Hertz announces Ford Mustang-based Hertz Penske GT rental car

There's nothing wrong with your basic cloth-interior rental cars, but there are times when you want to stumble off the plane and into something a bit more stimulating than a CVT-equipped Versa.

Fortunately, rental car companies seem to be willing to answer the enthusiast call. Last week we told you about the Hertz Dream Car lineup and its $1,500-per-day Ferraris, but the company has also developed the muscle-car oriented Adrenaline Collection.

The Adrenaline Collection ditches the exotics for homegrown horsepower, including Chevrolet Camaro SS coupes and convertibles, Corvette convertibles, the Dodge Challenger R/T and the Ford Mustang GT Premium.

Hertz

The range-topper, however, is the just-announced Hertz Penske GT. An off-track result of the Hertz/Penske Racing collaboration, the Hertz Penske GT starts out as a Ford Mustang GT, but gets a handful of interior and performance upgrades borrowed from across the Mustang lineup.

There are 3.55 gears, Recaro seats, a Boss 302 front splitter, a GT500 rear valance, quad-tip exhausts and a tuned 5.0-liter V8 along with a striking custom black/yellow racing stripe exterior appearance package. We've contacted Hertz about transmission availability but haven't heard back yet.

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If the thought of a hot yellow-on-black Hertz Mustang seems oddly familiar, fear not. The rental car company has employed the same formula a couple of times over the past half-century -- only the late Carroll Shelby has been responsible for the modifications up to this point.

The most famous -- or notorious -- of these hot Hertzes has to be the 1966 Hertz GT 350-H; as gearhead legend has it, the cars were often returned to rental lots absolutely thrashed after a weekend at the track.

Hertz revived that formula 40 years later, offering Shelby GT-H mustangs for rent in 2006 and 2007.

Though the old Shelby Mustangs were billed as “Rent-a-Racers” you're probably not going to want to thrash the Hertz Penske GT too hard. The $180/day rental fee only covers 100 miles, after which extra fees apply -- and you won't have to drive very far at something approaching top speed before you hit that limit. Besides, as with the exotics Hertz offers, you're not supposed to take the track-ready Hertz Penske GT racing. Bogus.

With those caveats in mind, know that you'll be able to rent the Hertz Penske GT from 15 airport locations later this year. Exact availability hasn't been announced, but other cars in the Adrenaline Collection can be had everywhere from Miami to Las Vegas to Salt Lake City to Los Angeles.

Head to hertz.com for more information.

By Graham Kozak