It was back in 1966 that Hertz first produced something really special, the Ford Mustang GT350H. Based on the Shelby-tuned Mustang GT350, Hertz signed a deal for 1000 cars for their fleet, with a plan that after their rental-car lives were finished, they would be returned to Ford, refurbished, and sold to the public as “GT350H” models. Most of these Hertz cars were black with gold LeMans stripes and rocker panel stripes, although a few were white with blue stripes. The first 85 Hertz cars were available with four-speed manual transmissions and Hertz advertised them as “Rent-a-Racer” cars. During rental, these cars were sometimes used as production class cars at SCCA events, and were rumoured to have been returned to Hertz with evidence of roll bars being welded in. Ford pushed another 800 models on Hertz with black paint, gold stripes and black interior, as well as automatic transmissions. Fast forward to 2006 and Hertz decided to mark the 40^th anniversary of this program with a new partnership with Shelby and the new 2006 Ford Mustang Shelby GT-H was born, a series of 500 of the latest V8-powered Mustangs, with a bit of extra power and a series of performance upgrades 9which were carefully checked when you took the car out and again to make sure they were still there when you returned it) available to rent from major airport locations, at a price which was not exorbitant given that you were getting a very special car. I managed to drive one, and loved it, despite the very low front splitter making it quite a challenge almost every time I turned off the main road. 500 examples of a mechanically similarly upgraded convertible version followed in 2007 and these cars stayed on fleet for a good while before they were sold off, some of them finding their way to the Hertz Netherlands fleet before private buyers could get their hands on one. Since then, with ample evidence showing that there are a significant number of rental car customers who are happy to pay a premium for something special, Hertz have produced a series of special performance cars every couple of years. Most have been based on the current Ford Mustang of the day, and Shelby was involved in most of these, though it was Penske racing who contributed to the 2013 car. There have also been a couple of special Corvettes, marking both the launch of the C7 generation and then Hertz’ own 100 year celebrations in 2017 were marked with a Hertz-yellow coloured car based on the ZO6 as well as a special liveried version of the previous C6 generation car, also painted yellow. Whilst there have been plenty of regular Camaro models on fleet over the years, there’s never been a special Camaro, though, until now.

In August 2019, Hertz announced a new partnership with Hendrick Motorsports, and that they would be releasing 224 custom Camaro models into their fleet at selected larger airport locations later in the year, including Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Nashville, Tennessee, and Charlotte, North Carolina, among others. That excited me, of course, as with both Los Angeles and Phoenix on the list, I thought it ought to be easy to secure one of these cars, though I did know from experience that when cars like this are first on fleet, they tend to go for big money and get booked up, so I figured I might have to be a bit patient. I saw the first couple of cars at the LAX location on my November 2019 trip and indeed ended up having a conversation with a fellow Brit who had rented one when he pulled into the legendary Newcombe’s Ranch up on the Angeles Crest Highway. He confirmed the car was a lot of fun, and it certainly sounded epic, so I resolved to try to secure one on my next planned trip in March 2020.

Of course, that trip never happened, as the global pandemic took hold, borders were closed and we all entered lockdown. In the ensuring months, I then started to see press articles about the parlous financial state of Hertz, with the company facing imminent bankruptcy. Reports suggested that they were off-loading cars as fast as they could given that demand had dwindled to negligible, with any high end indulgence rentals definitely off limits, I rather assumed that these cars would be sold, having barely seen service at all, and that I would not get the chance to buy one. When the US border finally did reopen in November 2021, I found out that there were indeed some of these cars still on fleet, though no-one really knew how many, and indeed in the first few days at Los Angeles I did not see one. But in Phoenix, a few days later, I spotted one parked up, and quickly ascertained that it was indeed available for rental, at an upgrade price which seemed pretty reasonable given what I was going to get. So I signed up quickly before anyone else had the same thoughts.

In fact, the original announcement spoke of 2 different Hendricks-Camaro cars, both of which would have a signature Hertz yellow-and-black paint scheme and plenty of features unique to these cars in particular, including custom wheels, interior badging and full performance upgrades outfitted by Hendrick Motorsports. More exciting of the pair was a 2020 Hertz-Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 which was to be fitted with a 6.2L V8 engine generating a roaring 750 bhp, with features including a larger Callaway Supercharger, custom Hertz wheels, custom Hertz lighted door sill plates, embroidered headrests with Hertz-sponsored Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron’s signature and the No. 24 team logo, Hertz fender badges; and a Hertz-Hendrick Motorsports plaque denoting the individual numbering of the 24 custom Camaros. I’m not sure what happened to these, whether they ever actually made the rental fleet or not, but it would seem that the other 200 cars certainly did come on fleet and have mostly stayed there for at least a couple of years. These came with a 480 bhp 6.2L V8 engine, and were based on the Camaro SS. The spec also includes 20-inch satin black wheels, a Performance Upgrade Package inclusive of a Chevrolet Cold Air Intake and Chevrolet Cat-back Dual Exhaust Upgrade System, a custom exterior graphics package, a strut tower bar with Hendrick Motorsports branding, custom Hertz lighted door sill plates, embroidered headrests with the No. 24 team logo and Byron’s signature, Hertz fender badges and a Hertz-Hendrick Motorsports plaque denoting the individual numbering of the 200 custom Camaros.

When GM resurrected the fabled Camaro with a production car, following seemingly years of teasers of concepts on the Auto Show circuit, in 2009, I was a huge fan. So much so that when Hertz did not have cars on fleet but Avis did, I shifted my loyalty for a week so I could get behind the wheel, and that bright yellow SS model really beguiled me. I declared it my favourite of the reborn muscle car trio of Mustang, Challenger and Camaro. An SS Convertible a couple years later was equally wonderful and even the V6 Coupe that I had some time after that had huge appeal. And then GM came up with a new model in 2016, slightly smaller than its predecessor, but looking not dissimilar until you studied it in detail and when I tried one of those, I was somewhat disappointed. Late in the day I realised that part of the problem was the 2.0 litre 4 cylinder engine, which whilst powerful, lacked charm and any sense of aural drama. And by this time, Dodge had fixed both the weak V6 engine and the low rent interior of the Challenger, meaning it shot to the top of my affection list. I’ve not been able to source the current SS, so I was really keen to find out what this car, based on the SS but with added sizzle would be like. The omens were pretty good when I got in it, and pressed the Start Engine button. Hertz’ Phoenix Sky Harbor location is in a muti-storey garage, that is pretty enclosed so good sound reverberate around here far better than any outdoor location and this V8 beast sounded phenomenal when I fired it up. It remained that way for the following 24 hours. The rumble of the V8 never leaves you, though it is a lot more muted once cruising at a steady speed than when you start the engine from cold. As I moved away from the parking stall, it was very clear that this is a car that has to be held back as you manoeuvre at low speed, and it is only a short journey from Hertz back to the hotel, with just the freeway on-ramp the chance to get a first taste of the acceleration. That was quite an appetiser for the following day. Of course, in traffic you have to be careful and out on the open road, you have to be careful as this car doe rather draw attention to itself wherever you go with that bold livery, and I was not really feeling like I wanted any form of conversation with the Arizona State Police Dept. Everything I could discern suggests that this car is brutally fast. The 10 speed automatic gearbox is well matched to the engine, with exceedingly rapid gearchanges that are far faster and smoother than any you would be likely to achieve with the paddles. The Camaro does settle down on the freeway and engine noise reduces, but there is a lot of rod noise, so this is not a quiet car and I think you would probably find it quite wearing on a long journey. I went down to Tucson in it, and the 100 miles or so down I10 was enough for my ears. That journey meant I covered a total of 270 miles in the day I had this Camaro and it consumed 10.7 gallons, which computes to 25.23 mpg US or 30.15 mpg imperial, which is better than I was expecting. Use more of that savage performance and I am sure these numbers would drop and by quite a lot.

A good sports car is not just about outright speed, of course, as it also needs to be fun to drive. And here the Camaro impresses with excellent steering which has plenty of feel and whilst not particularly light still makes the car manageable. The handling is also great, with the car feeling very secure on the twisties, with minimal body roll and plenty of grip. This car comes on massive, and no doubt costly replace, tyres. Those on the back are 305/30 ZR20 while the front ones are a little smaller at 265/35 ZR20. On smooth roads, the ride is OK, but it is very firm and can be quite punishing on ridged road surfaces, of which there are plenty in America. That plus the road noise could really militate against this being a pleasant car on a long journey. The brakes proved very powerful, with short stopping distances with relatively little pedal pressure. Visibility is generally pretty terrible. You get a rear view mirror that is actually a camera screen, which is still unusual and takes some getting used to, especially when there was a reflection across the middle of what you saw, which is what I experienced. The rear parking camera certainly helps when backing up, as you can’t see much thanks to the high waistline and small windows of the Camaro. You can’t judge the front, either and you do have to remember that this is low, though thankfully it is not impossibly so.

Although the basics of this car’s interior are standard Camaro, there are plenty of special touches to remind you that this is indeed not your regular production car. Most obvious, perhaps are the bright Hertz yellow door pulls, but look harder and there are lots of logos, and there is a commemorative plaque on the dash, telling me that this was car number 50 of the 200 produced. The Recaro seats also make the interior look and feel a bit special. These days, Chevrolet use plenty of leather on the dash of the Camaro and the quality of materials in general is somewhat better than it was when the first of the retro-Camaro models appeared in 2009, but it is still not really up to par, with plenty of hard plastics and some cheap feeling switches and with a lot of black and the small windows, it is a bit gloomy in here as well. The steering wheel is leather wrapped and is very chunky. It has a slightly flattened bottom, like so many cars these days. In the previous generation Camaro SS there were four dials mounted low in the centre console, but now everything is in the main cluster where you get a conventional speedometer and rev counter with a third dial between them which has a compass in it and two smaller vertically oriented dials for fuel level and water temperature. There is a rather nice head-up display to project a subset of that data into your direct line of sight. The twin column stalks looked familiar, as these are the current issue GM items and I’d seen them in the Traverse I had been driving the day before. Lights operate from a rotary dial on the dash to the left of the wheel. That wheel contains buttons for the cruise control, audio repeaters and to toggle through the trip computer functions. The centre of the dash contains the colour touch screen which operates GM’s latest infotainment systems, with only limited buttons below the unit, most inputs needing to be either touch or voice based. Included within this unit are Satellite XM radio and navigation. There is a Bose sound system. Below this unit are a row of buttons for the climate control system.

Almost inevitably, given the Camaro’s styling and stance, getting in and out requires a certain level of agility and there is a definite knack needed if you are to avoid banging your knees on the dashboard every time you do so. I got better at stopping this happening during the day, but had a few bruises to show for my day with the Camaro for a while after I handed it back! You get Recaro seats here, with the outers trimmed in leather and the central section in a rather pleasant micro-fibre. There is a decent range of electrical adjustment, so whilst you do sit very low, as you perhaps expect in a sports car you should be able to get comfortable, and there is a telescoping steering wheel which goes in/out and up/down to help further in getting the desired driving position. Once you’ve found that, there is a two position memory feature to allow you to store it. The seats themselves proved very comfortable, though they do have quite a wrap around design to them so the larger-framed may find that they are a bit of a tight fit.

Officially, the Camaro is a four seater, as the back seats are most definitely moulded for two, but in reality, you will need to think carefully about how often you would want to put anyone in here. Access is not easy, as the seat belt gets in the way, and the low roof means that you will need to duck as well as to bend yourself in two to clamber past the pushed forward seat backrest. And if getting in is hard, then getting is even more difficult. Once installed, there really is not much space. Even with the front seats set well forward, leg room is negligible and with the seats set well back, there really is none at all. Headroom is also on the limited side, so this is really a place for small children, or, better still, a bit of extra luggage space.  There are armrests moulded into the side panels and there is a small oddments tray in the rear part of the centre console.

There are three challenges with the boot. The opening is on the small side, and I know from previous bitter experience that this means that getting even a moderately sized suitcase in can be quite a challenge, with the added difficulty that the sill is high so you will have to lift any luggage up a long way. Assuming success in that regard, the boot itself is also not very big, being quite shallow, though it is reasonably long from front to back. There is a bit of extra space for odds and ends under the floor, but even so, there is considerably less space here than you will find in a Challenger and a little less than in a Mustang. Provision for bits and pieces in the cabin is reasonable, with a modest glovebox, some rather small pockets on the doors and a central armrest cubby.

The Hendricks Camaro is obviously a very special model, but there are plenty of regular Camaro cars to choose from as well, with the 2020 Chevrolet Camaro coming in eight trims: 1LS, 1LT, 2LT, 3LT, LT1, 1SS, 2SS, and ZL1. Each trim is offered as a two-door coupe, and all but the 1LS are available in a convertible body style. For the most part, every trim adds a few more features than the last, but the biggest difference is found under the bonnet. The 1LS has a 275 bhp turbocharged four-cylinder engine. The trio of LT trims are available with that four-cylinder engine or a 335 bhp V6. The SS and LT1 trims have a 455 bhp V8, while the ZL1 has a supercharged version of that V8 with 650 bhp. When the vehicle was new, each engine could be paired with either a manual or an automatic transmission. The coupe-only 1LS trim comes standard with a 7-inch touch screen, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Bluetooth, two USB ports, HD Radio, a six-speaker stereo, a rearview camera, remote keyless entry, remote start (automatic-equipped models only), automatic climate control, cloth upholstery, a power-adjustable driver’s seat, halogen headlights, a limited-slip differential, and 18-inch wheels.  The 1LT trim adds a power-adjustable front passenger seat and satellite radio. The 2LT trim gains leather upholstery, heated and ventilated front seats, and dual-zone automatic climate control. The 3LT trim adds an 8-inch touch screen, an upgraded stereo, a heated steering wheel, a head-up display, a rearview mirror with an integrated camera display, rear parking sensors, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, and forward collision warning. The LT1 trim shares its standard features with the 1LT trim, along with the addition of a V8 engine, upgraded front brakes, and 20-inch wheels. There are two versions of the SS. The 1SS trim adds LED headlights, a rear spoiler, upgraded rear brakes, and an 8-inch touch screen. The 2SS trim also gains the rest of the 2LT and 3LT features. Topf Dog is the ZL1, which features a supercharged V8 engine, high-performance Brembo brakes, an electronic limited-slip differential, an adaptive suspension (Magnetic Ride Control), racing-inspired Recaro front seats, and wireless device charging.

I was delighted to find this Hendricks Camaro on fleet and to be able to secure it for an affordable rental rate. And I did have a really fun day driving it around. The noise and that explosive acceleration alone deliver that to anyone with even a few fluid ounces of petrol in their blood. If that entry level Camaro had underwhelmed for being a bit insipid, then this one certainly corrected that feeling very convincingly. And if you were to go for a regular SS as opposed to this special version, I suspect you get almost the same experience without the attention-grabbing graphics. But there are things you will have to decide that you can live with. There’s less space in both the cabin and the boot of this car, compared to a Mustang, itself not exactly a roomy car, and way less than you get in a Challenger. The road noise could well be an issue as is the ride on some road surfaces, and the visibility is simply awful. If you can live with these, then maybe the Camaro SS is for you, but if you can’t, then the Mustang and the Challenger are both exciting car that you could live with more easily on a daily basis. Loyalty to one marque to the exclusion of the others is still a thing among many Americans, but if you look at the three cars objectively then I would have to say that for me, the Challenger remains my favourite. It’s not quite as nimble, but there’s more space in it, it’s much better finished and it is more comfortable. The Mustang straddles the two and is a good compromise. As enthusiasts, we should be delighted that cars like these still exist, as I fear that they won’t for much longer. Take advantage while you can – but choose carefully if you are going to more than just a short drive!