Le Mans-winning Ford GT40 restoration is exhaustive, obsessive

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One of Ford's most iconic GT40 racecars is undergoing a comprehensive restoration in time for the 2016 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

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Le Mans-winning Ford GT40 restoration is exhaustive, obsessive originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 30 Mar 2016 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Seinfeld’s Porsches, ’61 Ferrari lead the way at Gooding Amelia Island sale

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Gooding & Company has an amazing collection of vehicles to auction at Amelia Island, including Jerry Seinfeld's Porsches, a Ferrari 250 GT California Spider, a Ford GT MK1 road car, and a beautiful Duesenberg.

Continue reading Seinfeld's Porsches, '61 Ferrari lead the way at Gooding Amelia Island sale

Seinfeld's Porsches, '61 Ferrari lead the way at Gooding Amelia Island sale originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 01 Mar 2016 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The List #0427: Drive retro Shelby racecars

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To celebrate Ford's return to endurance racing, we drive continuation cars of the Shelby Cobra MKIII, Daytona Coupe, and the GT40 MKII from Superformance.

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The List #0427: Drive retro Shelby racecars originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 04 Feb 2016 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bask in the glory of Superformance’s 50th Anniversary GT40

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Superformance celebrates the GT40's victory at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans with a limited run of exacting replicas of the Shelby-American team's GT40 MKIIs.

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Bask in the glory of Superformance's 50th Anniversary GT40 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 26 Jan 2016 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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1969 Ford GT40 Mk III found roaming the halls in Geneva

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There's a peculiar bit of history tucked away in the halls of the Geneva Show that we thought you'd be equally interested in seeing: a 1969 Ford GT40 Mk III.

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1969 Ford GT40 Mk III found roaming the halls in Geneva originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 03 Mar 2015 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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1969 Ford GT40 Mk III found roaming the halls in Geneva

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There's a peculiar bit of history tucked away in the halls of the Geneva Show that we thought you'd be equally interested in seeing: a 1969 Ford GT40 Mk III.

Continue reading 1969 Ford GT40 Mk III found roaming the halls in Geneva

1969 Ford GT40 Mk III found roaming the halls in Geneva originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 03 Mar 2015 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Exceptionally rare ’65 Ford GT40 Roadster prototype up for auction

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1965 Ford GT40 Roadster Prototype

Think of mid-engined supercars and your mind is bound to gravitate towards Europe, but the United States has been known to make a handful from time to time - exceptional vehicles from the likes of Vector, SSC, Mosler, Hennessey, and Saleen. But long before any of those came around, Ford famously became obsessed with beating Ferrari at its own game, leading to the development of the iconic GT40.

The story is well known, sending Ford to the checkered flag at Le Mans four times in a row in the late 1960s. Ford and Shelby also built over 100 for public consumption, but just four of them were roadsters. Of those only one remains in original condition, and now that exceedingly rare example going up for auction.

Consigned to RM Auctions for its mid-August sale during Pebble Beach weekend in Monterey, California, this 1965 model is the first GT40 Roadster built. It was used as a development and demonstration vehicle for Ford and Shelby. Carroll Shelby himself drove Henry Ford II in this very car during one of many test and demo events, this time held for Ford's board of directors in Los Angeles.

Serial number GT/108 has been shown at numerous prestigious events throughout the years, and has been part of the same owner's collection for over two decades now. RM won't say just how much it's expected to fetch at auction, but considering the big-buck lots it usually handles, the unique nature of this highly coveted vehicle, and the $7 million brought in for the last GT40 prototype we saw go up for auction, you can bet there'll be a lot of zeros in the final figure.

Continue reading Exceptionally rare '65 Ford GT40 Roadster prototype up for auction

Exceptionally rare '65 Ford GT40 Roadster prototype up for auction originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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eBay Find of the Day: Mk1 Ford GT40 with interesting history

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1969 Ford GT40 MK1

You might expect a rare Ford GT40 to cross the block at some sort of prestigious auto auction from RM or Gooding, not show up on eBay for over $2 million. However, that's exactly what we have here. The seller claims the car is a late-build Mk1 GT40 from 1969, and it's currently owned by the director of the Hublot watch company in Switzerland.

According to the listing, GT40 #P1108 started life as Mk1 car that was built from factory spares in 1969 and was first sold in 1971. However, the auction is somewhat confusing. According to an image in its gallery, the vehicle was actually built from one of the seven spare Mk3 tubs when production of the iconic racers ended.

This GT40 was never built as a racecar - it lived on the streets its whole life. After assembly finished, it was sent to Germany and was eventually registered for the road. The first owner kept the car until 2005 and sold it with 7,300 miles on the odometer. The current owner bought it in 2012.

Regardless of provenance, this beautiful GT40 packs a 289 cubic-inch (4.7-liter) Ford V8 with Weber downdraft carbs and a ZF five-speed transmission. The auction includes two sets of wheels and two seats, including the original, vented racing seat. According to the seller, the car is currently in Switzerland and is clear for import into the UK and Germany. Although, with enough paperwork you could likely ship it anywhere.

The auction sits at $2,250,000 with no bids and no reserve, and it's hard to imagine dropping that much dough based on a few pictures and an auction description. Still, it's almost a bargain compared to the GT40 prototype that sold for $7 million at auction in Texas recently.

eBay Find of the Day: Mk1 Ford GT40 with interesting history originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 03 May 2014 12:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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1964 Ford GT40 prototype sells for $7M

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1964 Ford GT40 Prototype

Seven-figure Ferraris are not horribly rare. Heck, an eight-figure Ferrari isn't a rare occurrence. Between modern masterpieces like the Enzo and more classic offerings, cracking the million-dollar mark isn't a particularly tall order for the cars from Maranello. For a Ford, though, it's a big deal.

Now, this is not just some rare Mustang. This is a GT40, the car that Henry Ford II commissioned to whip Enzo Ferrari around a track in France. As far as the Le Mans-winning racers go, they don't get much rarer than this one. Sold at the Mecum Auctions in Houston, this is one of the prototypes, meaning it's one of the very first GT40s ever built. That makes its $7 million winning a bid, a record for on-air coverage of the auction, a pretty darn impressive figure.

You can watch the auction below, but first, take a look back at our original story on this rare Blue Oval.

Continue reading 1964 Ford GT40 prototype sells for $7M

1964 Ford GT40 prototype sells for $7M originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 14 Apr 2014 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Reflecting on the Ford GT on its 10-year anniversary

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Ford GT

Ten years ago, during the bright-eyed enthusiasm of the early 2000s and before the collective automotive industry did its best Titanic impression, we had the Ford GT. An everyman's supercar like there'd never been (remember, this was before 638-horsepower Corvettes were a thing), the GT arrived with a supercharged, 5.4-liter V8 that produced 550 horsepower and graced this retro-styled rocket with an easy, sub-four-second sprint to 60 miles per hour.

Equal to the GT's performance were its looks. Inspired by the GT40 racers that dominated Le Mans and bested Ferrari in the 1960s, the sleek, low, almost-reptilian look of the GT was the absolute pinnacle of the retro styling that so defined the early 2000s.

Crank and Piston put together a video celebrating the ten-year-old GT, arguing that Ford is a bit too busy with the next-gen Mustang, which turns 50 next week, to do it themselves. In the short clip, there is gratuitous engine noise and supercharger whine, not to mention scenes of the white-on-red GT prowling the deserts and streets of Dubai. It's a bit short, but very nicely shot. Scroll down, have a look and be sure to turn up those speakers before getting started.

Continue reading Reflecting on the Ford GT on its 10-year anniversary

Reflecting on the Ford GT on its 10-year anniversary originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 10 Apr 2014 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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