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Whether you've traveled to an unfamiliar place or
just needed a replacement while your car's in the
shop, chances are you've had to rent a car at some
point in your life. Rental cars have a long and
storied history that's closely tied to the history
of the automobile industry and America itself. As
times have changed, so have rental cars - and they
remain a crucial part of the automobile industry to
this day.
The true beginnings of rental cars are unknown,
but many believe that the first true rental car
agency began with the Model T, the first
mass-produced automobile. Allegedly, the first
rental agency belonged to a Nebraskan man named Joe
Saunders, who would rent his Model T out for ten
cents a mile. Saunders used a mileage meter to
determine how far his car had been driven. The
legend goes that Saunders' first rental went to a
traveling salesman who wanted to impress a girl on a
date.
Whatever the case, Saunders definitely had the
first massively successful car-rental agency. By
1925, his business had rental agencies in 21 states.
However, the Great Depression led to many people no
longer needing rental cars, and Saunders went
bankrupt."
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Rental cars suffered from a bad reputation during
the Prohibition period, as many believed they were
used to transport criminals. After Prohibition was
repealed, the rental car industry enjoyed a better
reputation, and expanded considerably.
The industry grew even more after WWII, because the
growing popularity of airlines for business travel
meant that more people needed a car for their
business trips. Hertz had predicted this trend by
opening a rental facility at Chicago's Midway
Airport in 1932. Avis is credited with being the
first company to do airport-focused rentals as its
main source of business. The company's founder,
Warren Avis, was a former Army pilot, and focused
almost all their business toward airports and the
surrounding areas. Another successful company
launched during this time was National Car Rental
System, Inc., whose founders included Joe Saunders
himself.
In the 1970s and 1980s, rental car companies began
selling off their older vehicles, which led to
companies such as Hertz also becoming major used-car
dealers. At this point, major automobile
manufacturing companies began buying up many used
car companies in an effort to ensure that these
companies would primarily buy their cars from them.
The rental car industry took a hit when air travel
slowed down after the September 11 terrorist attacks
in 2001, but has made a tremendous comeback in
recent years. The increasing amount of business done
on the Internet means that it's now possible to book
a rental car online, making it easier to rent a car
than ever. As long as Americans need a car waiting
for them...rental cars will be there.Brenda_Williams
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