In the fall of 1965, Peyton Cramer, the general manager of Shelby American, came up with a crazy idea: Put these high-performance automobiles into the hands of rental-car customers. Cramer approached the Hertz Corporation with this idea, and they bought it.
There would be a few modifications from those Shelby models sold to the general public. A total of 1,001 GT350 H fastback coupes were produced, with the vast majority of those cars finished in Raven Black with unique gold GT stripes. Unlike Henry Ford’s alleged “any color they want as long as it’s black,” there were several color choices that ended up at the Shelby shops at Los Angeles International Airport.
Engine modifications took the Shelby editions up to 306 horsepower. The special hood and other Shelby touches were added, and then the cars were shipped off to select Ford dealers, where they were given a standard dealer preparation prior to delivery to a local Hertz Rent-A-Car location.
Hertz widely advertised the “Rent-A-Racer” program, and there are many tales of customers stepping up and paying premium rental rates so they could experience the thrill of a real high-performance automobile. Accordingly, it is known that some less-than-honest folks rented those cars and swapped the engines out with their own less-powerful Mustangs, which led to an end of the program, as many of the Hertz cars were returned with non-Shelby powerplants. To find a Hertz car with its original engine is of great value today.
This rare Corinthian White GT350, 6S1207, was shipped to Shelby American from the San Jose assembly plant in February 1966. After the basic Shelby touches had been applied, the car was sent to Hi-Performance Motors to have the AM radio installed on March 5, 1966. From there, the car was shipped to Brondes Motor Sales Inc., of Toledo, OH, where it was received a few days later. It was given a quick dealer prep and then delivered to the Hertz facility at the Toledo Express Airport in nearby Swanton, OH. The invoice to Hertz was $3,514 plus $104.56 for the special Magnum chrome wheels plus another $45.45 for the installation of the AM radio. The local dealer also added another $20 for the delivery fee and $75.25 freight costs for a total of $3,759.26.
According to our seller, the wife of the first and only private owner of this car, accounts match that of the Shelby Registry; our consignor was the first and only owner of this Shelby after it was retired from rental-car duties. Today the white fastback shows just 35,783 miles on the odometer.
It was the pride and joy of our consignor for over 50 years. He would choose to do a cosmetic restoration with a new coat of Corinthian White and a new application of the gold GT stripes some years ago. At the same time as the repaint, the front fascia was replaced with a competition-type fiberglass unit that gives the car a look similar to the “GT350 R” series cars built for racing. It is fitted with a set of Shelby alloy wheels with the signature “CS” center caps.
On the left fender apron is the original Shelby serial-number tag with a proper patina of age. As you sit in the driver’s seat, the dash-mounted Cobra-emblazoned 9,000-rpm tach grabs your attention with a full complement of factory gauges, plus an added oil-pressure gauge mounted below the dashboard. The original AM radio as installed by Hi-Performance Motors remains in its original location.
Sadly, the owner recently passed away and the family has decided to let another caretaker take on the responsibilities to cherish and preserve this unique car.
(Introductory description courtesy of Worldwide Auctioneers.)
