The
“Rent-a-Racer” program provided by Shelby and Hertz was a promotional idea to
get the Shelby Mustang in the hands of car enthusiasts to really show off the
cars potential. It worked, almost too well!! The stories are still rampant
about cars being rented on Friday, having their engines used in personal race
cars, the Shelby’s themselves having full roll cages installed for the weekend
for racing, and people replacing the Hi-Po Shelby engine for a generic Ford 289
4 barrel and returning it to Hertz!!!
The story
of this rare red/gold stripe GT-350H begins in February
18, 1966
when it was shipped to The Marshall Motor Co. in Mayfield Heights Ohio for
dealer prep before being delivered to a Hertz location in Cleveland. Equipped,
as most Hertz spec cars were, 6S976 had the Shelby Hi-Po K-code 289 rated at
306hp with a 3 speed automatic transmission, “piggy back” Hertz brake booster,
Magnum style wheels with Hertz Sports Car Club center cap wrapped in Goodyear
Blue Streak tires. That is the same setup the car still shows today, including
the numbers matching Hi-Po engine. This is all due to it benefiting from an
easy life with few owners since being retired from rental duties.
Legendary Motorcar purchased this car a few
years ago from the second owner; it would be sold quickly to the cars third
owner and recently repurchased by Legendary Motorcar. The black interior
continues to show well with the dash mounted Shelby Tach, Shelby steering
wheel, Shelby lap belts and plexi glass rear quarter windows. 6S976 also comes fully
documented by the Shelby American Automobile Club VIN number verification,
letter from Shelby to Hertz Corp. Cleveland Ohio, shipping invoice, car
invoice, radio install invoice, copy of old title and is of course listed in
the Shelby World Registry on pages 457 and 513. It is said that roughly only 50
GT-350H’s were ever produced in this very rare red/gold stripe color
combination, making this an extremely rare example of an already much sought
after collector car. To find another no stories Hertz car with ownership
history such as this one, would prove even more difficult. An incredible car
for the Shelby collector seeking a unique and rare example of Shelby’s legendary GT-350 model.
