Photo: Mecum
Last year, the Ford v Ferrari movie starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale took us back a few decades in time, to a period of intense turmoil for the American car industry. The film’s success prompted owners of items related to Ford, Shelby American, Ferrari or Le Mans to step forward and try selling whatever they owned for big bucks.
The frenzy caused by the movie has somewhat died down, considering how much time passed since it was released, but that doesn’t mean we’re done with seeing stuff from the period pop up on the open market. If anything, whatever we were subjected to until now pales in comparison with the car Mecum is going to sell in July in Indianapolis.
This is one of 12 GT prototypes built by Ford between January 1964 and April 1965, before the historic bout with Ferrari in France, and one of only two examples of the roadster variety to survive to this day. It is also the single GT Roadster to have competed at the Le Mans race, in 1965, with French drivers Maurice Trintignant and Guy Ligier behind the wheel, and Carroll Shelby in charge of their strategy.
The car (model no. GT/109) was assembled by Ford Advanced Vehicles in England and was to become a precursor for Ford’s incredible success at the race the following year. After its Le Mans entry, it was shipped back to Shelby for a post-race rebuild, then headed to Kar Kraft, where it served as a development platform for the company’s automatic transmission, Ford's Weber-carburetor Indy motor, and several other engine and brake configurations.
The vehicle then went into storage, where it was uncovered by custom car designer Dean Jeffries in 1968. The man was in the possession of the car until 2013, when it passed it over into the hands of Mecum.
Since the time it was used as a development platform, it got restored and it is now boasting the original Le Mans livery. Power comes from a HiPo 289 engine that is said to have been gifted by Shelby himself to Jeffries, complete with an experimental intake manifold.
Mecum does not give any estimate as to how much it expects to fetch for this rare piece of racing history.
This is one of 12 GT prototypes built by Ford between January 1964 and April 1965, before the historic bout with Ferrari in France, and one of only two examples of the roadster variety to survive to this day. It is also the single GT Roadster to have competed at the Le Mans race, in 1965, with French drivers Maurice Trintignant and Guy Ligier behind the wheel, and Carroll Shelby in charge of their strategy.
The car (model no. GT/109) was assembled by Ford Advanced Vehicles in England and was to become a precursor for Ford’s incredible success at the race the following year. After its Le Mans entry, it was shipped back to Shelby for a post-race rebuild, then headed to Kar Kraft, where it served as a development platform for the company’s automatic transmission, Ford's Weber-carburetor Indy motor, and several other engine and brake configurations.
The vehicle then went into storage, where it was uncovered by custom car designer Dean Jeffries in 1968. The man was in the possession of the car until 2013, when it passed it over into the hands of Mecum.
Since the time it was used as a development platform, it got restored and it is now boasting the original Le Mans livery. Power comes from a HiPo 289 engine that is said to have been gifted by Shelby himself to Jeffries, complete with an experimental intake manifold.
Mecum does not give any estimate as to how much it expects to fetch for this rare piece of racing history.
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