The 1966 Hertz Shelby is one of the more interesting sidebars in American automotive history. That year, Shelby American built 999 high-performance GT350s as rental cars for Hertz, which made them available to members of its Hertz Sports Car Club. Most were painted in the Hertz corporate colors of black and gold, and all were refurbished and sold to the general public when their duty as rental cars was completed. As documented in the Shelby Registry, this 1966 Shelby GT350H Fastback, SFM6S821, was distributed to Hertz through Larsen Ford in White Plains, New York. As the story goes, according to the Newcombes, the original owner bought the car with 124 miles from Hub Ford in Tucker, Georgia. At just 17 years old, the young man had his father title and tag the car, in whose name it remained until he could afford the insurance on his own in the mid-‘70s. Some paperwork from the original owner and a photo collage are included. The Newcombes became the Shelbys third owner when they purchased it with 64,036 miles in 2002 in Sarasota, Florida. They brought the car back to the Atlanta area, where it had spent most of its life, and proceeded to take care of a little housekeeping, repairing a few dents and the rear tail light panel, as well as updating the radio and adding kick panel speakers. Al Moody Racing checked out the engine, swapping in a Holley carburetor and performing a general tune up. With 69,523 miles showing on the odometer, the Hertz Shelby is powered by a matching-numbers 289 CI High Performance Cobra engine and C4 Cruise-O-Matic transmission, and it rolls on original, chrome Magnum 500 wheels. The black bucket-seat interior includes Shelby’s competition seat belts, a dash-mounted 9,000 RPM tachometer and a wood-rim Cobra steering wheel, along with the Hertz-unique “competition brakes” warning sticker under the radio. Before his passing, Carroll Shelby added his famous signature on the glovebox door of this 1966 Shelby GT350H, and SFM6S821 comes with two set of keys. The parts removed, including the original glovebox door, sill plates, kick panels, radio, Mico master cylinder, Autolite 4-barrel 6CZ1 carburetor and more, will be included as well.
