[sbauman2]

A really good article on the legends, myths and truth of the legendary Mustang; enjoy.

Legends of the GT350H: Fact, fiction, and Hertz’s “Rent-A-Racer”

To this day, people pass around wild stories of GT350H Mustangs that were rented and had roll bars tack-welded in for a day’s racing. But are they true?

www.hagerty.com

 

[1937Austin]

There's one myth or truth they failed to address. I've heard of instances where someone rented a GT350H and once they got home they pulled the engine and put in their more mundane Mustang 289, with all the exterior trimmings back into the 350H. Then put the newly acquired Shelby engine in their fairly stock Mustang.
Not sure how many times this might have happened, but that's the story I heard back then.

 

[sbauman2]

There's one myth or truth they failed to address. I've heard of instances where someone rented a GT350H and once they got home they pulled the engine and put in their more mundane Mustang 289, with all the exterior trimmings back into the 350H. Then put the newly acquired Shelby engine in their fairly stock Mustang.
Not sure how many times this might have happened, but that's the story I heard back then.

The article did touch on this subject, briefly.
Leo Levine’s The Dust and the Glory is undoubtedly one of the finest histories ever written about the Ford Motor Company in competition. In it we find a reference to another pervasive myth: that a Hertz rental GT350 had its engine removed and installed in a race car, in this case a Falcon being run in the 1967 Daytona 24 Hours. There weren’t many Falcons in that race, and decades after the incident occurred, the little Ford’s owner, the late Ray Heppenstall, was tracked down and queried about the incident. He stated that only the barest essence of the story was correct; yes, he did remove the engine from a GT350H and install it in his Falcon, but the Hertz car was, in fact, one that he purchased the year before after it was wrecked on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. A former rental GT350, yes, but not one in active service.

 

[mmhotrod]

A really good article on the legends, myths and truth of the legendary Mustang; enjoy.

Legends of the GT350H: Fact, fiction, and Hertz’s “Rent-A-Racer”

To this day, people pass around wild stories of GT350H Mustangs that were rented and had roll bars tack-welded in for a day’s racing. But are they true?

www.hagerty.com

That was very interesting and cool. What an era. Glad I grew up in that time frame.

 

[1937Austin]

The article did touch on this subject, briefly.
Leo Levine’s The Dust and the Glory is undoubtedly one of the finest histories ever written about the Ford Motor Company in competition. In it we find a reference to another pervasive myth: that a Hertz rental GT350 had its engine removed and installed in a race car, in this case a Falcon being run in the 1967 Daytona 24 Hours. There weren’t many Falcons in that race, and decades after the incident occurred, the little Ford’s owner, the late Ray Heppenstall, was tracked down and queried about the incident. He stated that only the barest essence of the story was correct; yes, he did remove the engine from a GT350H and install it in his Falcon, but the Hertz car was, in fact, one that he purchased the year before after it was wrecked on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. A former rental GT350, yes, but not one in active service.

Yeah, I saw that, but it wasn't quite the same as what I'd heard about guys swapping 350H engines with stock Mustang engines, and then returning the 350H to Hertz.

 

[sbauman2]

Yeah, I saw that, but it wasn't quite the same as what I'd heard about guys swapping 350H engines with stock Mustang engines, and then returning the 350H to Hertz.

I do know what you mean Vall. Those stories probably spread like wildfire. I'm thinking more urban legend than anything else. BUT!! Those were interesting times and guys were doing all kinds of crazy shit. I was living in SoCal at the time and I'm betting there were probably more of the Hertz Mustangs here than anywhere else and all I ever heard were the rumors. I never ran into anyone who had first hand knowledge of such a swap but I always thought "those dudes had brass balls" if true.