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In a couple of weeks, this rare 1966 Shelby GT350 will cross an auction block after spending 26 years ensconsed by junk in a shed behind a Kansas apartment complex. Here's how the state of Texas liberated it. More »
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After picking up a Hertz Chevy Volt, we found the Big Apple's electric-car infrastructure is still woefully inadequate, and rife with confused parking-lot attendants. Thankfully, the Volt's got a backup engine. With the Nissan Leaf we'd have been screwed. More »
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Thanks to a tip from reader Cody, we've seen our second Limited Edition Hertz Corvette ZHZ crash, this one in Utah, where the driver crashed over a brutal-looking rock wall. Details and more photos below. More »
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In yet another reason to visit Italy, Hertz announced yesterday a partnership with Lotus Cars to provide the Lotus Elise and Exige for rental. We are British Racing Green with envy. More »
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Only 500 2007 Shelby GT-H Convertibles were made for Hertz's Rent-a-Racer fleet, but if you want one, 25 of them will be for sale at next week's Kruse auction in Monterey. True, you could probably build your own by bolting on a few parts to a standard GT Mustang Convertible, but if you're convinced a GT-H driven some of the hardest miles known to man by a series of cement-footed Ford fan-boy tourists will have some level of future "value," then by all means, head on over to the Auction. Sure, you'll have to pay $100 to get in the door plus a 10% commission on the car, but with so many of the yellow-and-black Mustangs under one roof, you may end up with a steal. (Hat tip to Buckster!) More »
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An out-of-control Hertz Corvette ZHZ crashed into a popular Dallas eatery yesterday, proving yet again the age-old axiom, "with great rental horsepower, comes greatly diminished responsibility." It's been what, at least a month now since the new special edition "Velocity Yellow" 'vette with a black hood and roof stripe was added to Hertz's "Fun Collection" lineup? Yeah, we guess it's about time one was smashed up by some idiot vacationer hoping to play with some high horsepower. Looking back on it, considering the 436 HP 6.2-liter V8 under the hood tied to a flappy paddle gearbox, this thing was just begging for us to create a "Corvette ZHZ Crash Watch." Oh well, we guess we'll just have to wait for the next one — there's at least 499 more chances depending on whether Hertz can fix 'em. See you all back here next Tuesday then? More »
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Through the end of April, Chrysler had dropped fleet sales by 45,000 vehicles, a 17% decline from a year earlier, GM reduced its fleet sales by approximately 40,000 vehicles, a 14% drop and Ford posted a 9% decline in fleet sales, translating to 25,000 vehicles. Yes friends, Detroit automakers are avoiding the temptation to suckle at the teat of fleet sales, even in the face of significant sales drops. While the sales reductions will appear as another negative on an already battered sales report, fewer fleet sales — especially to daily rental fleets — should improve residual values for the "Detroit 3" in the long run. And we're all for the hometown folks taking a longer-term view of things for once — but the rental sales aren't the only part of the automakers non-retail strategy. More »
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Chevy's decided they need a Hertz Rent-A-Racer of their very own, except rather than something fun for draggin', they've decided to go anti-Ford and work with Hertz on something to go around corners as well. What they've come up with is this — the Corvette ZHZ. It's a special limited-edition, equipped with a 436 HP 6.2-liter V8 under the hood tied to a flappy paddle gearbox for the true Rent-a-Racer feel. The ZHZ gets 18-inch front and 19-inch rear chrome seven-spoke "performance" wheels and that exclusive yellow Hertz color with a center exterior black "go faster" stripe. Hertz will add 500 Corvette ZHZ models to its airport locations in 24 major metropolitan cities across 14 states and Washington, D.C. through June 16, 2008. Full press release under the jump.
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As you'll remember, Ford teamed with Hertz to create the Shelby GT-H weekend racer way back in 2006. And like all rental cars, they're going on sale. If you missed the first Shelby GT-H auction, you saved yourself approximately $200K by purchasing one of the Shelby GT-H convertibles for the relatively low price of $55K. Now we have word that approximately 75 to 100 of the limited edition Hertz Shelby GT-H Mustangs will be going on the block at the Kruse's 17th Annual Auburn Spring Motorfair at the end of May for what we suspect will be a slightly lower price (though not as cheap as stealing one). Full details below the jump. More »
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Proving there's nothing about the traveling experience that's enjoyable to anyone anymore, J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Rental Car Satisfaction Study has found that people have a worse experience renting cars this year compared to last. Based on a completely made-up scale, overall satisfaction dropped 17 points to 750 in 2007, from 767 in 2006 (which is high?). Enterprise tops the list at 777 on the 1,000-point scale, compared to 762 for Hertz and a low 731 for Dollar. The findings are below the jump: More »
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The Mustang crowd over at StangNet show us that crime stupidity still doesn't pay. Seems a StangNet member saw a Mustang GT-H in a neighbor's driveway for a while. As this neighbor was busy installing the usual mods like exhaust and intake, the car was thought to be a clone. Hertz and local authorities thought otherwise. The cops showed up and towed the genuine rental GT-H back to Hertz, and the rental car scofflaw off to the hoosegow. No word on who's going to fork over the near 30 large in back rental fees. – Mike Bumbeck More »
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America's number-two car company, Hertz, has announced that it will start offering hourly car rental service at three locations in Manhattan starting today. Hertz will be the first of the major rental companies to offer the service, charging as little as $12 in some cases. This is obviously a move to compete with companies such as Zipcar, which are already offering hourly rentals for people who just need a car to pick up groceries or take their cat to the vet. More »
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FoMoCo invited us down to Duke's Restaurant in Malibu to drive the Shelby GT500 Convertible, the Shelby GT and most righteously right-on of all, the Hertz Shelby GT-H along the beautiful Bo Stefan Eriksson/Mel Gibson/AC Schnitzer Memorial Highway. After a few minutes spent gawking at all four cars (they had both kinds of Shelby GT — the black and the white) parked against the backdrop of the Pacific Ocean, it occurred to us just how ludicrous it is that Ford is sitting on the pole in the race to be the first American manufacturer to go belly-up in a generation. More »
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Somehow, when we think of environmentally-friendly vehicles, the non-Hybrid Camry, the Ford Fusion and the Buick LaCrosse aren't the ones heating up our cerebrum. But apparently, the three midsize sedans are the cornerstone of Hertz' new Green Collection. Not that they're wholly inneficient cars, but it seems like a sop to people who want to pay extra to feel self-important. We're waiting until they start renting Teslas, frankly. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=198679&view=rss&microfeed=true For the first ever time caught on camera, the kids over at Streetfire have captured burnout footage of the new just-for-Hertz Shelby GT-H. Mmm...we love the smell of home-grown hoonage in the afternoon. Smells like...burning 18" Goodyears. [Hat tip to Autoblog] More »
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Our buddy Jon writes in regarding his experience renting a Shelby GT-H from Hertz. Sounds like there's some kind of approval process that may keep the hoi polloi — at least those who pose a flight risk — from hopping aboard the train to Shelbyville. Check it. More »
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Automotive News reports Ford will sell a version of the Shelby GT-H Mustang Rent-a-Racer at dealerships, confirming a longstanding rumor that's been exchanged among sauced journos since the rental was unveiled at the New York auto show last April. According to the paper, FoMoCo prez Mark Fields will outline the plan at this week's automotive management seminars in Traverse City, where GM's Rick Wagoner will announce the coming Camaro. The 325-hp horse will be a 2007 model, dubbed Shelby GT, available in white or black with silver stripes — unlike the gold-on-black livery of the Hertz cars — and will be finished at Carroll Shelby's Las Vegas shop, with volume in the few-thousand range, according to a source from Ford. The new model will be the subject of the next installment of Ford's "Bold Moves" documentary — playing itself, natch. Ford execs also told dealers the company was building production versions of its Fairlane and Lincoln MKS concepts in 2008. More »
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The kids who report the news from the lane over thar to port have more details on Hertz's reconstituted Rent-A-Racer program (and a bunch of pics snapped by photog Devin Comiskey outside Shelby's Vegas facility) . 300 bucks a day. Plus $50 a day in insurance. Hundred-mile limit. They will supposedly check for removed rollcages when the cars are returned. Let us reiterate. 350 smacks a day That's three dollars and fitty cent per mile. For a freaking Mustang. This is the dumbest thing ever. Anyone who rents one is a hoser. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=178512&view=rss&microfeed=true It's been 40 years since you could walk into a Hertz outlet and drive off in a Shelby Mustang, leaving a stretch of rubber across the lot. We always imagined some jet pilot and his gin-soaked, bouffant-wearing squeeze hopping into one of those GT350H fastbacks and roaring off to some shag-clad den with Esquivel on the hi-fi and ice melting in untouched highball glasses. Of course, a few decades later, we find it's actually a guy in his eighties, alone but for his cowboy hat. We weren't too far off. More »
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We should always be so lucky to get a mad hot rental when we travel. Sadly, we usually get the 2000 Plymouth Breeze POS edition. It wasn't always like this. When our papi was a lad, he had the opportunity to bust outta LaGuardia in a Shelby Hertz "Rent-A-Racer." Well dad, there's a new Mustang waitin' to be broken in at the rent-a-car lot. It's the Ford Shelby GT-H, and Hertz is again adding it to its "fun car selection." Check out the full press release after the break: More »
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A quick-thinking reader with a digicam at the ready caught some shots of what looks to be the Hertz Mustang — that's reportedly coming to the New York show next week — during a photo shoot at a Hertz lot in Las Vegas last week. According to AutoWeek, a show car, painted in the same black-and-gold livery of the Shelby GT350H rent-a-racers from 1966, will appear in NYC, though it's unclear whether Hertz will offer the model at its outlets. Seems that may be the case. More pics after the jump. More »
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Ford may have lost its dumping ground for excess capacity, but it'll gain $15 billion ($5.6 billion in cash) to stem losses and invest in technology. Federal anti-trust regulators have given Ford the go-ahead to sell Hertz to a private equity group including Clayton Dubilier & Rice, Carlyle Group (George H.W. Bush's boys) and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity. The sale involves the assumption of something like $9.4 billion in debt and the registrations of around a billion Tauruses. Next on the block: the Ford Motor Credit division. More »
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In addition to uncovering tasty tidbits about famed DC punk singer Ian MacKaye's mom yesterday, we also reported that the sale of Hertz could be worth up to $15 billion for the House that Henry Built. The truth is somewhat more underwhelming: the rental-car business went for a paltry 5.6 billlion in cash, just slightly more than a third of yesterday's apparently wild-ass prognostication. The winners? Clayton Dubilier & Rice, The Carlyle Group and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity; one of two investment consortiums reported to be interested in Hertz.Ford sells Hertz for $5.6 billion in cash deal [Detroit News]Related: Love Hertz: Ford Close to Deal For Rental Company Sale More »
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Sorry about the Nazareth reference there; we were reading a great interview with Ian MacKaye and his mom earlier, wherein he explains making her a tape of just that song 30 times over because she loves it so much. What a good punk rock son. In any event, as we reported last spring, Ford's preparing to sell off Hertz, a move which may net the automaker as much as $15 billion. More »
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