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Exhibit 31.1

                       OFFICER'S CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO
         SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002 (18 U.S.C. 1350)

I, James McNamara, certify that:

1.     I have reviewed this Quarterly Report of National Auto Credit, Inc.;

2.     Based on my knowledge, this Quarterly Report does not contain any untrue
       statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
       to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which
       such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period
       covered by this Quarterly Report;

3.     Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
       information included in this Quarterly Report, fairly present in all
       material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash
       flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this
       Quarterly Report;

4.     The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for
       establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
       defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant
       and have:

       (a)    Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
              disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
              supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
              registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known
              to us by others within those entities, particularly during the
              period in which this Quarterly Report is being prepared;

       (b)    Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
              controls and procedures and presented in this Quarterly Report our
              conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and
              procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report
              based on such evaluation; and

       (c)    Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal
              control over financial reporting that occurred during the
              registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth
              fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has
              materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect,
              the registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and

5.     The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based
       on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
       reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the
       registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
       functions):

       (a)    All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design
              or operation of internal control over financial reporting which
              are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability
              to record, process, summarize and report financial information;
              and

       (b)    Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
              other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
              internal control over financial reporting.

                                                    Date: September 10, 2004
                                                    By: /s/ James J. McNamara
                                                        ---------------------
                                                    James J. McNamara
                                                    Chief Executive Officer
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