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Road Test: 2006 Ford Shelby Mustang GT-H
Overall Review
By: Frank Filipponio
Photos by Drew Phillips
July 31, 2006

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So you’ve booked your flight, made your hotel reservation and planned your itinerary to maximize your exposure to as much of America’s wonderfully offbeat roadside attractions as you can squeeze into two weeks worth of R & R. Balls of lint, oversized cookery, mutated animals in formaldehyde, maybe a local cruise night along the way as well are what you’re looking for.

Some of this will be accessible via shuttles and buses, but to really pack everything in, you’ll need to rent a car. Sure there are entirely practical econoboxes, family-friendly vans and utes, and even some pimpin’ luxury rides available for any budget, but this is going to be a driving vacation for the most part, and we all know that getting there is supposed to be half the fun. Why not splurge and dip into the premium offerings from the major rental chains?

AAA offers discounts from Hertz so let’s start there. Hmmm, the Prestige Collection offers Audis, Jags and Lincolns, but those will just isolate you from the roads you want to discover. Let’s see what this Fun Collection is all about, shall we? How did the PT and HHR get in here? Charger/300/Magnum make more sense, but are too big for the two of you. Miata is heading in the right direction. 350Z looks just about right, but you’ve always been more of a patriot than your buddies and there’s still one more sports car on the list.

Resurrecting an iconic model from the glory days, Hertz is once again offering anybody over 25 the opportunity to rent one of 500 specially prepared Shelby GT-Hes that are exclusive to Hertz rental fleets, just like back in the ‘60s. Check that, 499 are still available. To get things kicked off, the first one delivered was put on the auction block to raise awareness and cash for charity. $250,000 closer to Heaven, one lucky soul can say he owns the only one in private hands. But why buy when you can rent, right? And for a mere $129 a day, you can live the dream too.

So that’s what we did. We ponied up (hardy har-har) the cash and took possession of one Shelby GT-H for the day. Be prepared if you decide to follow in our footsteps, as a few things will happen that don’t normally happen when you rent just about anything else. First of all you will be told that because this is a special vehicle, special staff will have to be summoned to deliver your car. This isn’t one of those, “your car is in spot #64, have-a-nice-day” rentals. A rental manager will have to assist you with delivery. We were lucky enough to get two managers! They walked us over to where ours was parked and I have to say, it was hot! Especially the front end. Ever the Bandit fan, black and gold cars have always held a special place in my heart.

Perhaps it was our lack of age or our bouncing around with anticipation, sweaty palms and fully-dilated pupils that encouraged them to take the delivery process very slowly. We did a thorough walkaround where they didn’t exactly look for dings and scratches, but rather pointed out all of the Shelby-specific badges and unique styling pieces that made this no ordinary Mustang. Making note of the presence of all of these visual cues, they made us quite aware of the fact that they would be scrutinizing those same details upon return of the vehicle.

Like a teacher telling his students on the first day of class that because dogs have a special taste for homework you should keep Fido away from the spiral notebook, they were on to our lame excuses before we could even think of them. Best part of this process was learning that Hertz was speaking from experience. Apparently the ‘60s version of this car would often be returned on a Monday morning with holes in the floorboards where roll cages had been mounted for some weekend racing. It was also not uncommon to lift the hood and find that some ingenious individual had removed the hopped-up Shelby powerplant and replaced it with a rather tamer version, thus explaining the tie downs in the engine bay of this new model. After several more excruciating minutes of this we were finally handed the keys.

Background

A little history lesson here, before we describe the drive. Forty years ago, Carroll Shelby and The Hertz Corporation came up with an ingenious plan to help get a batch of Shelby Mustangs into the hands of enthusiasts. Ford supplied the new Mustangs with V-8 engines and mostly automatic transmissions, Shelby added extra performance and style, and Hertz won over customers by giving them access to a "Rent- A-Racer." Surviving Shelby GT350H Mustangs are among the most sought-after pony cars in the world.

To connect to that magical past, Shelby, Ford’s Racing Performance Group and Hertz have again teamed up, and given the 2006 Ford Shelby GT-H the looks and performance push to live up to the legacy. "Like the original Hertz cars, the Ford Shelby GT-H will be fun to drive," said Carroll Shelby, CEO of Shelby Automobiles, Inc. "We started with a terrific Mustang and modified it with some Ford go-fast parts and gave it a distinct look for Shelby-style driving. Whoever gets the opportunity to rent one of these unique cars will get an experience of a lifetime."

Extra Sizzle

Like their predecessors, these Hertz ‘Stangs are instantly recognizable by their looks alone. First and foremost, each Shelby GT- H wears the black exterior paint and gold racing stripes that are a hallmark of Hertz’s vehicles dating all the way back to the 1920s.

Shelby’s traditional "Le Mans" dual stripes are combined with a set of rocker stickers that spell out "Shelby GT-H". Each car also wears a Hertz Edition emblem on the front fenders, and features Hertz Shelby GT-H sill plates and a numbered dash sticker with Carroll Shelby’s signature. The running horse grille and rear fuel filler cap are bespoke items as well.

To give a hint of the Mustang GT 4.6-liter 3V V-8 engine’s added capability, the Ford Shelby GT-H is fitted with a custom Shelby Performance hood with (scratch-inducing) pins, and a brushed aluminum grille with that running horse emblem. A unique front fascia with integrated lower grille, as well as a set of body side scoops – reminiscent of classic Shelby Mustangs is what really makes this Mustang look so strong. The brakes are even dressed up with painted calipers, which can be seen through the sadly stock GT’s 17-inch aluminum wheels wrapped in P235/55ZR17 performance rubber.

Extra Steak

Ford Racing Performance Group’s popular Power Pack (FR1) adds a genuine 25-horse kick to the already 300-strong corral under the hood of the regular Mustang GT. The package includes Ford Racing’s 90mm Cold Air kit, the Muffler Kit, a new X-pipe similar to the one used on the new Ford Shelby GT500 Mustang, a performance calibration and a cat-back performance exhaust for that throaty sound that makes this car unmistakably a Shelby Mustang GT-H. And indeed, the sound alone makes this car worth the price of admission. Regrettably, but understandably, the five-speed automatic transmission is used here, but only robs some of the fun from the extra 25 hp and10 lb.-ft. of torque.

To help this quicker pony around corners, the Ford Shelby GT-H also comes with the Ford Racing Handling Pack (FR3) installed, including special-tuned dampers inspired from the FR500C, lowering springs, sway bars and a strut tower brace – plus a Ford Racing 3.55:1 ratio rear axle assembly to help the auto with extra off-the-line acceleration.

"Any Mustang that traces its roots to a Shelby GT350H has to boast increased performance and handling over its factory stock configuration," said Cisco Codina, group vice president, Ford North America Marketing, Sales and Service. "Ford Racing’s involvement with niche performance Mustang builds like this Hertz project is a natural for us as well as for Hertz and Shelby."

Finally…

We let Hertz put us in the driver's seat. And we were smiling from the moment the exit ramp had us outside earshot of the managers. As if the accelerator pedal operated a valve in the exhaust, the second you dip into the throttle the low throbbing at idle turns into a cacophony of raging stallions. The car comes to life and rockets you forward with enough alacrity to make you think you are living in the glory days of the ‘60s muscle car wars, when horsepower, acceleration, loud engines, and wild graphics defined cool. This is truly what America still does best. But the thrills aren’t limited to straight roads anymore.

This beast offers handling that nothing from that bygone era could match. Although the posted limit within the airport is 25, we found that the hairpin turn at the end of the lot could easily be taken at double that speed. It’s not the smoothest ride in town, but it isn’t supposed to be. The point here is to take the basic formula of affordable fun and ratchet it up a few notches. Grip goes up at only a slight sacrifice to comfort. The only time you think you might be pushing too hard is when a bump coincides with a fast turn and the rear suspension says, “we’ll just jump over a couple of inches and see if the road’s a bit smoother over there.” Not very scary or twitchy or delicate, just something to keep filed away in the back of your brain.

Out of the confines of the airport, we quickly found an onramp and hammered the throttle. Fairly long ramp got us to nearly triple digits before merging. Once on the freeway, the sophistication of the newest Mustang platform started to show its worth. Low wind and road noise, and only minor squeaks and rattles. Only the dreaded Bott’s Dots reminded us of the relatively harsh slap you get on impacting sharp bumps. Toeing into the loud pedal again pushed those thoughts from my mind and reminded me why we were here in the first place.

Although the automatic transmission was at first reluctant to drop down a couple of gears, when it did, that gnarly exhaust note just took over and before we could say “cherry bombs,” we were nearing 120 and some fellow travelers impeding our further progress. Easy to think this could have gone 20 or 30 ticks higher up the speedo. But traffic kept us limited to slightly more sane speeds until our exit.

Back on surface streets we had a chance to test the strong brakes and lower-speed handling some more. Both were more than adequate, and brake and steering feel are so far ahead of many other American cars that only the dash, hood scoop, and sound reminded us that this wasn’t a BMW M3. OK, maybe that’s taking things a bit far. While it pains me to bring up the typical anti-American rhetoric that seems to permeate many car reviews, the truth is that some things simply haven’t changed enough since the ‘80s to make American cars feel like they are truly equal to Asian and European offerings.

The car feels a bit heavy and a bit cheap in areas. Nothing too drastic, just the usual mix of plastics and a general sense of somebody down at the design studio being asleep at the switch. Biggest complaints by far have to be the transmission’s reluctance to downshift, the always-on traction control that limits some of the smoky burnout fun you expect from this type of vehicle, and the fact that our contract limited mileage to 100 per day. As much as I’d have to say I probably wouldn’t buy one, I can’t imagine renting anything else. This is a lot of fun for a long weekend or even a few weeks interacting with Roadside America. If your travels happen to bring you to a local car gathering, you might even find you’re the star of the show.

There is so much that’s right about this car. It’s a nostalgic trip. It looks muscular and sounds like a Trans-Am racecar. It gives you everything you’d want in a modern pony car and even adds some sophistication and handling that weren’t part of the original package. It’s a vehicle that starts out as an affordable sporty car that offers tons of fun for the buck, and expands on that principle with a few grand worth of speed and style upgrades that only make it one of the performance bargains of the century.

Slightly over our allotment of miles and with an empty tank, we returned our Ford Shelby Mustang GT-H the next day approximately 180 bucks lighter in the wallet. The check-in process was similar to the pick up, but had the added element of half a dozen porters jockeying to be the one behind the wheel when it was taken off for a bath and feeding. A simple reminder that we had experienced the life of a rock star for a day. Lots of smiles, waves, thumbs up, that sort of thing, had us feeling a bit sad at having to leave it behind. But we could always cue up again and reserve another if we get too down. At less than 200 bucks a day, this is probably the cheapest pick-me-up you could have.