1966 Shelby GT350 H - Sports Car Market

Chassis Number: SFM6S1207

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.)

SCM Analysis

Vehicle:	1966 Shelby GT350 H
Years Produced:	1966
Number Produced:	1,001
SCM Valuation:	$210,000–$250,000
Chassis Number Location:	Tag in engine compartment
Engine Number Location:	Stamped on left side of engine block
Club Info:	Shelby American Automobile Club
Website:	www.saac.com
Alternatives:	1963–67 Chevrolet Corvette, 1967 Porsche 911S, 1966–68 Lamborghini 400GT
Investment Grade:	A

This car, Lot 623, sold for $120,400, including buyer’s premium, at Worldwide Auctioneers’ Auburn, IN, auction on August 31, 2024.

The Shelby GT350 had a great year racing in 1965, resulting in the SCCA B Production Championship. But as fast as these cars went around the track, they were equally slow in rolling off dealer showrooms.

Being somewhat impractical, with no back seat, loud side exhausts and a noisy Detroit Locker rear, they weren’t exactly the average family Mustang. Sales for the year were disappointing, with Shelby moving only about 500 units. Considering these numbers, there was no guarantee that there would even be a 1966-model-year GT350.

Shelby decided to offer more options for 1966 to move more cars. Buyers could choose colors other than Wimbledon White (blue, red, green and black), and a back seat was added. The side exhaust was replaced by rear exhausts. Most significantly, an automatic transmission was offered for the first time.

Rent a racer

But what really made Shelby’s 1966 model year a success was a deal struck with Hertz to supply the GT350 H for the Hertz Sports Car Club program. Almost half of Shelby’s 1966-model-year production thus went to the rental-car company. Over 90% of these cars were fitted with the automatic, as Hertz had legitimate concerns about their customers’ ability to drive cars with a manual transmission. When the rental cars accumulated too many miles, Shelby bought them back, refurbished them, and offered them for sale at a substantial discount through its dealer network.

Our subject car was one of the automatics. Following its time in the Hertz fleet, it was purchased by Joseph Wasche Jr. He modified the car a bit, as he wanted to make it his own. The front bumper and front valance were replaced with the R-style front apron, and a large oil cooler was mounted in front of the radiator. A Mustang emblem was riveted to the front grille and the original chrome Magnum wheels were replaced with 10-spoke mag wheels.

The radio antenna was relocated from the right front fender to the left rear fender. This was a modification sometimes done on 1965 GT350s with fiberglass hoods to reduce radio interference from the engine, but seldom is seen on a ’66. The rear bumper was painted to match the body color and the rear “G.T.350” emblem below the trunk lid was painted black.

The interior was also modified. Mr. Wasche added a roll bar, as one might find on a race car, and the oil-pressure gauge is missing, replaced with a ’68 Shelby snake emblem mounted in its place. There is also a 1968 GT350 emblem and a Mustang emblem that were mounted to the glovebox door. But all these modifications are easy enough to change in order to return the car to stock configuration.

A one-owner driver

As described by the auction company, the car presented as a condition 3+, making it a good driver-grade car. The car has no apparent rust issues, although its left rear quarter panel showed some signs of previous work.

There are, however, some discrepancies concerning the car’s story. I spoke with Howard Pardee, the Shelby Club registrar for the 1965–66 GT350, who told me that originally our subject car was shipped to Warren, MI, for dealer prep at Trudell Ford, prior to being delivered to Hertz in Detroit, MI. Toledo is only about an hour south, so perhaps nobody is wrong here, and some further research might yield a clarification.

There is also the issue of the color. Mustangs were painted Wimbledon White, not Corinthian White, which is a different Ford color that was used on some other cars and parts in the era.

The car was offered at no reserve by Worldwide, so there would be a new owner when the hammer fell. When it drove onto the block, bidding opened at $50,000. Within three minutes the bids reached $107,500 and the hammer fell. With the all-in price reaching $120,400 including buyer’s commission, this was a seeming bargain for a Shelby Mustang (even an automatic), especially considering it was a one-family-owned car since being offered for retail sale in 1967. Collector-grade examples regularly trade in the $200k–$275k range.

While this car would be a good candidate for a full restoration — especially at this price — the buyer is a well-known dealer. That tells us two things: We can be certain the car was well bought, and we haven’t seen the last of it.

The car is already listed as “coming soon” on the dealer’s website, though I expect a bit of effort will be expended in returning the car closer to its stock appearance. Combined with the shrewd purchase here, such detail work should reward such efforts. Mr. Wasche’s pride and joy will continue to provide years of enjoyment to a future owner. ♦

Evan Williams

Evan Williams is the production supervisor and digital content director for “What’s My Car Worth?”(www.whatsmycarworth.com) and has spent more than a decade producing automotive television programs.