Tilden Rent-a-Car

Tilden Rent-a-Car, later known as Tilden InterRent, was a Canadian car rental company that was founded by Sam Tilden. Its fleet was sold by the Tilden family to National Car Rental of the United States in June 1996.

In 1925, Sam Tilden (1897–1973), a shoe salesman in Montreal, bought the Hertz Rent-a-Car franchise for Montreal after reading an advertisement in the Saturday Evening Post. Tilden started the business with three Chrysler cars and a loan from his father. In 1929, Hertz took the franchise back from Tilden, believing that it could make more money through direct ownership. In 1932, Tilden had won the franchise back from Hertz.

By 1950, Sam Tilden had three Hertz franchises: Montreal, Ottawa and Hamilton, Ontario, and his son, Walter Tilden (1928–2008), was managing the Ottawa franchise. Through the 1950s, Tilden Rent-a-Car expanded rapidly, taking advantage of its independence from car manufacturers. The Victoria, British Columbia franchise was managed by Sam’s youngest son, Ted Tilden (1931–1991).

The franchise agreement with Hertz allowed the American company to take back a franchise on 60 days notice, and head office insisted that American advertising copy be used in Canada, although the Canadian franchisees wanted to use copy more appropriate for Canada. In 1953, Sam Tilden and several other franchises, objecting to these policies, left Hertz and set up the Tilden Rent-a-Car System. By 1954, there were 100 Tilden locations throughout Canada.

In the 1960s, recognizing the opportunities for cross-promotion, Tilden formed a partnership with National Car Rental in the United States. Tilden and National established a joint venture, 50% owned by each company, in Europe under the Europcar name. Tilden later entered into a similar joint venture with Nippon Rent-a-Car of Japan to set up rental agencies in Asia.

By the mid-1960s, Tilden Rent-a-Car System had 2,000 corporate-owned vehicles and 2,500 vehicles owned by independent franchise operators in Canada.

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