2022 Ford Shelby Mustang GT500-H

Hertz will rent you a 900-plus-hp GT500, but should you do it?

- Scott Evans

Yes, you read that right. Hertz is going to rent a 900-plus-hp Mustang GT500 to just about anyone who can swing the rental fee. We took the first Hertz Ford Shelby Mustang GT500-H for a quick drive to find out whether that's a good idea.

There's at least precedent for this. Hertz and Shelby first teamed up in 1966 with the GT350-H, which was tuned up to 306 hp instead of 271 hp, a 13 percent increase. When you think about it that way, the 18-ish percent increase in power between a stock 2022 GT500 and a Hertz Shelby GT500-H seems fairly reasonable until you remember we're talking about more than 900 horsepower.

If we're honest, the GT500 didn't need more power, but that's kind of Shelby's thing. A massive 3.8-liter twin-screw Whipple supercharger with a commensurately upsized intercooler and heat exchanger brings the beef, though even Shelby doesn't know exactly how much power the car makes as of this writing. It's still working with Whipple to finalize the tune before the cars hit select rental lots later this summer. That's also why there's no torque number, but we ... imagine it will increase from the stock 625 lb-ft.

Contributing to the tune is a cat-back exhaust system developed by Shelby and Borla, and hardened axle half shafts prevent the extra power from breaking things. Shelby says it consulted with transmission manufacturer Tremec to make sure the dual-clutch gearbox could take the extra abuse.