The Best Car to Rent for a Music Video

Five seats matter more than horsepower in a music video car. The best car for a music video is the Lamborghini Urus Widebody in satin black. It fits the artist and four more people in one frame. It rents for $1,195 a day with a $1,000 deposit. Three other cars each win a different kind of scene.

Picture the curb outside baggage claim at Palm Springs Airport. The satin black Urus waits there with the doors shut and the red cabin hidden. The artist opens the driver's door, and the camera sees the red leather for the first time. Two friends climb into the back seat while the director calls the next setup.

Why five seats beat two in a music video

A music video is rarely one person alone in a car. The artist usually rides with friends, a love interest, or the whole crew. A two-seat supercar holds the artist and one other person, and everyone else stands outside waiting for the next take.

A five-seat car opens up the shot list. The director can film the front seats, the back seat, and every door opening in turn. The Urus seats five across four doors, and the Rolls Royce Cullinan and the G-Wagon do the same.

The two-seat car still has a job. Drop into a Lamborghini Aventador with the scissor doors up, and nobody asks who else is coming. That car gets one scene, and the car is the whole scene.

The best car for a music video is the Urus Widebody

The Urus Widebody is a 2021 Lamborghini Urus with an aftermarket wide arch kit. The kit pushes the front and rear fenders out past the standard car. It is not a factory Lamborghini option. Underneath, it is a regular Urus with a 4.0 liter twin-turbo V8 that makes 641 horsepower.

The paint is the reason the Urus leads this list, because the finish is satin black instead of gloss. Gloss black throws hard reflections in direct sun. Satin doesn't, so every arch, vent, and crease keeps its edge on camera. The red leather cabin gives the inside shots color without a staged background.

Drive it east on Highway 111 toward Rancho Mirage in the afternoon. In Strada mode the V8 stays quiet, and the eight-speed automatic creeps through traffic like any Urus. Move the left lever on the center drum to Sport, and the exhaust valves open. The car reaches 60 mph in 3.6 seconds, and the back seat is a real back seat.

Book this one for the daylight scenes, since direct sun is where the satin finish does its best work. A car usually spends more time parked on a set than moving, so the paint matters more than the engine.

Music video car rental for night scenes

Night scenes need a car that keeps its shape under streetlights. Two cars do this well, and both of them seat five.

The Rolls Royce Cullinan Black Badge is black over an orange and black cabin. Black Badge darkens the grille, the window trim, and the Spirit of Ecstasy, which leaves no bright metal to catch a light. Along the bay in Coronado at night, the car shows up as a clean black outline. Open a coach door, and the orange trim is the only color in the frame.

The Cullinan Black Badge rents for $1,595 a day with a $2,000 deposit. Its 6.75 liter V12 makes 592 horsepower. Cameras read the road ahead and adjust each corner of the air suspension before the wheel gets there. You barely feel expansion joints or speed bumps from the back seat.

The G-Wagon Brabus 800 is the louder night car. Brabus rebuilt this G63 with a carbon hood, wide carbon fender flares, and forged wheels. Outside it is black, and the cabin is fully red. Near the harbor in Newport Beach after dark, it shows up as a wide black shape on big wheels. The red leather changes the shot the moment a door opens.

The Brabus makes 788 horsepower, which is 211 more than a stock G63. The exhaust has a quiet mode and a loud mode. Use the quiet mode when a take needs clean audio. Switch to the loud mode when the take needs the engine. The Brabus rents for $895 a day with a $1,000 deposit.

The Aventador SV for the one hero shot

The Lamborghini Aventador SV is the car for the scene everyone remembers. SV stands for Superveloce. It is a lighter, more stripped-down Aventador with a fixed carbon rear wing. This one is red over black. Most people picture that color when they hear the word Lamborghini.

The scissor doors are the shot. Film them rising with the engine cover glass in the frame, since the V12 sits under that glass. A low front three-quarter angle shows the width of the car. Against the water on the Lido peninsula in Newport Beach, the red paint holds its color even in flat afternoon light.

Start it, and the 6.5 liter V12 makes 740 horsepower with no turbochargers. The single-clutch gearbox shifts with a hard jolt that you feel through the seat. The car reaches 60 mph in 2.8 seconds. You sit in thin carbon bucket seats trimmed in Alcantara. The SV rents for $2,495 a day with a $5,000 deposit.

Plan the low car around the ramps. Downtown Los Angeles hotels run valet in basement structures with tight ramps. We confirm clearance for low cars like the Aventador before we bring them. Then the car comes out of the garage with the doors still down.

The four video cars, specs and rates

These numbers come from the listing for each specific car.

• Lamborghini Urus Widebody, satin black with a red interior. 5 seats, 641 hp, 0 to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds, $1,195 a day, $1,000 deposit, $5 per extra mile.
• Rolls Royce Cullinan Black Badge, black with an orange and black interior. 5 seats, 592 hp, 0 to 60 mph in 4.9 seconds, $1,595 a day, $2,000 deposit, $3 per extra mile.
• G-Wagon Brabus 800, black with a red interior. 5 seats, 788 hp, 0 to 60 mph in 4.0 seconds, $895 a day, $1,000 deposit, $3 per extra mile.
• Lamborghini Aventador SV, red with a black interior. 2 seats, 740 hp, 0 to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds, $2,495 a day, $5,000 deposit, $10 per extra mile.

How to rent a car for a music video

Tell us at booking if the video is paid work. A paid commercial shoot for a brand needs approval and sometimes different insurance. Personal and social videos are always fine. A commercial shoot at a state park also needs a film permit.

We deliver the car straight to the shoot location. Your daylight goes into the takes instead of a drive across town. Give us the call time when you book, so the delivery is timed to it. The Cullinan can be idling on its mark with the coach doors shut when the artist walks onto the set.

If the artist drives on camera, the artist has to be on the contract. Anyone who will drive must be listed as an additional driver before the rental starts. Each driver passes the same license and insurance check as you, and we call each driver's insurance company too.

Racing and off-road driving are not permitted on any car. Plan the rolling shots for open road, with the camera car ahead of the Urus on a quiet stretch of Highway 111. Every car includes 100 miles a day, and a two day shoot pools them into 200 miles. If your locations are far apart, say so at booking so the miles are priced in ahead of time.

After the last take, the car goes to a valet or hotel garage, never on the street. The keys stay with you the whole time. To rent any of these four, you need to be 18 or older with a valid license. You also need full coverage insurance in your own name. A week or two of notice covers most dates.

Write the shot list before you pick the car. Count the people in each scene, and mark which scenes happen in daylight. That list will point you to the Urus, the Cullinan, the Brabus, or the Aventador before any rate does.