Back in 1988, you could rent a 1953 MG TD

, unrestored, from National Car Rental's Emerald Club fleet at the San Francisco airport, as well as a handful of Ferrari 328s and a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado from private renters in Southern California. But today's it's easier than ever to rent a real sports car. Prices range from a reasonable $87 per day for a Camaro SS to $5500 a day for a Lamborghini Aventador, and credible rental companies are expanding their fleets as more customers demand exciting rides for "bucket list" vacations and for summer home transportation.

Where to Rent: "Location, location, location is the reason we rent sports cars in L.A.," says Dan Darvish, general manager of the Black and White rental-car company. "Our weather is great all of the time, and the public transportation here is terrible." Enterprise exotic rentals are available in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, and Texas—all vacation destinations where the weather allows driving all year.

But you don't need to go someplace warm, necessarily, to rent a great car. Just be in a popular destination. Gotham Dream Cars started in New York in 2004 and opened a Florida branch in 2006. Hertz began renting Porsches in 2012 in Miami, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas.

The Cars: Here are a few exotics available to rent in this country to whet your appetite: Porsche Boxster, Porsche 911 Carrera S, Porsche 911 Turbo, Bentley Continental GTC, Ferrari 458 Spyder, Tesla Model S, Rolls-Royce Ghost, Fisker Karma, Audi R8 V-10, Lamborghini Aventador, Mercedes SLS, and McLaren MP4 12C.

"We started with five cars, including a Lamborghini LP550, but we found people wanted cars that were more comfy," says John Temerian of Lou La Vie, which has several locations in South Florida. "Now we have a Nissan GTR, which is incredibly fast but easy to drive. And we have a new Porsche Carrera S convertible, and these cars drive normally on the street."

How Much: You can burn through all the cash you've got if you really want to ride in style. A Porsche Boxster starts at $450 for a day from Lou La Vie. Just $87 will get you a Camaro or Mustang convertible from Black and White in the Los Angeles area. At Gotham Dream Cars, you can ride in a Bentley Continental GTC for a little under a grand for a weekday—though the rate jumps to $2250 for a weekend day. Got a little more cash burning a hole in your pocket? Spend $2800 to get a Ferrari 458 Spyder from Lou La Vie. Or fly to London and really go nuts: Drop $26,000 per day for a Bugatti Veyron.

"Our bank is in Indiana, and when we call them for a loan for $400,000 for a car, they are in shock," says Dan Darvish from Black and White, which owns its own cars.

When It Started: Black and White Rental Cars owner Sam Zaman got into the business eight years ago, when people kept offering him money to borrow his personal Porsche 911. Gotham Dream Cars started around the same time. The owners tell us that exotic cars have been available for rent since they made their way to the U.S. in the 1950s as Mercedes SLs, but the big trend for "bucket list" driving experiences started around 1996 and has recently seen increasing demand. This summer, Andrew Hendricks started Driven Experiences at the Gateway Canyons resort in southwest Colorado. This agency has about 20 high-end cars, including Bentleys, Ferraris, and Porsches, and it offers direct access to Hendricks's off-road driving course and school at the resort.

Who Rents These Things? About whom you'd expect: European vacationers, Middle Eastern and Latin American businessmen, car nuts, and bucket-list-gift receivers make up the bulk of the customers. "We see pro soccer stars, celebrities, CEOs, designers," says Lou La Vie's Temerian.

"We all love these cars, and they cross all boundaries," says Dan Darvish. "Our customers in Europe and the Middle East drive these cars back home. They're used to that caliber of car. Some are rentals for the movies."

"Clients in Brazil, Canada, New York, Los Angeles, might already have a 458 Spyder," Temerian says. "We had a client from the Middle East and he came back and told me that our Porsche Turbo feels slow. Then I found out he had a McLaren SLR at home."

Budding racing drivers can also rent time on tracks in some of the cars for training and higher-speed driving without the risk of speeding tickets.

Why Do They Rent Them? Some customers have exotic cars at home, and want to drive the same car on vacation or when traveling for business. Or just for show: "In L.A. you are judged by what kind of car you drive," Darvish says. "There are a lot of people whose business impression is important and they claim it's their car." Still others join the local culture: Miami is synonymous with exotic cars, beaches, exotic people, Temerian says, so well-heeled tourists want a well-made car.

What Can You Learn? The reputable companies will show you how to use the electronic shifter in a Ferrari, and teach you how to brake, how not to curb a wheel on a wider exotic. "I want to share our passion for cars with people. We're educating them. We want to tailor the rental experience to them; it's an educational process; we tell them why the 458 Spyder is so cool, and why the Lamborghini shifts so aggressively. We get a feel for the client—do they want a killer sound system? Things like that."

Can Anyone Do It? Requirements are surprisingly simple, starting with a driver's-license check to make sure there are no odd violations on record, Temerian and Darvish say. Next comes a check of your own personal auto-insurance policy to see that it's valid and covers rental cars. Then they'll often request a security deposit on your credit card of up to $5000 depending upon which rental company you use. (What, you think they'd put someone behind the wheel of a Bentley without it?)

"That's for small damage," Black and White's Darvish says. "We've been very fortunate with customers taking care of our cars. We don't make money off damage like big rental-car companies do."

What's Next: Frequent renter clubs. Why keep a garage full of your own exotic cars that you'll drive only once in a great while when you could join a club that gets the hottest performance cars as soon as they come out. So far only Lou La Vie has announced a members' club, price to be determined, but it offers different exotics and priority reservations to regular customers.

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