The challenge
Miami is a tourist market. Great opportunity with one small problem: insurance.
A big share of DRMLXRY's customers are international visitors, mostly Europeans, who don't carry a US auto policy they can transfer to a rental. Mainstream insurers cap coverage based on the customer's own vehicle value, which means a European tourist trying to rent a Lamborghini hits a wall fast. Either the coverage doesn't exist, or the operator eats the risk. One bad incident on the wrong car can wipe out months of revenue.
Detroit brought different problems: fraud, theft, stricter vetting. The Zahrs learned most of it the hard way — including losing both of their first two cars to theft in 2020, the same year they launched. They kept going.
What sets DRMLXRY apart
Most operators get into luxury rentals because they love the cars. Nader and Tamer treat it like a numbers business. They evaluate every acquisition on its financials. Nader graduated from Michigan's business school. Tamer is working toward his degree at Wayne State. Neither of them is in it for the lifestyle.
They also know the inventory better than most. Show Nader a car and he can tell you in seconds whether it's going to build revenue or sit in the shop. Lamborghini Huracán: bulletproof, never breaks down. McLaren 570S: same tier on paper, guaranteed to fail in the first month.
“A lot of operators get into it because they want to drive a supercar for free. We're looking at this as a scalable business model with a proof of concept. We see the numbers, not really the cars — and if the numbers make sense, we're doing good.”
Why Wheelbase
The insurance problem had a direct solution: Wheelbase's embedded coverage lets DRMLXRY insure international customers who'd otherwise have no options through traditional carriers. The European tourist who wants a Rolls-Royce instead of a rental Civic can actually do it — legally, covered, without the operator assuming the risk.
“Wheelbase allows us to provide that experience to people who don't want to go to Enterprise and drive a Honda Civic. They want to drive a Lamborghini, they want to drive a Rolls-Royce.”
Roamly, part of the same ecosystem, consolidated their garage policy — multiple providers cut down to one fixed rate. They also left Turo behind. The fees didn't justify it, and the clientele doesn't match: DRMLXRY's customers are spending thousands of dollars and expect to talk to a real person, not click through a checkout flow. The brothers compare it to the difference between a hotel and an Airbnb.
“Having Roamly and the Wheelbase ecosystem is taking us to the next level — it's going to allow us to expand much faster and much safer.”
What's next
Eighty vehicles across two markets and that's just the beginning. The Zahr brothers are actively looking to scale, with more vehicles and new markets on the horizon. Wheelbase is giving them the opportunity to do that.
Their clientele is increasingly their own generation: young, newly wealthy, crypto money, e-commerce exits, trust funds. Customers who want to deal with founders who look like them and know exactly what they're buying.
Nader and Tamer are 22 and 18. They've been in the car business for over a decade. They're just getting started.
