The Best Exotic Car to Rent for a Birthday

Most people shopping for a birthday car start with the fastest one on the list. The best exotic car for a birthday is the one everyone photographs, and that's the pink Lamborghini Huracan. It rents for $1,195 a day with a $1,000 deposit. Three other cars each win a different kind of birthday, and your guest list decides which one you need.

Picture the valet stand at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills on a Saturday night. The pink coupe rolls in under the lights with the V10 idling behind your seat. The attendant walks around the nose of the car before he opens your door. By the time you're inside, your friends have already posted the car.

Why color matters more than speed on a birthday

A birthday is mostly photographs. Your friends take them outside the restaurant, at the table, and again when you leave. So the color of the car does more work than its 0 to 60 time.

The pink Huracan is a 2017 coupe with a black cabin. Pink shows up clearly in a phone photo taken from across the street. The black interior stays plain, so the paint carries the picture. The car photographs best in open shade or in late afternoon light. Midday sun flattens the color, so plan the pictures for the hour before dinner.

It isn't only a photo car. The 5.2 liter V10 makes 602 horsepower and reaches 60 mph in 3.2 seconds. It has no turbos, so the engine keeps pulling harder all the way to 8,500 rpm. The ANIMA switch changes the driving mode. Strada keeps the car quiet enough for a hotel driveway, and Corsa opens up the exhaust for the drive home.

How to rent a Lamborghini for a birthday

Booking starts with three things. You need to be 18 or older with a valid driver's license. You also need full coverage insurance in your own name, and a larger deposit may apply if you're under 25.

Insurance isn't part of the rate, and we don't sell it. Your own policy has to cover a rental car that isn't listed on it, which is called non-owner vehicle coverage. Before the rental, we call your insurance company on a recorded line to confirm it.

The deposit is a hold on your card, not a charge, and it's released after the car comes back the way it left. Every day includes 100 miles. Past that, the pink Huracan bills $5 a mile. Tell us at booking if the birthday drive runs long, so the extra miles are priced in ahead of time.

A week or two of lead time covers most dates. Summer weekends, holiday weekends, and prom season go first, so book earlier if your birthday lands on one of them. We deliver to hotels, homes, and venues, and the car can be waiting where the night starts.

The Cullinan when the birthday is a group

The Huracan seats two. The Rolls Royce Cullinan is the better car once the birthday includes four friends and a dinner reservation. It seats five. The white Cullinan with a Tiffany blue and white cabin rents for $1,595 a day, and its deposit is $2,000.

The pale blue cabin is the reason to book this one. It's unusual on a Rolls Royce, and it looks soft and clean next to the white paint. The rear seats sit higher than the front seats, so everyone in the back can see out and everyone outside can see them.

The Cullinan has a tailgate detail worth planning around. The tailgate opens in two powered halves, and rear-facing seats and a small table fold out of the trunk. You can park above the water in La Jolla and cut a birthday cake facing the ocean.

The car itself stays quiet. The 6.75 liter V12 makes 563 horsepower and reaches 60 mph in 4.9 seconds without much sound reaching the cabin. The Spirit of Ecstasy figure on the hood drops into the body at the push of a button. The Cullinan looks booked for an occasion when you pull up at La Valencia on Prospect Street.

Plan a sober driver or a chauffeur for the ride home if there will be drinks at dinner. Chauffeur service is available on request on the Rolls Royces. Anyone else who drives the car has to be on the contract first and pass the same insurance check.

The 720S Spider when the birthday is the drive

Some birthdays aren't about the dinner at all. You want the drive, and you want it for yourself. For that day, the McLaren 720S Spider is the car to book.

The white 720S Spider rents for $1,195 a day with a $2,000 deposit. Its twin turbo V8 makes 710 horsepower, and it reaches 60 mph in 2.8 seconds. That's the quickest of these four cars. The carbon roof folds in 11 seconds at up to 31 mph. The rear glass drops on its own switch, so the engine sound comes straight into the cabin.

Extra miles on this car bill at $3 a mile, which ties the Cullinan for the lowest rate of the four. That makes the 720S a good fit for a long coast day. Run it up Highway 101 through Del Mar with the roof down. The suspension keeps the car flat through fast corners and still rides smoothly over rough pavement.

The white paint matters here too. It shows the 720S bodywork clearly in photos, and the black and red cabin stands out with the roof open. Park it by the bay in Coronado at the end of the drive and take the picture there.

The G63 when the budget has a ceiling

A birthday car doesn't have to cost $1,500 a day. The white Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon AMG G63 rents for $595 a day. It carries a $1,500 deposit and bills $5 a mile past the 100 included.

The G63 seats five, so it covers the group birthday for $1,000 a day less than the Cullinan. The 4.0 liter twin turbo V8 makes 577 horsepower and reaches 60 mph in 4.4 seconds. It has side exhaust pipes, so everyone standing nearby hears the car start.

White over black keeps the G63 sharp in bright daylight. That makes it the right car for a daytime birthday at a winery on Rancho California Road in Temecula. Every edge on the boxy body keeps its line in the sun, and the car still looks right when you leave the last tasting room.

The four birthday cars side by side

• Pink Lamborghini Huracan, $1,195 a day, $1,000 deposit, 2 seats, 0 to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds, $5 a mile past 100
• White Rolls Royce Cullinan, $1,595 a day, $2,000 deposit, 5 seats, 0 to 60 mph in 4.9 seconds, $3 a mile past 100
• White McLaren 720S Spider, $1,195 a day, $2,000 deposit, 2 seats, 0 to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds, $3 a mile past 100
• White Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon AMG G63, $595 a day, $1,500 deposit, 5 seats, 0 to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds, $5 a mile past 100

The best exotic car for a birthday weekend

A birthday often turns into a weekend. The first 2 days are at the full daily rate. At 3 days the rate drops 10%, and the discount is automatic. Multi-day rentals also pool the miles, so a 3 day rental carries 300 miles.

Plan dinner in Newport Beach on Friday and a drive down to La Jolla on Saturday. Tell us the route at booking so the miles are priced in ahead of time. Overnight, the car goes to a valet or a hotel garage, never the street, and the keys stay with you.

Pick the car by who is riding with you. Two people want the pink Huracan or the 720S. A table of five wants the Cullinan or the G63, and in every one of them the color matters more than the horsepower.