Daryl Zelinski

Daryl Zelinski

Daryl Zelinski is an IACP-certified vehicle appraiser and the founder of Auto Praise, an independent automotive appraisal and inspection firm based in South Florida, founded in January 2024. He specializes in classic, collector, and historically significant automobiles, as well as vehicle appraisals for insurance, legal, and estate purposes. Daryl studied automotive repair technology for four years and worked professionally as an automotive technician for ten years. He has held ASE Master Technician certification for over 25 years. Over the past 24 years, he has worked as a field inspector, collaborating closely with repair facilities and dealerships while performing pre-purchase inspections, mechanical claim inspections for insurance and extended warranty companies, and vehicle inspections related to legal matters. In addition to mechanical inspections, Daryl has extensive experience as an independent field appraiser, writing collision damage estimates for auto insurance carriers. He is also a Florida-licensed insurance adjuster and an I-CAR Platinum Certified Auto Physical Damage Appraiser. His appraisal and inspection work emphasizes originality, documentation, condition assessment, and real-world market context, supported by firsthand, in-field vehicle evaluation.
  • Joined: October 24, 2025
  • Articles: 36

1966 Shelby GT350H Fastback

Front three-quarter view of a black and gold 1966 Shelby GT350H, the Hertz Rent-A-Racer, parked at Mecum Kissimmee 2026.

The 1966 Shelby GT350H occupies a rare and often misunderstood position in American automotive history. The groundbreaking Hertz ‘Rent-A-Racer’ program gave rise to the GT350H, an unprecedented collaboration between a major rental car company and Shelby American, one that placed genuine,…