[RobBeddington]

Nice shot Michael.

The Hertz story is a great one. This is how Augie describes it:

"Roger Penske offered me a $100 to drive it in the pool. I said that wasn't enough, but Walt Hansgen offered me another $100 from Peter Ryan. So I went ahead."

"I knew enough to close all the windows and vents, and the car floated for a while. I opened the window and climbed on to the side of the pool. Even though I had my swimming trunks on I didn't get wet!"

"The car was actually the rental car of Cunningham mechanic Alfred Momo. That evening in a local restaurant I met Alfred. Seeing my face, he said "Son, you've been up to no good. What have you done?!"

"I told Alfred what I'd done and it got back to Walt Hansgen, who had been one of the guys who put me up to this. Suddenly Walt remembered that his camera and clothes were in the trunk. Back at the pool, he dived in to get the keys which were still in the ignition, then swam round to open the trunk. This big bubble of air came to the surface of the pool, with his luggage. All except his camera ..."

"The hotel picked up the rental bill until the car was fished out of the pool, and the car agency returned my check with a courteous reply, saying that it's "rent it here, leave it there" policy even applied in this instance ..."

This prank got the car rental firm some great publicity, but Augie did not do the Pabst Brewing name much good in California...

Cheers.

Rob