Carrol Shelby was the man responsible for this race prepared version of the Ford Mustang. Intended for competition in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) championship, the rules dictated that the race version could have either engine or suspension/brake modifications over the road version. Shelby decided to modify the engine on the race cars, so the road going cars had extra stiff suspension and racing brakes as standard. Consequently they rode very harshly and until the brakes warmed up, they would hardly work at all! Introduced for the 1965 season, the car, known as the GT 350, was a big success, winning the group B production based championship.
In 1966, Shelby produced 1,000 GT 350's for the rental car firm Hertz, the cars being known as GT 350H's. These were probably some of the wildest rental cars ever available to the public and consequently had a high rental cost. Hertz expected them to be rented by respectable, wealthy business types, but what happened was that sports car and race enthusiasts saved their pennies to rent one of the hottest performing sports cars in America. Consequently most were given a good thrashing and some it was rumored were rented and raced (unbeknown to Hertz) then innocently returned with worn out tires and brakes!
Lane have been making Limited Editions of ERTL muscle cars for some time but now have started making their own models from scratch. This car is one of their first independent efforts and a fine one it is too. The interior is nicely detailed (including Carol Shelby's "signature" on the dashboard as on the real cars!), as is the impressive engine compartment. Even the underside of the car is accurately reproduced and both doors, the bonnet and the boot lid open. The boot (or trunk) has a spare tire, as well as a decal representing the carpeting on the floor (however it is quite wrinkled on mine!). The paint finish is excellent as well.
My only dislike is that the wheels on this model appear too small and weedy when compared to the real version of the car which is pictured on the box.
The model comes with a certificate of authenticity from Lane. The car is also available in black with gold stripes (which was the predominant colour of the Hertz cars) which does not come with the certificate.
Lane apparently could not agree a reasonable licensing deal with Hertz, so as a consequence, "Hertz" is not mentioned anywhere on the box or promotional material. Instead they are referred to as a "major rental company".
