Rare Shelby GT350H found in pensioner's garage

When clearing out a garage you'll likely come across the usual junk – an old bike or a cross trainer – but not a six-figure classic car. Imagine the surprise when Barn Finds reader Shawn S discovered a rare Shelby GT350H while emptying out a pensioners garage.

Hidden under rubbish and a thick layer of dust, this Mustang hasn't seen the light of day for 30 years. As Shawn began to remove this classic's urban camouflage, he soon realised that not only was it a Shelby pony car, but a Hertz Rent-A-Racer of which there's only believed to be about 1,000.

The car appears to have been in an accident at some point with things such as the driver's door not matching the rest of the bodywork. There aren't a lot of details out there on this garage find at the moment, but our best guess would be that the car was part way through being restored before it became an automotive shelving unit for dust.

The Cobra 289 cubic-inch V8 packing 306 horsepower and 329lb ft of torque remains under the bonnet, although it has been lightly modified. It would appear that whoever was fixing this Mustang up added a non-factory dual-quad carburettor.

The origin of these GT350H Mustangs dates back to the mid-1960s when Shelby and Hertz car rental teamed up for a genius bit of promotion. For just $17 a day people could rent these distinctive black and gold muscle cars and get a taste of what life with the V8 performance car was like.

This 'Rent-A-Racer' initiative proved popular with Hertz doing plenty of business and many renters going on to buy a Shelby. This unique marketing strategy was recreated in 2006 and 2016 with newer Shelby GT-H cars.

Today an original Shelby GT350H can be worth up to $150,000 due to their provenance and rarity. This well preserved example is a great discovery, one that we hope to will be restored to its former glory.