By Dave Abrahams
Las Vegas, Nevada - this is probably the most desirable Shelby Mustang variant there is - and, although you might get the chance to drive one, you will never be to buy it.
Just 140 examples of the 2016 Shelby Mustang GT-H will be made, and none of them is for sale. The “H”, you see, stands for car-rental company Hertz - and these very special cars will only be available to hire from the Hertz offices at selected airports across the United States from the last weekend in May 2016.
The idea was born 50 years ago when Carroll Shelby and the Hertz marketing guys came up with idea of offering an exclusive muscle-car rental for executives who wanted to rev up their business trips.
Ford and Shelby put together a specially-tuned batch of 1966 GT350 Mustangs with exclusive Hertz livery and badging - and the 'Rent-a-Racer' programme was born. The special-edition GT350-H instantly became a cult car; the few genuine examples that survive now command ridiculous prices.
And the second-generation Shelby Mustang GT-H, unveiled at the 2006 New York motor show, is now almost as much of a collectors' prize.
So, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the first 'Rent-a-Racer' specials, Shelby American and Hertz have created a third exclusive limited edition of performance-modified Mustangs - because, just like their predecessors, these are more than just a badge and a fancy paint job.
HOOLIGAN TOOL
The five-litre V8 engine has a Ford Performance 'cat-back' exhaust system (by retaining the original headers and catalyser, the car remains street-legal) that speaks with noticeably more authority than the issue plumbing. Each car also has a track-focused handling pack that includes shorter, stiffer springs, uprated dampers, stiffer anti-roll bars, a wheel spacer kit and special 19 inch alloy rims wearing high-performance 255/40 front and 275/40 rear Michelins.
And if that sounds like a recipe for a hooligan tool - well, that's the idea. The GT-H is intended as a hard-core performance car that's great fun for a day or two but too harsh and uncomfortable for daily commuting - a car that you get a helluva kick out of driving but wouldn't want to own.
It looks the part too, with a special Shelby vented bonnet, carbon-fibre front splitter and rear spoiler. It's finished in signature Hertz black with gold 'Le Mans' double racing stripes (a Shelby tradition going back to when he and Roy Salvadori won the 24-Hour classic in 1959), rocker stripes incorporating “Shelby GT-H” lettering, at least a dozen special badges inside and out, and a numbered plaque.