The Hertz
Rental Car company’s famous “Rent a Racer” resulted in some incredible cars
being made available to the average public or car enthusiast, allowing many
people to experience a Shelby Mustang, even just for a day. Certainly this
helped sales, but it also increased awareness of the brand, and it also made
for some special cars.
Originally
shipped to Town & Country Ford in Charlotte North Carolina April
25th, 1969, it was purchased May 19th by Hertz Corp., and
put into service. The customers of the “Rent-a-Racer” program fortunate enough
to be handed the keys to this factory Grabber Blue GT-350 were not only
rewarded with excellent performance from the 351 engine and FMX automatic transmission with
Traction-lok rear end, but were also treated to a long list of factory options
including power steering, power front disc brakes, tilt-away deluxe steering
wheel, deluxe belts/warning lights, factory tach, and most notable factory Air
Conditioning. Following its term in the rent-a-racer program, this Shelby would benefit from what was clearly
a well cared for life. A complete restoration was performed and at that time it
was made apparent just how well this car has been maintained, as it shows
factory spot welds and pinch welds throughout the car.
All the body panels remain extremely solid, as
does the chassis and drive train components.
The car is complete with proper Shelby gauges, roll bar and shoulder
harnesses, correct toggle switches, Lucas fog lights and more.
Every step of the restoration was carefully
documented with a photo album showing the effort put forward to ensure the car
was returned exactly as it should. This special Hertz Shelby also comes
documented with a complete Marti report and is listed in the Shelby World
Registry page 1093 and 1187.
For the
1969 model year, only 152 GT-350’s were sent to Hertz, of that, a meager 10
were finished in desirable Grabber Blue, it has even been signed on the dash by
Carroll Shelby himself.
This GT-350
certainly has all the elements, quality, rarity and full documentation to make
it an extremely sought after collector car for years to come!!!!
