Hertz and Shelby are working together again. To celebrate a partnership that spans more than half a century, the two companies have teamed up to create all-new Shelby GT-H rental Mustangs. One of them has 900 horsepower. It may not be a good idea.
Hertz and Shelby began working together in 1966 when 1,000 Mustang GT350s were sent to the rental company’s fleet. Finished in black with gold striping, the cars were later sold to the public as Shelby GT-H models. the Shelby GT-H came back with the Fifth generation Mustang in 2006. Only 500 coupes and 500 convertibles were made between 2006 and 2007. All had the 319 horsepower 4.6-liter V8.
Now, Hertz tenants will have a choice of two Shelby Mustang flavors. The “base” version will be the GT-H, pictured above, which has special paint and wheels, but is otherwise no different from a run-of-the-mill Mustang Fun Collection – pretty much a stock GT with a performance exhaust system.
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You don’t want that one, though. The one you want is the bonkers GT500-H. Hertz started with the 760 horsepower Shelby GT500 and replaced the factory Roots-type supercharger with a 3.8-liter Whipple unit. A larger throttle body, cold air intake and twin-pass intercoolers bring power to 900hp, a 140hp increase over a standard GT500. Aluminum wheels with performance tires, tinted glass, special badging and a carbon fiber hood make up the exterior changes. Nineteen of the GT500-Hs will have shadow black paint and six will be painted white. Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr said “Hertz and Shelby American have once again created driving magic.”
Except the magic could be tainted. Putting a special edition 900 horsepower muscle car in the hands of renters doesn’t seem like the best idea. At a time when Hertz is under meticulous examination for supposedly get hundreds of customers arrested on bogus stolen car charges, adding a high-powered, extremely limited-edition muscle car to the mix is certainly an odd choice. The Shelby/Hertz partnership is expected to last three years and the GT500-H will only be available at select airports.
