Autoblog

As devout members of Our Lady of Blowers and Burnouts, most of us can sympathize with someone that rents the Shelby GT-H and then has to return the 'Stang to their local Hertz office. It must be a tough pill to swallow, but at the end of the day, what's the alternative?

For one weary soul in Arizona, the idea of leaving the keys with a pimple-faced teen at the rental counter and then catching a ride with his wife back to his moribund existence house was too much to bear. So he decided to keep the gold and black beauty – for six months.

[Source: StangNet.com via MustangBlog]

Click image to enlarge

Ford chose the Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach auction as the venue at which to reveal the Shelby GT-H Convertible to the public. The car was driven onstage while draped in a blue, Ford-emblazoned cover and surrounded by a team of Ford and/or Shelby employees (including Shelby Automobiles president, Amy Boylan) dressed in matching bowling shirts. Ford's Mark Fields, a Barrett-Jackson fixture the last couple of years, orchestrated the formal unveiling from the auctioneer's stand, which culminated with Carroll Shelby popping out of the car's passenger door and ambling up to the stand to join Fields and the other B-J dignitaries for the auction of the car.

As for the car itself, it's basically the mechanical twin of the GT-H coupe, with 319 willing horses ready to go under its bulging, pinned-down hood. Changes for the convertible, aside from the obvious folding top, include a rollbar and black-painted "Bullitt"-style wheels, as first seen on the black Shelby GT customer cars. Other features are carried over from the GT-H coupe, such as the the black-and-gold paint/stripe scheme, Hertz badging on the front fenders, horizontally-slatted aluminum grille, and an automatic transmission. As was the case with the closed-roof GT-H, only 500 will be built. The 499 rental units will be auctioned away after their stints at Hertz outlets come to an end.

Car #001 ultimately sold to collector Ron Pratte for $250,000, the proceeds of which will go to the Carroll Shelby Children's Foundation and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund (JDRF). As is his wont, Mark Fields paused the auction so that he could sweeten the pot and add extra goodies to drive up the car's sale price. These included a one-off Shelby GT-H Fender Stratocaster from the Fender Custom Shop (see it in the gallery), vehicle delivery at Shelby's Las Vegas facility, and the shirt off his back (literally). We're hoping Ford brings the droptop Rent-A-Racer to New York with the GT500KR next week so that we can get a good look at it in person.

Press release after the jump.

[Source: Ford, SPEED TV]

Shelby GT-H Convertible Concept from SEMA 2006

We told you earlier that a special-edition Mustang would be auctioned off this weekend at Barrett Jackson in Palm Beach. The guys and gals over at The Car Connection have gotten word that said machine will be the Shelby GT-H Convertible. As was the case with the GT-H coupes, there will only be 500 droptops made, and Barrett Jackson gets the honor of auctioning off number one. Proceeds will go to the Carroll Shelby Children's Foundation, and we're sure that the first GT-H 'vert will fetch some serious coin.

Of course, the open-air GT-H will sport the familiar black and gold hertz-only livery and be rented out to customers from selected outlets. We fully expect to see styling cues from last year's Shelby GT-H coupe carried over to the convertible, including the front end treatment and hood scoop. The convertible will make its public debut at the New York Auto Show, one year after its hardtop sibling rolled onstage at the very same venue. We'll be there, of course, and will have photos and video for you soon after it makes its grand entrance.

[Source: The Car Connection]

Three short sentences appeared late last night on the Automotive News website, which imply that Shelby is working up a convertible version of the Mustang for car rental firm, Hertz.

The only hard bit of information provided was that only 500 examples would be produced and will likely come out this summer. Although nothing was said about what lay beneath the hood, keep in mind that a GT-H convertible concept (above) was made for SEMA '06 and in terms of performance mods, it was bestowed with the exact same updates as the fixed-roof GT-H, which made 320 HP. If the rumors are true, we're guessing we'll see the GT-H droptop in April at the New York Auto Show. After all, that's where the GT-H coupe made its 2006 debut.

More information to follow, so watch this space.

[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req.]

An anonymous tipper has just informed us that Hertz will be auctioning off a large batch of its very exclusive rental car, the Shelby Mustang GT-H, to Ford dealers from Thursday, December 7th through December 21st. If we understand our source correctly, six auctions will occur around the country beginning in Manheim, PA, then moving to Hayward, CA; Denver, Colorado; Atlanta, Georgia; Fontanca, CA; and finally back to Manheim, PA. 113 models of the Shelby GT-H, all used as rental cars, will be auctioned off in total, with each auction getting 15 - 20 units to sell.

Dealers who score a GT-H have their choice of driving around in a very rare modern collectible, using the car as showroom eye candy at their dealerships, or even potentially selling the car at a price that will certainly be unreasonable. If you're a Mustang fan, however, and really want a GT-H, petition your local Ford dealer to attend one of these auctions and get you one at all costs.

You know the slogan and the TV commercials: "you can get 'it' on eBay." Well, damned if it isn't true, because a Newark, NJ car dealer has an '06 Shelby GT-H with just 4,000-odd miles on it listed at the online auction house. According to the item description, the car (VIN 1ZVFT82H365226495 / CSM No. O6H0037) was driven by a Hertz exec until Deluxe Auto Sales purchased the car at auction on November 16. When you consider that the GT-Hs are supposed to stay in service until they've got mileage in the teens on the odo, this sounds like a nice opportunity for some collector. It's even better if the car really was an executive machine as is claimed, because with the fleet cars, it's beyond likely that they will not have been treated with a whole lot of TLC.

As I write this (it's Friday night), there are 9 bids on the car, and it's up to $55,600. The reserve has not yet been met. It'll be interesting to see what it ultimately sells for (if it sells at all), given that the first car brought $250K. That was for a zero-mileage car that was never going to be touched by a Hertz customer, however. We're guessing that the final selling price of this particular GT-H will be a more accurate indicator of what the other cars will ultimately trade hands for. The auction expires at month's end, so we'll see soon enough. If you want to get in on the action, you can bid on the car here.

Thanks to Matt at MustangBlog for the heads-up!

[Source: eBay via MustangBlog.com]

Shelby Automobiles was on hand at SEMA to show off a suite of new appearance and performance add-ons that they'll be making available to Mustang owners in early 2007. Shelby is headquartered in Vegas, so their cars simply had to make a quick local run over to the show, where they appeared as part of American Racing's display (American Racing offers a line of Shelby wheels).

Sporting the instantly recognizable black & gold of Hertz Mustangs old and new, the GT-H convertible received all the performance and styling mods seen on the limited-edition coupe, plus a 14" brake upgrade, 20" American Racing "Shelby Razor" wheels, duct kits for the front and rear brakes, a billet insert for the lower fascia (which also fits the Mustang GT/CS), driving lights,sequential tail lights (cool!), a dash-mounted supplemental gauge cluster and a few more accessories that'll be sold through Shelby Autos and certified dealers starting next year.

We already loved the mean-looking GT-H coupe, and this is just as good. The Shelby Razor Wheels are particularly attractive, and are more distinctive than the now-common Bullits the limited-edition GT-H is shod with. It's also good for Shelby GT/GT-H owners in that they can further modify their cars and still keep the Shelby mystique intact, as these are all genuine Shelby parts and accessories.

Finally, the use of a convertible to do a GT-H concept has us wondering if that's exactly what's in store for the Hertz "Fun Collection" once the original 499 (remember the first one was auctioned) GT-H coupes are cycled out of rental outlets (and into collectors' garages). We wouldn't be surprised to see this happen, followed by the release of a Shelby GT convertible for the rest of us (something Ford dealers would probably like very much). Time will tell.

(Press release, additional photos after the jump)

[Source: Shelby Automobiles]

Monday's contribution to Autoblog from the online treasure trove that is Streetfire.net comes in the form of a civilian demonstration of the Shelby GT-H's burnout abilities. The 325-horse rental-only 'Stang certainly gets the job done, laying down an appropriately thick wall of smoke as the driver put on a show for his neighbors.

We know rental cars are subject to a fairly high level of abuse, and in the case of the GT-H, the car practically begs for it. It's likely that the people renting them are more than happy to oblige -- much to the chagrin of the cars' rear tires.

Of course, this video also illustrates why ordering a retail Shelby GT might be a better play than waiting to buy a former Hertz car -- collectability be damned. With a GT-H, you'll never know just how many people abused the car before you took possession of it. With a Shelby GT, at least you'll know that the only yahoo strapping in behind the wheel is the one looking back at you in the mirror.

[Source: Streetfire.net]

Ford is keeping the 83-year-old Caroll Shelby very busy according to The Detroit News, which is reporting that a third Shelby Mustang following the GT500 and GT-H will be released later this year. Ford announced the news to its dealers at a meeting in Vegas this week, but very few details are known. The official announcement will come in the next documentary webisode released on FordBoldMoves.com. Despite the lack of details, The Detroit News is guessing the new Shelby Mustang will be similar to the GT-H in terms of power and more affordable than the GT500. It's possible the newest Shelby is being produced as a response to enthusiasts who have been begging Ford to sell the rental-only GT-H to the public. We'll keep an eye on FordBoldMoves.com and let you know when the newest webisode hits the net.

[Source: The Detroit News]

The dice have been cast on the Shelby GT-H in Las Vegas where production of the limited edition Mustang has just begun at Shelby’s facility in the city of sin. The resurrected “Rent-A-Racer” will populate the planet to the tune of 500 copies that will be made available to rent through the Hertz Fun Collection at select airport locations nationwide later this year. With 325-hp on tap beneath the foot of any average Joe with a license, we think it might be a good idea to spring for the extra insurance on this rental.

[Source: Investors]