Not Quite Cash for Clunkers: The $2,000-a-Day Lamborghini

HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, N.J. -- July 31, 2009— -- Lamborghini. Ferrari. Maserati.

They are names that epitomize excitement, fun, sex appeal and, of course, expense.

But for some, even in the depths of the worst economy since the Great Depression, they signify a bargain. That's right, a bargain.

At least one New York area exotic car business has slashed prices on its high-end rentals to try to lure customers in. And it seems to be working.

No the recession is not over and the freewheeling days of Wall Street have yet to return. But some owners of exotic cars are now finding it cheaper to rent instead of own. (Sounds a bit like the real estate market.)

"For every customer we lost on the low-end, who is no longer capable of affording the rental, we've gained a customer on the high-end who decided they no longer want to own the car," said Noah Lehmann-Haupt, president of Gotham Dream Cars, which rents out 20 exotic cars.

The rentals don't come cheap.

A Ferrari F430 coupe goes for $1,450 a day. The Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster is $1,950 a day. And at the high end is the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, which rents for a whopping $2,450 a day.

And those are the recession prices, about 30 to 40 percent lower than they were a year ago, Lehmann-Haupt said. (The five-year-old company advertises a 20 percent Web discount, but he said the recession has actually forced prices even lower.)

"When I adjusted the prices, volume went up. Unfortunately it didn't go up enough to offset the drop in prices," said Lehmann-Haupt, 31.

But each of those cars comes with a lot of power. Take the Ferrari F430 coupe. It comes with a 490hp V8 engine. Or the Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster which has a 580hp V12 engine. Now that's power. The roadster goes zero to sixty in 3.8 seconds and has a top speed of 205 mph.

Gotham Dream Cars also offers a "Dream Share Program" for high-volume renters where customers pay $18,000 to $49,000 and get 20 to 60 percent off the standard rental rates.

"It's a change of treatment. It's not really that you're renting anymore. It's more that you've bought into this club program," Lehmann-Haupt said. "All of our employees know you by first name. You are really becoming part of the family so to speak."

Well, an expensive family. But your new-found relatives will deliver the car to you and even load your favorite music into the stereo.

"It is an emotional visceral experience like nothing else," Lehmann-Haupt added. "One of the things I like to say is that we are in the entertainment business more than the automotive business. It's like taking everything you know about driving and cranking it up to the maximum."