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Shelby has been building limited edition Ford Mustang rental cars since 1966 with Hertz, but the Performance brand is partnering with another rental company, Sixt, to launch the latest addition to a range of powerful rental ponies: the Ford Shelby GT 2019 -S Mustang. (The "S", in case you're wondering, means "Sixt".)
Like the legendary GT350-H, the Shelby GT-S has outstanding performance. Under the hood is a 5.0-liter supercharged V8 developing more than 600 horsepower (compared to the standard V8 460 horsepower) thanks to a 10-speed automatic transmission. The model-specific Brembo front brakes feature front brakes, while the Shelby GT's improved suspension, wheels and tires help the GT-S get stuck on the road.
In addition to the special "Shelby GT-S" rocker band and the "Sixt Supercharged" logo, the exterior comes in two colors: black with orange or orange stripes with black stripes. These color choices are designed to match the colors of the rental company, which also reverberate inside the Mustang.
The GT-S will be incredibly rare. Shelby will only launch 21, including 20 for rental programs starting this summer in Los Angeles, Miami and Las Vegas. The 21st car will belong to Sixt USA CEO Sebastian Birkel.
"I sincerely hope that customers will be as enthusiastic as we are with this new addition, and we also hope that it will add the adrenaline needed to what we need to launch our portfolio," he said. Birkel at Roadshow during a Shelby media event Thursday.
The price of the rental has not been announced yet, but Birkel also told us that he did not expect a daily rate of over $ 200. At the same time, he is not even offering this number because of the mercurial nature of car rental pricing.
The first series of Shelby Mustangs aroused great emotion in the 1960s. Shelby built 1,000 Mustang GT350-H units to launch Hertz's Rent-a-Racer program. According to Hertz's official blog, the Rent-a-Racer initiative "has prompted more customers to rent at Hertz … while creating more potential buyers for [the] Shelby Mustang. "
Hertz adds that "the program was a huge success for its time, but finally ended when vehicle repair costs became too high," adding that "some tenants were taking the GT350-H to the racetrack for a weekend of amateur competition, leaving a lot to fix back. "
Yet, apparently, that was not enough to end the Shelby-Hertz partnership. Similar programs have come back to commemorate the 40th and 50th birthdays of the Rent-a-Racer program in 2006 and 2016, respectively.
Who knows? If this small-scale Shelby-Sixt program succeeds well, perhaps these 21 specials will mark the beginning of another glorious long-term relationship with commendable runners.
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