Jack Fitzgerald, Jr., founder, owner, and CEO of Fitzgerald Auto Malls and a transformative figure in the automotive retail and rental car industries, passed away on April 8, 2025. He was 89 years old.
Fitzgerald was revered not just for building one of the most respected dealership networks in the country, but for redefining what it meant to be a consumer advocate in the auto business, according to his official obituary on the Fitzgerald Auto Malls website. He was credited with practices such as “no haggle – no hassle pricing” and converting his dealership group to 100% employee ownership, the largest at the time.
In the car rental industry, Fitzgerald owned Rent-A-Wreck, Priceless, and Nextcar, although these companies represented just a small percentage of his automotive empire, according to Auto Rental News.
Fitzgerald had owned an in-house dealership rental company since 1985 called NextCar and had been a Budget franchise owner for more than 20 years until selling it in 2007, according to a 2010 company profile published in Auto Rental News. At the time, rental car operators Jason Manelli and Michael DeLorenzo worked as executives at Fitzgerald's Rent-A-Wreck operation
“We know how to buy and sell cars, and that’s mostly what you do in the rental car business. And frankly, it wasn’t very expensive,” said Fitzgerald in the article, in keeping with the down-to-earth, tongue-in-cheek culture that Rent-A-Wreck has cultivated since its founding in 1973.
By 2010, Rent-A-Wreck of America Inc. and partner franchise system Priceless Rent-A-Car were run by Fitzgerald’s JJF Management Services. (Rent-A-Wreck Canada, a separate company since its inception in 1976, was a wholly owned subsidiary of Franchise Services North America, owners of the U-Save brand.)
In a closing keynote address at the 2011 International Car Rental Show, "From Bailouts to Cash for Clunkers: The New Normal in the Car Business for Dealers and Rental Operators," Fitzgerald spoke off the cuff about dealership rentals, recalls, and political action. Fitzgerald saw opportunities for experienced car rental operators to operate dealership rentals.
In dealing with issues legislatively, such as automotive recalls, Fitzgerald said efforts should begin at the grassroots level and through the American Car Rental Association, according to an ARN article about the event. “All politics are local. It comes from the precinct up, not from Washington down,” he said.
Sharky Laguana, president of the American Car Rental Association (ACRA), told ARN on April 11 that Fitzgerald had a major impact on the rental car industry.
“He was a leadership role model, showing care and concern for employees and customers alike. We are grateful not only for his numerous accomplishments in business but also for his heart and the way he chose to lead. The American Car Rental Association extends our condolences to his family and friends.”
