It sure beats a breadcrumb trail - Hertz Corp's plan to install in-car navigation system - Brief Article

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, Sept, 1999 by Lynn Woods

When you're driving an unfamiliar rental car in a strange city, the last thing you want to do is struggle to read a map at the same time.

In 35 U.S. and Canadian cities, Hertz will put you in the driver's seat with an in-car navigation system that never needs folding. Called NeverLost, the system lets you type an address into a small monitor mounted near the dashboard. A voice along with a visual display guides you to your destination, even telling you when to change lanes and make a turn.

NeverLost costs an extra $6 a day and will become available in more cities this fall when Hertz upgrades it with a multilingual system that's smarter and easier to use. Initially NeverLost will be installed in Lincoln Town Cars and Ford Tauruses, followed eventually by minivans and sport utility vehicles--50,000 vehicles in all.

NeverLost uses a small antenna on the back of the car to pick up global positioning satellite signals, which are transmitted to the monitor. If you miss a turn, the system automatically reroutes you, so it's virtually impossible to get lost. In addition to block-by-block routing in the nation's 50 major metropolitan areas, NeverLost maintains a database of banks, restaurants, hotels, malls, post offices and other attractions, making it easy to locate Baby the nearest ATM or find an interesting museum nearby.