As we're sure you know, the GT40 was Ford's first model ever to win the challenging 24 Hours of Le Mans. It was born from the ambition of Henry Ford II to do one thing only: utterly destroy Enzo Ferrari's racers on the French track. And it did, four years in a row to be more precise, from 1964 to 1968.
The vehicle you can admire in the photo gallery and video below is one of the most important GT40s ever made. Chassis GT/104 is a prototype unit, the second oldest Ford GT40 in existence, having traveled to France to compete in the legendary race after just 50 miles of testing in 1964. Unfortunately, it retired at the beginning of the race after catching fire on the Mulsanne Straight.
During rebuild it had its 7.0-liter original engine swapped for a more punchy 4.7-liter V8 unit, which was mated to a Colotti four-speed manual gearbox. The prototype's best ever motorsport result was a third place at the 1965 Daytona Continental 2,000 Kilometers. After that endurance race, Ford displayed the vehicle all over the world at auto shows until 1971, when GT/104 was bought by a private collector.
This very car was auctioned by Mecum at a Houston sale for a whopping $7 million and you shouldn't be surprised to hear that. It was driven by great motorsport personalities like Phil Hill, Bruce McLaren, Bob Bondurant, Ken Miles, Jo Schlesser, Richie Ginther and Richard Attwood, it is the first GT40 to manage a podium finish and it's a special lightweight chassis factory team car thoroughly restored to its original specifications in 2010.
The Ford GT40 turned 50 this year, while its younger sibling, the GT, celebrates its 10th anniversary.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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This very car was auctioned by Mecum at a Houston sale for a whopping $7 million and you shouldn't be surprised to hear that. It was driven by great motorsport personalities like Phil Hill, Bruce McLaren, Bob Bondurant, Ken Miles, Jo Schlesser, Richie Ginther and Richard Attwood, it is the first GT40 to manage a podium finish and it's a special lightweight chassis factory team car thoroughly restored to its original specifications in 2010.
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