A working man's supercar

[rshelby]

A working man's supercar
(Filed: 29/01/2005)

In 1966, this special Ford Mustang was a Hertz hire car. Such rent-a-racers represent one of the most bizarre aspects of Mustang history, and are still keenly sought, says Martin Buckley

Most people hiring a car in America in 1966 were content with an anonymous barge. A big wallowing sedan that would take them about their business comfortably but unremarkably. There was an alternative, however. As long as you were over 25 and had $17, you could pick a special Ford Mustang - the GT350H.

The H stood for Hertz, and the story of the fabled rent-a-racer is one of the most bizarre aspects of early Mustang history. The very idea of leasing 1,000 detuned production racers to Hertz as rental cars seems crazy - today it would be the equivalent of Vauxhall selling a fleet of detuned British Touring Car Championship Astras to Budget - but that was the deal Carroll Shelby swung in 1966.

The cars, mostly raven black with trademark gold stripes, provided a useful boost to the GT350's flagging sales and accounted for 40 per cent of Shelby American production that model year.

Hertz rented the cars from major American airports as an image-boosting exercise for the company rather than a money-making one.

Customers' alleged misuse of the cars is all part of the myth; stories of Hertz cars being raced at weekends, roll bars hastily removed and the bolt holes covered with carpet make good copy, but are unsubstantiated.

Other legends talk about cars being returned with the discernable outline of racing roundels on the doors, or donating an engine for a weekend's use in another GT350.

Whatever the truth, the Hertz cars were certainly the victims of some abuse or would at least suffer inept drivers. People had trouble with the car's racing brakes, which didn't do much stopping until they had some heat in them, unless you really stood on the pedal. Many Hertz cars suffered crunched noses until a modified master cylinder was fitted.

One of the identifying marks of a true GT350H is a sticker on the dash that says: "This vehicle is equipped with competition brakes and heavier than normal brake pedal pressures are required."

Another Hertz identifying feature is the steel bonnet rather than the glass-fibre panel fitted to regular GT350s. Not all the cars were black with Le Mans stripes: 200 were finished in Wimbledon white with only the GT350H livery on the sills. Some customers felt the stripes were too much of a "pull" for the law.

They didn't appreciate the noisy limited-slip differential, the stiff ride or the he-man Borg Warner T10 gearchange either, so most of the Hertz cars came with a beefed-up Ford C4 automatic transmission. Only about the first 100 cars were "stick-shift".

The GT350H pictured here, which belongs to 31-year-old railway worker Paul James, is probably the only example in the UK. "I've wanted a Hertz car ever since I found out about them," he says.

"I liked the colour scheme and the whole story that went with them." He saw this GT350H advertised about seven years ago but couldn't afford it. Then he saw it again at a car show and knew they had to be together.

"I just thought, if that ever comes up again I'm having it. Then two years later I saw it advertised at a dealership in Kent. I sold everything to get hold of it and still have to work every weekend, laying railway track, to pay for it. It's probably worth £40,000-£50,000.

There could be another one over here but I've not seen it."

When the Hertz lease deal came to an end Shelby sold off the ex-rental GT350Hs fairly cheaply. A few, like Paul's car, were given an updated 1967 model-year tail with the flipped-up boot lid and bigger lights. In the 1970s the Hertz cars were deemed fairly undesirable by collectors. It was only during the 1980s that values started to pick up. If only we'd known…

"They're a working man's supercar really but they're getting out of that league," says Paul. "A lot of very rich people are buying them and just storing them away and it's just whacking the prices up."

Another run of big-block 1967 GT500 cars were sold to Hertz but they have never enjoyed the cachet of the originals, although an appearance in the remake of Gone in 60 Seconds has recently boosted their appeal to collectors.

Both versions are vulnerable to being cloned. Luckily, the Shelby American World Registry is kept up to date and documents everything that's happened to the genuine cars; for buyers, it's like the Bible.

Paul is working so hard to pay for the GT350H that he's not had chance to do much with it. "I take it to shows but I don't get involved in concours. I'd rather drive it about and scare myself, put a silly grin on my face and then just park it up."

The car, mint in every respect, was in a Holly Valance pop video a couple of years ago and Jeremy Clarkson used it in his "Best Car Of All Time" piece on Top Gear, although thankfully nobody was allowed to do doughnuts in it.

"If you floor it, even just a little bit, it slides about," says Paul, "but it's a breeze to do 200 miles up a motorway. I'd prefer one with a stick-shift but the automatic is all part of the Hertz thing."

Paul is a true Shelby devotee. He even took the GT350H's glovebox lid out to a Shelby show at Nashville. "You queue up and Carroll Shelby will sign your glovebox lid for $50, with the money going to charity. He limits himself to 200 a day because of his bad wrist. Mind you, some people were giving him five or 10 to do and selling them for a profit on eBay."

• For more details about the Shelby American World Registry, visit the Shelby American Automobile Club website at www.saac.com.

© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2005.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/.../mfshell29.xml

[DeLa1Rob]

Love Hertz: Paul James's car is thought to be the only former hire Mustang in the UK

robin

[rare_ram]

I'd like to point out that Thrifty had Shelby Shadows in the 80s too.

[67GT500#2100]

Originally Posted by rare_ram

I'd like to point out that Thrifty had Shelby Shadows in the 80s too.

Did they have special color decals like the Mustang based GT350H's?

[DeLa1Rob]

Thirfty rented the Shelby CSX in 1988. All were white with blue CSX-T graphics.

robin

[rare_ram]

Only 1000 made.

[tesgt350]

In the article, it said: "It's probably worth £40,000-£50,000". How much is that in USD. I am assuming the artilce is old because Carroll now charges $200.00 to sign Car Parts and has been doing so for a few years now.
David.

[DeLa1Rob]

Roughly a pound sterling is the same as $2 US. So value stated is about $80,000 - $100,000.

robin

[Rickman]

Yea, I'll bet there was a run on them