The car destined for Hertz starts as a 300-hp Mustang GT, with the 4.6-liter V-8 engine and five-speed automatic transmission. The cars then travel to Shelby Automobiles in Las Vegas to get a Ford Racing Performance Group Power Pack that consists of a cold-air kit, a muffler kit, an X-pipe similar to the one used on the Shelby GT500, a performance calibration, and a cat-back performance exhaust for, says Ford, “the throaty sound that will make this car unmistakably a Shelby Mustang GT-H.”

It also has the Ford Racing Handling Pack that includes specially tuned shock absorbers inspired by the FR500C, 1.5-inch lowering springs, thicker anti-roll bars with urethane bushings and billet-aluminum links, a strut-tower brace, and a Ford Racing 3.55:1 rear-axle assembly for “extra off-the-line acceleration,” says Ford. We measured 0 to 60 mph in 5.3 seconds and the standing quarter-mile in 13.9 seconds at 103 mph with the traction control engaged. These numbers are almost as quick as those of the last manual GT we tested. The GT-H has Mustang GT brakes dressed up with painted calipers, which can be seen through the GT-H’s 17-inch aluminum wheels wearing P235/55ZR-17 performance rubber, as well as a body kit, a different grille, flimsy hood pins, and big gold tape stripes on black paint, which is the only color Hertz ordered. The GT gas cap has been replaced by the V-6’s cap, with the horse logo. The dashboard gets a plastic Shelby decal, signed by Carroll, but when the car is sold to the public, that plastic decal will be replaced by a metal plate, also signed and numbered. Buyers will get a whole wheelbarrow of Shelby stuff, including photos, a book, a trunk plaque signed by the build team, and a letter from Shelby himself.