We are extremely excited that reader Dean M has decided to list his 1966 Hertz Shelby GT350 as a Barn Finds Exclusive! We recently listed his Chrysler Town & Country Convertible and he was so happy with it, that he decided to list his Shelby too. It’s one of the 936 GT350s built for Hertz and could be one of the very few to ship with a 4 speed! It has 82k miles on the clock and is all original. Dean has it running, but hasn’t tried to drive yet. He is asking $89,000 for this Shelby, but is interested in hearing offers. If you have any questions or would like to make an offer, be sure to click here to email him!
From Dean – Feast your eyes on a real deal 1966 Shelby GT350H Hertz, black with gold stripes, a real California car in unmolested original condition and zero rust! This car has been with its owner since the early 70’s and only has a little over 82,000 miles. He bought it from the owner of Beverly Hills Mustang who is believed to have bought it directly from Beverly Hills Hertz. It comes with the original owners manual from Beverly Hills Mustang with the VIN on it. We have done nothing but dusted some of the cobwebs off it and pumped up the tires. The engine runs but we have not driven it.
We have tried to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this Shelby barn find was born a 4 speed but have not been able to do so as there are differing opinions on what Shelby VINs were factory 4 speeds. If it was changed from an automatic to a 4 speed it is undetectable on the firewall and the sheet metal under the drive train. We have had it on a lift and had an automotive expert verify that nothing has been altered in the shift lever area, engine compartment or surrounding sheet metal (we have photos if required) to accommodate an automatic. If someone did this in the first 5 or 6 years of its life they did an excellent job :).
We are all familiar with the Shelby GT350 legacy and many of us know that Hertz ordered 1,000 (936 were supplied) from Shelby American in Venice, CA in 1966 to supply young car enthusiasts a “Rent a Racer” on the weekends.
The only question is will you give it a tune-up and enjoy it at vintage races as is or are you compelled to do a rotisserie restoration and trailer her to the Concourse in your area?
Yes it has some flaws, but what an incredible find! Personally, I would leave the paint as is, find a new rear brake vent cover, do a full tune up, and just drive it. It would be nice to know for sure it if is one of the few cars that was delivered to Hertz with a 4 speed, but either way it’s going to be a blast to drive. Special thanks to Dean for listing with us! If you have a barn find that needs a new home, we hope you’ll give us the opportunity to help you find a good home for it. You can find out more about listing your car on Barns Find here!
Josh, this is entirely off the top of my head (1966 was a LONG time ago!) But I recall Hertz having a few manual-transmission Shelbys, for which they required would-be renters to prove skill with the third pedal and the shift lever. I think passing that test got you a membership card in the “Hertz-Shelby Sports Car Club” or some such nonsense.
Having just gotten my license that year and being decent with a manual gearbox — I learned to drive in a BT7 Healey — I bugged my father to rent one so I could take a crack at it. Perhaps wisely, he declined….
Anyway, someone who is deeper in Shelby history can tell us if my memory is correct.
James Garner drove a Hertz GT350 in one of my favorite movies, “Grand Prix”. If memory serves, his was a 4 speed as well. Being from Cal. could this be that car?
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YOBl4oY2UzE/T_CO_LVKACI/AAAAAAAB_v4/ySL7vXwoTes/s1600/gp27.JPG
I had forgotten about that!
Shows you how racing has changed: these days, Garner would have been under a contract that kept him from showing up in anything but one of Mr. Yamura’s cars….
Apparently, James Garners car was #6S611.( which was sold to some German fellows) Of the 1001 Hertz Mustangs, 85 were 4 speeds. Here’s another pic from the movie. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-To6lBEczHmI/T_COD__R-AI/AAAAAAAB_u8/-XF4aRo1xNs/s1600/gp7.JPG
This is a very fair price on an extremely rare car…if only my piggybank wasn’t empty
GLWS!
The Hertz cars in black & gold are the best looking of the Shelbys IMHO, and even tho this car is not perfect I think it’s a good buy at the asking price,
The big question is what to do about the original paint. I suppose you could try to clean it up but it would never be perfect. And if you repaint it it’s not a survivor anymore. Maybe just do the minimum like Josh says, and drive it. You can always decide what to do—if anything—later on.
A gentleman with whom I share a name with (no relation) has an interesting connection with the Hertz Shelby’s…
In his words “A guy comes up to me and says, ‘I want to drop off this hunk of junk here.’ He goes on to tell me Shelby had sent him the car, and wanted him to okay the car for Hertz to drive, and that he’d never buy the car. After I ask him about it, he tells me it’s because of the noise the car made going over the bumps.”
Bill Kolb Jr. was hand-picked by “Ol’ Shel” to sell Shelby’s in the northeast out of Gotham Ford. He already knew of the issue caused by a long bolt on the traction bars that prematurely bottomed. He had the bolts shortened over lunch solving the noise problem.
There is an interesting write up on Mr. Kolb on hemmings.com.
Did Bill Kolb also work with Larsen Ford from White Plains, N.Y.?
That’s the same guy. He has a Subaru dealership somewhere in Upstate NY now.
Now that I think about it I wonder if he could or would be willing to offer insite on the transmission question.
According to the registry, it was originally shipped with an automatic, not a 4spd. Dealer prep’d on 4/18/66 for delivery to Hertz who was invoiced $3,859.75. On 9/26/67 it shipped to Cutter Ford (N. Hollywood, CA) where it was purchased by Bob from Arcadia, CA, then Dr. Demorest. It is an orignal Black w/gold le mans stripe Hertz car.
Thanks for the info JD! It might not be the original transmission, but this is still a great machine. I think having the 4 speed is a major plus, even if it isn’t original, at least if you plan on driving it. The question is, what does it do to the value for collectors?
I never said it’s not a great machine, I am a big Shelby fan and own several. I’m just providing your seller with the correct information so that he can pass that along to any potential buyers since he claimed they could not ascertain whether it came orignally with an auto or manual trans. What I would be more interested in is if the block is VIN stamped and/or all other pertinent K code 289 parts are still on the engine (I notice the factory exhaust manis have been replaced with headers but the original damper is still on the crank). I don’t think the repalcement of the auto trans with a 4sp will affect the value and it makes it more fun to drive. Ultimately, it’s a candidate for restoration for most buyers but I’d clean it up and keep it in somewhat existing condition.
That is the optional real wood wheel(the stock wheel has plastic that looks like wood rim) for the ’66 GT-350. A ’67 wheel will not work correctly with the ’66 horn contacts that are with the turn signal switch.
JD;
Do you recall seeing those drilled holes on the K-code damper before? It also looks a little too wide, (like maybe a ’69 BOSS 302?). Just asking, no thumbs down please.
Guys like this are what I love about this site, and its editorial team. Thanks, JD!
JD,
Could you contact me, thanks.
eonms @ iCloud. com
I would clean it up and drive it. Original paint only exists once. I would much rather have this than a restored car.
The 4spd conversion and 67 steering wheel only help the value!
That is the optional real wood wheel(the stock wheel has plastic that looks like wood rim) for the ’66 GT-350. A ’67 wheel will not work correctly with the ’66 horn contacts that are with the turn signal switch.
i miss steering wheels without buttons.
Would be a great car for vintage road racing as is.
I went to high school in Sonoma county California, and a kid named John Bisho had one of these with a 4 speed. His dad bought it for him in about 1982. I would be curious to know if he still has that car
A fellow Air National Guardsman in NE Indiana had a 65 Shelby he wanted $9,000 for around 1988, I sure regret not getting a loan, he said it was original except for a purple metal flake paint job. I have a 65 Fastback project that I’m debating making a Shelby clone, probably won’t.
1966 Shelbys came with Tri-Y headers and dual exaust that exited out the rear instead of side exit like the 65 models.
If the transmission and steering wheel have already been replaced, it’s not a survivor, I would go ahead and restore it if I could afford it.
Are those the factory painted wheels or chrome magnums ?
Magnum wheels that haven’t been cleaned up.
89,000 grand in that condition. I think i’ll take a brand new one. Whey better everything.
This one will be worth more than you paid 10 years from now, the new one will be worth half of what you paid in the same amount of time.
In 10 years the 2017 GT350R ( which can easily be purchased for 89 grand) will sell for every cent of its purchase price in 10 years. In the meanwhile you experience one of the finest driving experiences money can buy, rather than having something that is collecting more dust.
It will be put on a spit and restored, as it should be.
Shelby-Hertz are incredible cars and I’m lucky enough to get to wrench on 2 of them, ones a manual trans and other is an auto.
There is just something about a “k” code 289!!
Reader Dean M (seller) sounds a lot like a dealer with all the “we” talk. Not that there is anything wrong with that. This is a tough call on whether to restore or drive. I suppose if I had that kind of money I’d have enough to restore it as well.
Jay Evans, I need to borrow that crystal ball of yours sometime so I can get a handle on where my collection is headed. Driving experience is subjective, what you think is cool may be not be interesting to another enthusiast. Personally, the new cars don’t do a thing for me, they wreek of what we used to call “bubble gum racers”. Ford, Chevy & Dodge all have done great jobs bringing back the muscle car but I prefer my rumble with a carb and the smell of race fuel. The original cars will never be replaced which is why their values continue to rise, the new ones, not so much and they can only hope to ride the wave created by the originals. This one doesn’t look like it sat around for the better part of it’s early life, it has the scars of use that a new one could just never pull off.
If Jay is right, the 2017 will be the first modern day production car to appreciate as used- since the Ford GT.
My guess is, not.
I would have to agree.
The same thing that happened to all the other modern day Shelby’s will most likely happen to the 2017 GT350R… a better one will come out and devalue all the older ones.
Good luck with that 2017 being worth as much in ten years as it cost today.
IMHO the seller is being very vague in dealing with the 4-speed versus automatic issue – something that will affect the value of the vehicle now & down the road. There is no reason for the statement “We have tried to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this Shelby barn find was born a 4 speed but have not been able to do so as there are differing opinions on what Shelby VINs were factory 4 speeds” as one quick check of the SAAC registry confirms the car was born an automatic (as JD has already pointed out). Not being negative on the car, more the representation of it.
after looking into, shady story all around
Rocco, Yes, the drilled holes on the damper are normal for a 289Hipo and this one looks correct as it’s much wider than the normal 289. The Boss 302 damper is a little wider and has a step towards the rear of it.
I forgot about the step(on the C9 BOSS), but I have several C3 and C5 dampers, plus many in the past, and I’ve never seen the holes. That’s why I asked. I know about the replacement C8 damper and it’s step.
Thanks for your reply.
I love this site for the memories it brings back when I was with Hertz in the 60s & 70s. We (management) had a car as part of our salary, but we were supposed to drive only “shop cars,” those with something wrong that would make them un-rentable. Like no cigarette lighter. A sequential turn signal light missing a bulb (oops!). The Shelby was my favorite, followed by the AMX, then the XR7-G. When my eldest daughter was overdue being born, I used to take the AMX and drive my (ex #1) back and forth on Hampton’s Mercury Blvd, trying to shake the baby loose. It took 2 weeks, but it worked. Total hospitalization cost to me for the baby was $7. To me back then,cars were just fun transportation. You guys see more than I’d ever see, know more than I’d ever know, but with boat engines being my working life for 60 years, I happily defer to your car knowledge!