The Ford GT40 that competed in the important 1966 Le Mans race is up for grabs.
The 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans was pivotal in the history of motorsports, as Ford broke Ferrari's dominance of this prestigious French endurance race with a stunning 1-2-3 victory.
Determined to beat the Italians, who had failed several times in previous years, Ford developed the GT40 and entered several cars in the 1966 race with customer teams. The cars that contributed to the historic victory were a trio of GT40 Mk IIs, one of which was auctioned in 2018 and ultimately sold for $9.8 million.
And now another GT40 that raced, the Mk II, of which eight were also built, is to be auctioned. Chassis number P/1032 was entered by Holman Moody and driven by Mark Donohue and Paul Hawkins. However, they did not finish the race as they retired early due to mechanical problems. The highest finish was in 1966 at the 12 Hours of Sebring, where Donohue and Walt Hansgen took second place.
The car is now part of the collection of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, which has commissioned RM Sotheby's to sell a number of impressive cars to help defray the museum's maintenance costs. Others include a Ferrari 250 LM that won Le Mans in 1965 and a Mercedes-Benz W196 Grand Prix car driven by Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss.
After a relatively short racing career, the GT40 was donated to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in early 1968. At the time of donation, the car was finished in black with white stripes. The engine was non-running, and all other elements such as oil lines, fuel bag, and clutch were removed for static display only.
In the mid-2000s, the car was restored to its original Holman Moody livery from when it competed at Le Mans. The full restoration was then completed in 2011.
Like all Mk II GT40s, this car has a 7.0-liter V-8 mounted behind the cabin. For muscle car fans, that would be the 427 cubic-inch monster that was originally used to tear up NASCAR tracks while crammed into the fenders of a Ford Galaxie. One of these cars produced in the neighborhood of 485 hp, an impressive number for its time and not far behind many of today's racing cars.
RM Sotheby's will sell the GT40 at an auction in Miami on February 27-28. Current estimates range between $8 million and $11 million.
