite, and it was Kenny who got the idea up and running. In twenty years, Kenny had built the business from one location to over 14 locations in three states including California, Arizona and Colorado.

As he grew his business, Kenny had a couple of big breaks.He was standing in line to buy lunch at Food King, which was located across the street from SCR in Beverly Hills when he met David Puttnam, who is now Lord David Puttnam, the awardwinning producer of many notable films including Chariot’s of Fire and Midnight Express. Puttnam ran with the British entertainment crowd and introduced Kenny to his clique that included Adrian Lyne, Ridley Scott, George Harrison and Mick Jagger. Almost immediately, Kenny was providing cars to anyone involved in the British invasion of Hollywood.

Kenny also benefitted from his proximity to the studios. SCR stored their cars in Century City, and had so many makes and models that whenever the studios needed a car for a scene, they would call up Kenny.It was Kenny who provided pictures cars for hit movies such as Car Wash and T.V. shows such as The Six Million Dollar Man, The Rockford Files, Tales from the Crypt, ChiPs and Miami Vice.

Kenny has also been successful in winning alliances with top hotels in the area. Back when the W in Westwood was the Westwood Marquis, a young Kenny spent every day for two weeks being kicked out of the General Manager’s office for being “a nobody” until one day he was given the opportunity to provide a Lincoln Town Car with an hour’s notice. Kenny rose to the challenge and was granted a long-standing business relationship.

These days, Kenny is as active as ever. He wakes most mornings before dawn, completes his multiple hour workout, and gets on to his Blackberry to connect with his East coast clients. Kenny and the team at Midway continue to provide transportation services for L.A.’s Hollywood and business elite, and he says that his success is based on “relationship marketing.” Recently, a music star was being hounded by the paparazzi and Kenny was required to purchase a new $100,000 car, have the windows tinted limousine black and then have the car delivered to the star within two hours, the next day he had to switch to a BMW 7 Series and the next day a Bentley. It’s all just another week in the life of Kenny Kerzner, the man with the keys to the city

Style is king in Los Angeles. There’s really no getting around that fact.

This is a city where looking good is a way of life. So when you come to L.A., you’re going to want to roll around in an automobile that reflects your personality and personal swagger. That’s where Midway Car Rental comes in. If you want to cruise L.A. in style, they’re the spot to call first.

We promise that Midway Car Rental has even got that slick Lamborghini from your favorite rapper’s new video. Rick Mullinax of Midway exclaims, “From the Aston Martin Vantage or Lamborghini Gallardo, to a Mini Cooper or Smart Car — convertibles and Southern California go hand in hand. Luxury convertibles are always in high demand! We have something to fit everyone’s taste and budget.” They most certainly do, and it’s not hard to feel like a movie star while getting behind the wheel of one of their vehicles.

Isn’t that why we flock to L.A?

Since their diverse clientele’s taste varies, they’re also willing to accommodate any taste. Mullinax continues, “We have made many dreams come true for our clients!

Whether it’s a couple traveling to L.A. for the first time looking for a fun convertible to sightsee in, or someone who always dreamed of driving a red Ferrari along the coast, we can make it happen!” Even though the cars definitely reflect La La Land’s glitz and glamour, Midway still has the environment on the brain. “Going Green is a trend that nearly every company — auto-related or not — is adopting. Midway has been renting Hybrids for years, but has increased its fleet significantly over the past two years. More customers are moving away from renting large sedans and SUV’s to asking for smaller, more fuel efficient cars, and we are adjusting our fleet mix to meet customer demands.” You can still be green and tear up the roads with one of their vehicles, and that’s quite a beautiful thing.

Ultimately though, the customer comes first, and that’s why Midway remains at the forefront of luxury car rental companies in Los Angeles. “Because we are a boutique company, we offer personalized service that is second to none, and we have the selection of cars to match our service. There are many car rental companies that do lots of things well, but there isn’t one that combines everything that Midway does in Southern California. We focus exclusively on this market, and our goal is to simply be the best at what we do.” There’s no question that they are.

- RICK FLORINO

When planning your excursion to Los Angeles, it is essential to not overlook your automobile. You can pack all the Armani shirts, Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses, and Prada shoes that you own; but it will all be meaningless when you’re spotted stepping out of your rental Chevy Aveo (no offense to Aveo owners — I know they get great gas mileage). So what exactly does it take to not be ridiculed when pulling up to the valet stand at a posh L.A. nightclub? On a recent October day, Beverly Hills Rent-A-Car General Manager, Daniel Park allowed me to taste a small but sweet sample of a few rides that their highly regarded business offers to the public; in order to put this question to rest.

If fitting in is what you’re after, the 2009 Mercedes-Benz SL550 is a good starting point; Los Angeles boasts the highest population of SL roadsters in the world so rest assured that your tourist identity will be securely concealed — not to mention how cool you’ll think you look when your rental transforms from hard-top coupe to open-air convertible in less than twenty seconds. Sporting a mild restyle for 2009, the SL’s exterior received a new front fascia, larger “gill-like” vents in the front fenders, and the rear-end is also beefed-up with an integrated air diffuser and trapezoidal exhaust tips — all of which combine to form brutish masculine look.

The interior of the SL also received minor updates in the form of a three-spoke steering wheel and a revised gauge-cluster. Mercedes opted to forgo replacement of the pavement-pounding 5.5-liter 382hp V8 that will hurl you and your Dolce sunglasses to 60mph in just 5.3 seconds; combined with a seven-speed automatic transmission which can be actuated manually via steering wheelmounted paddle-shifters, piloting the SL around L.A. is a blast in any driving situation.

Although many can do just fine with simply fitting in, there are those who thrive on attention; for this type of person, Beverly Hills Rent-A-Car presents their Exotic Collection. At the entry-level to this assortment of exquisite automobiles sits the Audi R8. Having existed for only a year, the rental of an R8 ensures exclusivity. Available at $1,800 per day, the R8’s 420hp V8 located a couple inches behind your head will whisk you and the all-aluminum chassis to 60mph in 4.4 seconds and a top speed of 187mph.

Drivers of the R8 are treated to quite possibly the most pleasant ride-quality in the “exotic car” category with a suspension that’s best described as “just firm enough” and a clutch that’s easily manageable in horrendous L.A. traffic. And if, heaven forbid, you end up parked on the freeway, toying with the driver-controllable pop-up rear spoiler can provide hours of amusement.

If an exotic with extra headroom is what you desire, for $3,000 a day you can turn the head of each and every single person you pass in a yellow Lamborghini Gallardo Roadster (they also offer the Gallardo Roadster in red, and black). In the unlikely event that you happen to catch someone not looking at you, a quick stab of the throttle will promptly bring them to attention as 512 Italian horses beckon rampantly out the dual tailpipes.

The interior of the Gallardo leaves little to be desired. With the climate control and navigation system coming out of Audi’s production center, both are sophisticated yet intuitive devices that can be employed with ease. If the ultimate in smooth is what you desire, Beverly Hills’ Prestige Collection is what you’re looking for.

Serving as the flagship in Beverly Hills Rent-A-Car’s expansive lineup is the Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe. This is truly the crème de la crème of luxury automobiles. The moment you set foot in the Drophead and depress the suicide door’s close button (watch your leg) you’ll be in complete and utter automotive bliss. With the cushiest leather and finest teak wood trim known to man, it can be difficult to discern whether the Rolls is a car or a rolling yacht; and being that the Drophead is significantly larger in dimension than a Mercedes S-Class, it can also be difficult to discern whether people are running off the road because they’re staring at your car or because you’re taking up half their lane.

If you do decide that an attention grabbing convertible is what you need but the Drophead is just slightly too large, you may want to consider the Smart Fortwo Cabriolet. Just like the Rolls-Royce, the Smart has two doors, a convertible top, and a — well, that’s actually where all the similarities end. At roughly one-third the size of the Rolls, the Fortwo is a convertible of a slightly different breed.

Engineered with the eco-minded consumer at heart, Smart gave the Fortwo an ultra-low emission 70hp 3-cylinder engine and a herky-jerky automatic transmission that will scoot you around the city at upwards of 33miles-per-gallon. Combined with a high-strength Tridion Safety Cell and the ability to park nearly anywhere, the Smart could quite possibly be the ultimate vehicle for urban travel.

So there you have it. Next time you’re planning your trip to the Los Angeles area be sure to consult with Dan and his Beverly Hills Rent-A-Car team. You can check out their rates and inventory online at www.bhrentacar.com and with their newly added Make an Offer program that allows you to propose a bid for your rental rate; you might be able to snatch up a car at a surprising price. With twelve locations, over 100 different models, and this guide at your disposal — you have no excuse to not be rolling in style.