Prom cars

[heckflosse]

Has anyone done this with their classic Volvo? It is approaching that time of year, and Hummer limos are so kitsch. What are the pitfalls, other than insurance?

[4x4]

The punters don't give a damn about your precious car, they have the attitude they're paying for it and will treat it like trash. Not worth the hassle in my opinion. The insurance will hit you for plenty and you're more likely to be stopped for an insurance check by the police if they see you and think your hiring

[ITSv40]

I used to selectively hire my Silver Cloud for weddings and events - mainly through friends of friends - although it is surprising how many 'friends' you collect with marriage market daughters.

Whilst I have some memorable memories of unique events I also have some horror stories of personal abuse to both me and the car. In fact I was chauffeuring at a friends wedding and one of the guests leaned on the rear wing and promptly lit up a cigarette and flicked ash all over the paintwork. I politely asked him to move away from the car and was met with the response '' what has it got to do with you, its not as if its your car, your boss won't know'' I explained it was my car and I was doing the bride a favour. That was met with a foulmouthed response. I vowed there and then I was never hiring the car out again no matter what the circumstances and I haven't since. Unfortunately that was not the only incident I suffered although there were many happy moments.

Insurance by comparison is straightforward. Most classic policies allow occasional wedding/hire for reward use up to six times a year. I used to phone the insurers beforehand and arrange cover for the day at a cost of £25.

Anything more than that and you are into private hire and all the extra MOT inspections that that entails.

[4x4]

Public are bad but it's even worse when the film makers hire your car. Actors/actresses don't give a monkeys about your pride and joy, it's just a prop to them and they do whatever they want, I eventually drove mine off the set and never returned.

Watching the Antiques Road Show on telly makes me cringe when you see the treatment the cars (which are hired from the likes of you and me) receive.

[DAN AT ADRIAN FLUX]

Hi,
If you need any help with insurance then please feel free to drop me a line. We have a number of schemes that cater for this type of use.
Be careful though as Prom use is generally not the same as wedding hire. Whilst most classic car insurers may provide temporary wedding hire cover this doesn't normally extend to prom use as this is more regarded as private hire so you may need to have a private hire licence etc.
Regards,
Dan.

[christheancient]

Interesting thoughts on how different customers treat 'special' cars.

For wedding, I used a local guy with a 'cherished' Roller; and made sure that we treated his car with respect.

The only other times I've been in the 'special car' was for the funerals of various relatives and I was most apologetic to the driver of one of them when I got muddy graveside footprints on the carpet. I felt really sorry that I had made more work for him.

I most certainly would not go into the 'special' or prom car business as I can well imagine that some of them get really abused by the party-goers!

[richardt1994]

One of my neighbours has a silver Maserati Quattroporte that he hires out as a "hobby" for proms etc with a bit of a twist. He delivered a couple to my daughter's prom last year. He drives, dressed in a black suit and sunglasses with his wife, a very elegant lady, again in a black suit and sunglasses in the passenger seat with the customers (boy and girl) in the rear. They open the doors at the same time and he helps the girl out of the rear and she helps the boy out. The were very slick with their synchronised door opening etc and professional and it looked like the couple had been delivered to the prom by the CIA. My daughter had to make do with my V70 (although I did wash and polish it for the occasion) :-)