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The beloved Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 has been a hit in the muscle car community since its debut in the 60s. The pony car is so popular that Hertz and Ford worked together to produce 1,000 special Shelby GT350-Hs in 1966. The beautiful muscle car usually came in black with two gold stripes—the perfect look for someone looking to rent an alter ego for the day.
These rentals were given the nickname “Rent-A-Racer,” as customers could rent the GT350-H, beat the hell out of them and return them with bald tires. After Hertz was done with the popular car, Shelby restored them and sold them to the public. (One unique thing about this program: The restored GT350-Hs didn’t have that “Please kill me now,” engine sound you normally associate with a used rental car.)
The Shelby GT350-H was powered by a 289 cubic-inch 4.7-liter paired with a three-speed automatic transmission (remember, it was a rental car—they had to make sure anyone could drive it). Still, you were renting a 271-horsepower, rear-wheel-drive muscle car for just $17 a day…in 1960s money.
If you were lucky, you were able to rent one of 59 Ivy Green Mustangs that Hertz had in its fleet. Although the exact number of green GT350-Hs left on the road today are unknown, we can confirm the one you see below is an original. Set to go up for auction this June at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, you can expect big bucks for it. Barrett-Jackson has auctioned off several GT350-Hs in the past, and they went for between $100,000 and $200,000.
