The Only Open-Top Ford GT40 That Ever Raced Le Mans Is Going to Auction
This roadster, along with five GT40 coupes, failed to finish Le Mans in 1965. Fortunately, things went better in '66. The post The Only Open-Top Ford GT40 That Ever Raced Le Mans Is Going to Auction appeared first on The Drive.
The Ford GT40 Roadster is already a rare breed, and probably the rarest surviving example—the only one to compete in Le Mans—has hit the auction block.
The GT40 coupe is a familiar Ford in racing circles. The roadster? Not so much. Although purpose-built for racing, only five of the open-top GT40 variants were produced. Chassis GT/108 was the first Ford GT Prototype Competition Roadster and commanded a hammer price of $7.65 million during Monterey Car Week in 2019.
However, that vehicle was more a road car and was never raced in period. Being offered through Mecum Auctions is chassis GT/109, which went to then Los Angeles-based Shelby American to be prepped for racing. Specifically, the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The year prior, Ford entered three vehicles but doubled that number for its 1965 effort. Of the six cars entered, the GT Roadster was the lightest at just 2,350 pounds. The vehicle was driven by French racers Maurice Trintignant and Guy Ligier. Trintignant previously drove a Daytona Coupe for Shelby in the 1964 Tour de France, and Ligier would race in Formula 1 before transitioning to a constructor and team owner.
Unfortunately, Ford’s Le Mans history would repeat itself, and none of the Ford GTs that competed in ’65 finished the race. Of course, that luck would change the following year. As for this GT Roadster, it was returned to Shelby American to be rebuilt.
But Ford GT/109 never saw competitive racing again and was kept in storage, first at Shelby and later with Ford in a Detroit warehouse. Despite its one-and-done racing effort, the GT Roadster has a place in racing history, a distinction secured by chassis GT/109.
In its lifetime, GT/109 has had just three owners: Ford/Carroll Shelby, Hollywood stuntman/custom car builder Dean Jeffries, and Mecum Auctions founder Dana Mecum, who purchased the roadster from the Jeffries family following Dean’s death in 2013. Mecum then commissioned a restoration of the GT Roadster to its Le Mans configuration.
Chassis GT/109 is part of Lot R643 and listed as a main attraction in Mecum’s Indianapolis auction, which takes place next month.
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The post The Only Open-Top Ford GT40 That Ever Raced Le Mans Is Going to Auction appeared first on The Drive.
