In 1965, Shelby American, Ford, and Hertz got together for a program called Rent-A-Racer. According to the agreement, Shelby American would build 1001 cars for Hertz. These cars are among the sickest Shelby modified cars. Hertz would rent those cars to the public to spread the word of Total Performance.
The Shelby GT350H was an excellent car for the gearheads. They could drive a race-ready sports car for a fraction of the cost of purchasing one and could go as hard as they pleased, or dared, because it was a rental car. While it wasn’t the smoothest experience for the companies involved, the program returned a hefty profit to all of them. Today, these special models are really sought-after, and quite frankly, one of the coolest Mustang models ever. So much so that Revology builds and sells replicas of GT350H. Still, there are some little details that could go missing. Let’s refresh the memories and look at 10 things everyone forgot about this rental racer.
10 Almost The Same As The 1966 GT350
GT350H was mechanically identical to the 1966 GT350. It used the same competition-grade brake, some with brake power booster, the same 289 Hi-PO V8 engine that produced 306 horsepower and a ton of torque. This gave the enthusiast a taste of what it’s like to drive the SCCA winning car.
But there was a downside to using competition parts for a car that was intended to be driven in stop and go city traffic. The brake pads were not effective when they were cold and some accidents occurred while cruising at lower speeds. There were several attempts to remedy this issue but none of the proposed solutions worked. Hertz bolted a gold-colored plaque that read “This vehicle is equipped with competition brakes. Heavier than normal brake pedal pressure may be required.” to give the renters a warning.
9 Only 85 Were Manuals
These cars were race-ready beasts that happened to be rental cars. Naturally, people expected that all of them would be manual transmission, but in truth only a small portion of the first batch of cars were 4-speed manuals while the rest used a 3-speed automatic transmission. The offered automatic was not that bad, even Carroll Shelby’s own car had the automatic and this transmission could launch the car 0-60 in about 7 seconds, instead of the 6.6 second time of the manual one.
The reason for the automatic transmission choice was simple. This car was a rental and not everyone could drive a stick shift. Also, most of the 4-speed manual cars were raced extensively and returned to Hertz with destroyed clutches, welded roll-bars and remnants of racing numbers on the doors.
8 Offered In Five Colors
While most of the Shelby GT350H cars wore the iconic black colors with gold Le Mans racing stripes, this wasn’t the only color they were produced. Hertz changed their mind quite a few times in production, so some very unique colored GT350H cars were rented to the public.
Additional colors were Sapphire Blue, Candy Apple Red, Ivy Green, and Wimbledon White. They were produced in very limited quantities and some even didn’t have the usual Le Mans striping, rocking just the side stripes and GT350H branding.
7 It Was A Good Deal
These cars were pretty good deals for all parties involved. Hertz bought the cars at retail price and didn’t pay extra money for the striping. Ford got paying test drivers, essentially free of charge, and the Shelby American got some very needed boost in publicity.
But the biggest winners were the gearheads. They get to drive one of the most powerful cars at the time for a low price of $17 a day, $70 a week and 17 cents per mile. These prices were almost identical to a normal car, GT350H was a performance car, so it was a very popular choice.
6 Helped Ford In Advertising
Ford Mustang wasn’t the performance car of today when it came out in 1964, often referred to as a “secretaries car.” But Ford wanted the Mustang to be a high-performance sports car and a race winner. They turned to Carroll Shelby to make this dream a reality, and Shelby delivered the 1965 Shelby Mustang GT350. It won races, championships, and gave the Mustang racing credentials. But the GT350 was more expensive than a regular Mustang. Naturally, not many people could afford one, so the Hertz deal was just what the doctor ordered.
The Shelby Mustang GT350H gave Ford some much-needed street reputation and carried Ford’s message of “Total Performance” to the masses. This way, people who otherwise couldn’t afford the car could drive it and spread the word to their family and friends, who could hopefully afford one.
5 Some Customers Took Full Advantage
Just because the Shelby Mustang GT350H was race-ready doesn’t mean that you get to race in them. Hertz wanted these cars to be used in city traffic and some high speed cruising. But some customers didn’t get the memo, and they were a frequent sighting at the local amateur races, drag strips and stoplight Grand Prix races.
It was pretty common to see the cars returned with roll bars and racing numbers, but there were some very creative but slightly illegal uses too. According to Carroll Shelby, some young gentlemen could be seen in the parking lots, changing their regular Mustang engine to the Shelby-tuned unit of GT350H. Sometimes for a quick boost in performance, sometimes a more permanent boost.
4 Hertz And Shelby Profited From The Rent-A-Racer
While all the parties got something out of the deal, Hertz was the biggest beneficiary. They resurrected their failing Sports Car Club, got publicity and free marketing. After the cars were getting a bit expensive to keep, they sold their full inventory to Shelby American. All in all, Hertz got almost a 1.25 million dollars of profit out of the program and that profit is in '60's dollars.
Shelby American bought the cars back and much to their delight, the cars were in better shape than they hoped for and average damage to the cars were approximately $100 each. They refurbished the cars and sent them to the dealerships.
3 Shelby GT350H Got Sold in Ford Dealerships
After the cars' rental lives were over, and they got refurbished by Shelby American, they were sent to the select Ford dealerships and sold for cheaper prices. This is done to maximize the profits and give the public a taste of Shelby performance.
Because they were old rental cars, the public reception was not good. The GT350H was seen as a second-class Shelby Mustang. This wasn’t always the case and the cars all passed inspections at Shelby American’s LAX headquarters. As it turned out, most of the cars had much easier lives than expected, but some owners reported some performance parts were missing, presumably taken out at the factory or the dealership.
2 One Of The Rarest Shelby Mustangs
Shelby Mustang GT350H cars are pretty rare. Only 1001 of them got built including the prototypes. While the collectors frowned upon them until late ‘80s, as they were originally rental cars, GT350Hs rarity changed their opinions, and today, they are some of the most sought-after Shelby Mustangs.
The cars started their lives as rental cars and most of them lived hard lives, so finding a fully original GT350H is next to impossible, and nowadays, they sell for a pretty penny. It’s not a car that comes up for auction very often, but when it does, they sell for north of $150.000.
1 Not the Only Shelby Rent-A-Racer
The 1966 Shelby Mustang GT350H Rent-A-Racer program was a commercial success but folded after a year. But it wasn’t the last time that we heard Shelby, Ford and Hertz working together to give the public some interesting high-performance cars to rent.
In 1970, Carroll Shelby and Ford ended their partnership, but Shelby returned home in 2002 as a consultant for the Ford GT project. In 2004, Ford and Shelby introduced the new Cobra concept car and in 2005, the new Shelby Mustang. Ford, Shelby, and Hertz revealed the new Mustang Shelby GT-H to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the '66 GT350H. Also, they collaborated once more in 2016 for the 50th anniversary.