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I photographed a '68 Hertz Shelby but that was a coupe

Discussion in '1965-1970 Shelby Mustang GT350 & GT500' started by bitzman, Mar 13, 2008.

  1. Mar 13, 2008 #1
    bitzman

    bitzman Well-Known Member

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    Now I am wondering about this statement from a website

    " in 1968, Hertz rent-a-car was back to doing business with Shelby, as there were 224 G.T. 350 units produced for Hertz, as well as 2 G.T. 500s and 1 G.T. 500 KR convertible offered to the public for rental, at a premium price."

    If this is true, that one off convertible must be pretty valuable. Is it in a museum somewhere? I wonder if some biggie Hertz executive ordered it?
     
    bitzman, Mar 13, 2008
    bitzman, Mar 13, 2008
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  2. Mar 13, 2008 #2
    shelby6t5

    shelby6t5 Well-Known Member

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    Everything I have ever read indicates that there were 227 to 250 GT350 units, and the 3 500's were for Company use only.

    Mike
     
    shelby6t5, Mar 13, 2008
    shelby6t5, Mar 13, 2008
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  3. Mar 13, 2008 #3
    TLEA

    TLEA Well-Known Member

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    It is valuable but more because its a KR vert (I know owner fairly well) It is restored and frequently @ shows.
     
    TLEA, Mar 13, 2008
    TLEA, Mar 13, 2008
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  4. Mar 13, 2008 #4
    TLEA

    TLEA Well-Known Member

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    I don't recall the # of the basic 350 rental units but they started out with one of each body style, 350 fastback/convertible and 500 fastback/convertible. The KR vert obviously came later. I'm sure Pete will chime in with more info.
    Tim
     
    TLEA, Mar 13, 2008
    TLEA, Mar 13, 2008
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  5. Mar 13, 2008 #5
    bitzman

    bitzman Well-Known Member

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    Does your friend with the '68 KR Hertz convertible know the history?

    Does your friend release the chassis number? Was the car actually rented a few times? Am i right that the first owner after its rental career was some biggie exec at Hertz , or maybe a Ford executive OK'd it hoping to buy it back from Hertz?
    I am from Detroit and when I lived there I was aware that certain auto executives would special order a car and a little tag would go on it that said
    show car" or something like that and extra care would be taken to put it together, not to mention special colors like the Corvettes that Bill Mitchell and Bunkie Knudsen ordered. I just read recently that Larry Shinoda owned a special Mustang built to his requirements. And Henry Ford II himself ordered a /64 1/2 or '65 Mustang with leather upholstery even though leather wasn't offered on the option list. As they say "When your name is on the building" you can do just about whatever you want.

    Even today automakers sometimes deviate from the norm for special reasons--in the 4038 unit run of the Ford GT ('05 & '06 combined) I am aware of one car, just one with a special paint job called Sonic Blue. The car was donated to an event called the Cattleman's Ball (though I wonder how many cattlemen are in Detroit?)
     
    bitzman, Mar 13, 2008
    bitzman, Mar 13, 2008
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  6. Mar 13, 2008 #6
    bitzman

    bitzman Well-Known Member

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    A guy named eskoufas lists two '68 GT500 Hertz's--both coupes

    His website is http://www.geocities.com/eskoufos/shelbyfaq.html
    Here is what he lists for 1968 models both Shelby and Shelby/Hertz:

    1968 GT350 Fastback 803
    1968 GT350H (Hertz) Fastback 224
    1968 GT350 Convertible 404
    1968 GT350 Coupe/Notchback (Trans Am) 1
    1968 GT500 Fastback 1044
    1968 GT500H (Hertz) Fastback 2
    1968 GT500 Convertible 402
    1968 GT500KR Fastback 1053
    1968 GT500KR Convertible 517

    He lists two fastbacks but no Hertz convertible. His website was updated
    03/13/2008 18:09:11 which would be today. Anybody got supporting evidence?
     
    bitzman, Mar 13, 2008
    bitzman, Mar 13, 2008
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  7. Mar 13, 2008 #7
    Bob Gaines

    Bob Gaines Well-Known Member

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    Re: A guy named eskoufas lists two '68 GT500 Hertz's--both coupes

    The Shelby registry shows 5 Trans Am Coupe Notchbacks
     
    Bob Gaines, Mar 13, 2008
    Bob Gaines, Mar 13, 2008
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  8. Mar 13, 2008 #8
    TLEA

    TLEA Well-Known Member

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    Re: Does your friend with the '68 KR Hertz convertible know the history?

    I know the car # but out of respect for the indidual I won't list it without his permission.
     
    TLEA, Mar 13, 2008
    TLEA, Mar 13, 2008
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  9. Mar 14, 2008 #9
    mherman2

    mherman2 Well-Known Member

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    mherman2, Mar 14, 2008
    mherman2, Mar 14, 2008
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  10. Mar 14, 2008 #10
    TLEA

    TLEA Well-Known Member

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    Thats the one.
     
    TLEA, Mar 14, 2008
    TLEA, Mar 14, 2008
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  11. Mar 14, 2008 #11
    bitzman

    bitzman Well-Known Member

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    I shoulda guessed the notchback figure was too low

    How could you go racing with one car. You have to have a backup.
    In fact at one Trans Am race, can't remember if it was '67 or '68, when Titus smashed the car pretty bad some Shelby mechanics went to town bought a new Mustang brought it back out and used the parts to make a new race car in less than 24 hours.

    I opened the Mustang Monthly site but all I saw was a GT500KR convertible but not a '68 Hertz GT500 so maybe I didn't explore the page enough.

    I did find on the web mention of a special one off yellow GT500 convertible in '68 but that doesn't seem like Hertz colors which I think first choice of Hertz would be black with gold stripes
     
    bitzman, Mar 14, 2008
    bitzman, Mar 14, 2008
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  12. Mar 14, 2008 #12
    TLEA

    TLEA Well-Known Member

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    The first four Hertz bought in 68 were gold but the majority of the 68 Hertz cars were not. The KR was not purchased with the intent of renting it.
     
    TLEA, Mar 14, 2008
    TLEA, Mar 14, 2008
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  13. Mar 14, 2008 #13
    Bob Gaines

    Bob Gaines Well-Known Member

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    Re: I shoulda guessed the notchback figure was too low

    There were a bunch of 67 Shelby TA coupes still running in 68 . The rules changed on how the cars could be built a whole lot in 68. The 68 and 69 cars were very similar in brakes and suspension wise. The 302 tunnelport engine was the precursor to the Boss 302. There were 5 68 Shelby TA cars . 68 was not a good year for the Shelby Team . Ford mandated that the team use engines built by Ford racing engineers and not Shelby's bunch. The engines failed one after another . Ford wouldn't let Shelby's mechanics fix the problems until it was too late. I have fun vintage racing when I can the #5 68 Shelby team car.
     
    Bob Gaines, Mar 14, 2008
    Bob Gaines, Mar 14, 2008
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  14. Mar 14, 2008 #14
    bitzman

    bitzman Well-Known Member

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    I heard that the Tunnel Port had no durability

    Despite the fact that Titus once did very well in a race at Daytona with the Tunnel Port, I heard they had no durability, and that for some strange reason engines were sent to Shelby missing parts like connecting rods, etc. which caused consternation when you take engines to a race that you think are race ready and find vital parts missing. I also heard it didn't have much torque and only worked well at high rpm.
    But wasn't the Boss 302 engine using some of the Tunnel Port parts, and so you could say Ford Engineering redeemed themselves with the Boss 302 engine if that fine engine came out of the disasterous Tunnel Port.

    I also heard one Mustang for the street was built with the Tunnel Port. I don't know if that car is known in collector circles, or what configuration the body was.

    Ford was so believing in the Tunnel Port at first they were going to have a Tunnel Port for the street with badges and everything. All that glee went away when the engines blew left and right at every race
     
    bitzman, Mar 14, 2008
    bitzman, Mar 14, 2008
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  15. Mar 14, 2008 #15
    Bob Gaines

    Bob Gaines Well-Known Member

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    Re: I heard that the Tunnel Port had no durability

    I know just enough to be dangerous on the 302 Tunnelport engine but one thing that seems to stand out is the similarities with the block. I don't run the tunnelport in my car because of the value. It sits on a stand . Jay Bittle runs a Tunnelport very successfully in his independent competition TA car. Jay is at the front of the pack in most events he runs. I think he has figured it out. I appears to me that it was a jealousy issue with having to have a all Ford factory built engine running in the cars instead of the Shelby team race prepping the engines. There has to be a story behind the story.
     
    Bob Gaines, Mar 14, 2008
    Bob Gaines, Mar 14, 2008
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  16. Mar 16, 2008 #16
    jmgford

    jmgford Member

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    There was a guy who had a car identical to that one here in Dubuque, Iowa back around 1978 or so. After college, he moved to the east coast somewhere to work for a major toy company. Would this owner's initials be H.C.?
     
    jmgford, Mar 16, 2008
    jmgford, Mar 16, 2008
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  17. Mar 16, 2008 #17
    Coralsnake

    Coralsnake Well-Known Member

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    He missed the GT350 Hertz convertible! Obviously, the author doesn't read thecoralsnake.com

    http://www.thecoralsnake.com/History5.HTML

    What was the question? The cars other than the GT350 fastbacks were never designated with the "H" to the best of my knowledge. This is how this stuff starts, then gets repeated over and over....what was the question?

    :wacko:
     
    Coralsnake, Mar 16, 2008
    Coralsnake, Mar 16, 2008
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  18. Mar 16, 2008 #18
    TLEA

    TLEA Well-Known Member

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    Nope.
     
    TLEA, Mar 16, 2008
    TLEA, Mar 16, 2008
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