Shelby Mustang 1966 GT350H

Hertz rented these Shelby Mustangs by the day back in 1966, and this Candy Apple Red GT350H is proof the “Rent-a-Racer” program wasn’t just a black-and-gold gimmick. Under the hood sits a Shelby-modified Cobra 289 making 306 horsepower, numbers no rental car company had any business handing over to weekend customers. What started as a marketing experiment between Hertz and Carroll Shelby became one of the most legendary programs in muscle car history.

A very rare Candy Apple Red ’66 Shelby GT350H!!

A very rare Candy Apple Red ’66 Shelby GT350H!! is a fitting way to describe a car built for a business plan almost nobody expected to work: renting genuine race-bred Mustangs to weekend racers by the day. Hertz and Carroll Shelby dreamed up the GT350H in 1965, and what started as a marketing experiment turned into one of the most legendary color combinations in muscle car history, even if this particular Candy Apple Red example broke from the usual script. So how did a rental car company end up putting a 306-horsepower Cobra-built V8 into the hands of anyone with a valid license and a credit card?

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The Rent-a-Racer Experiment

Hertz ordered 1,000 GT350H models after Shelby American built two prototypes fitted with Hertz Sports Car Club-branded Magnum 500 wheels, and starting in early 1966 the cars began landing at select Hertz locations around the country, available to Hertz Sports Club members 25 and older for around $17 a day plus 17 cents a mile. Roughly 75 percent of the fleet wore Raven Black with gold LeMans stripes, but Hertz also offered Wimbledon White, Ivy Green, Sapphire Blue, and this car’s Candy Apple Red, which makes a red GT350H a genuine rarity within an already rare program.

A Program That Was Too Good to Last

Under the hood, every GT350H carried a Shelby-modified Cobra 289 rated at 306 horsepower and 329 lb-ft of torque, good enough for 0-60 in about 6.6 seconds, numbers that had zero business being available to rank-and-file rental customers. The program was, by Hertz’s own admission, a huge success with drivers, but high repair costs and thin profit margins eventually killed it, and Ford and Shelby bought the fleet back at a discount once the experiment ran its course.

Why the Red Ones Bring a Premium Today

Surviving GT350H cars, especially ones outside the common black-and-gold color combo, have become some of the most sought-after Shelby Mustangs on the market, proof that a marketing stunt from 1966 turned into one of the great what-were-they-thinking success stories in muscle car history.

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