As reviewers, we drive a lot of cars. Here are the ones we’d pay to rent while on vacation

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Andrew Clark

I fully intended to select Austin Powers’s “Shaguar,” a 1970 Union Jack-bedizened Jaguar E-Type that was used in all three of Mike Myers’s classics. It’s up for auction in January 2025 and I’m hoping whoever buys it, rents it out. Then my editor joked “Maybe pick a minivan to remember all those years of driving screaming kids around in your Caravan. Haha.”

I realized, why not?

I’d rent a Dodge Grand Caravan, one with five doors, seven seats and air conditioning. It rents for about $500 – $800 a week, depending on the week and location. An SUV is always about $100 more. Unlike my old “Anti-Porsche” it would not come with an unsettling diaper smell, soiled seats and eerily preserved McDonald’s fries in the Sto N’ Go storage spaces. I’d use the minivan rental as an excuse to get the now-grown family together and go on a road trip. Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can, in a Dodge Grand Caravan.

Matt Bubbers

I’m a firm believer that any and all rental cars are enjoyable. Show up, roll the dice at the rental counter and drive the daylights out of whatever heap of junk they hand you. For something a bit more special, however, I’d rent a vintage car from DriveShare. (It’s like Airbnb for old cars.) This 1994 Ferrari 348 Spider (US$684 per day) is tempting, but so is this 2003 Bentley Arnage ($395 per day), or the 1972 Citroën SM (US$600 per day). For my next California road trip though, a big American barge like this 1965 Cadillac DeVille convertible (US$550 per day) would be heaven. These cars are obviously not available in all cities, but most major U.S. cities have a wide selection.

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Mark Richardson

On a warm-weather vacation, my rental car would have to be a convertible, because convertibles make you feel special. All that sunshine is a reminder that you’re on vacation, not tied to deadlines. Ford Mustangs are the most common convertible rentals in the U.S., but in Europe, a Mini Cooper would be ideal – impractical for many, and too low to the ground for creaky knees to be comfortable getting into and out of it for much more than a week. They can be tough to find as rentals, but Sixt has a stick-shift Cooper convertible available in Lisbon for $937 for a week in January. Bring it on!

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Doug Firby

If it were just me or me and my wife driving down a coastal highway, it would definitely be a stick shift, mid-engine Porsche 718 Boxster. Convertibles are wholly impractical in Calgary, where I live, but perfect for warm weather vacations. We also like to vacation with our grandkids, and as any parent will tell you no vehicle is big enough when the kids get restless. Forget the three-row SUVs, which can still feel cramped; give me a minivan. The Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid is a smooth running, fuel-efficient highway cruiser with generous luggage space, stow-and-go seats in the back, modern electronics and on-board entertainment when other distractions lose their power.

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Petrina Gentile

For a road trip, there’s no better vehicle to rent than a Jeep Wrangler. Not only is it practical and spacious with plenty of passenger and cargo room, but it’s also a blast to drive, especially when you take the roof off and remove the doors. It’s the ultimate open-air driving experience; it feels better than a convertible because all-around visibility is greater and the taller ride height gives you a commanding view of the road ahead. It’s also equally at home for a summer road trip, such as surfing on the California coast or tackling 4x4 wild as it is in winter weather conditions en route to a skiing vacation at Mont-Tremblant, Que.

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Kunal D’souza

The ideal vacation rental car should be comfortable and easy to live with. Size is also important. Too big and parking can be a chore, and because you’ll be on unfamiliar roads you want to be sure it will fit everywhere. I’d rent a Subaru Crosstrek. It’s officially classified as a subcompact SUV but feels more like a tall wagon to drive. The cargo room is generous and the seating is comfortable. For a family of four, it’s just about perfect. It also has all-wheel drive and enough ground clearance to handle rough and unpaved roads. Apple Car Play and Android Auto come standard, so connecting your phone is easy.

Lou Trottier

Turning wrenches and making things go vroom-vroom daily diminishes my anticipation when thinking about renting a car on vacation. Unless I’m on a voyage to test drive the latest Ferrari in a faraway land, then a simple mid-size SUV will do. Sadly, I’m at the point where I get more excited about sufficient head space and luggage capacity from my vacation rental than deriving any actual automotive thrill. However, I would like to eventually rent and participate in a European motorcycle tour, but that would be a much different kind of vacation.

Jason Tchir

My last experience renting a Tesla (a Model Y) was, well, mixed. I had to reboot the car like a 1990s PC to get the cruise control to work. But car-sharing company Turo has a Cybertruck in Vancouver that I’m itching to take to Whistler – just to get a chance to drive it. So far, I’ve only sat in it and it feels like a concept car that wasn’t thought through. But I’d like to see if it can handle winter roads – and whether it will turn heads, for better or worse, in a town used to pricey cars.