- RM Sotheby’s will sell a Ford GT40 Mk II on behalf of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum at its upcoming Miami auction
- The car raced in the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, where Ford famously triumphed over Ferrari
- The current estimate is between $8 million and $11 million
The 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans marked a pivotal point in motorsports history, as Ford broke Ferrari’s dominance in the prestigious French endurance race with a stunning 1-2-3 victory.
Determined to defeat the Italian marque after several failed attempts in the years prior, Ford developed the GT40 and, together with customer teams, entered multiple examples in the 1966 race. The cars driven to the historic win were a trio of GT40 Mk IIs, and one of those went up for auction in 2018, finally selling for $9.8 million.
Now another GT40 from the race, also a Mk II, of which eight were built, is coming up for auction. This one, bearing chassis number P/1032, was entered by Holman-Moody and driven by Mark Donohue and Paul Hawkins. It didn’t finish the race, though, as it retired early due to mechanical issues. Its best finish was at the 1966 12 Hours of Sebring, where it placed second, thanks to the efforts of Donohue and Walt Hansgen.
The car is currently part of the collection of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, which has consigned RM Sotheby’s to sell off a number of impressive vehicles to raise funds for the museum’s upkeep. Others include a Ferrari 250 LM that won the 1965 Le Mans race, plus a Mercedes-Benz W196 grand prix car raced by Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss.
1966 Ford GT40 Mk II bearing chassis no. P/1032 – Photo via RM Sotheby’s
After its 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. Its engine was also in a non-running condition, and other elements like oil lines, fuel bags, and a clutch were all removed, ensuring the car would remain available for static display only.
In the mid-2000s, a restoration was undertaken to return the car’s exterior to its original Holman-Moody livery as it raced at Le Mans. A full restoration was then completed in 2011.
Like all of the Mk II GT40s, the car packs a 7.0-liter V-8 behind the cabin. For muscle car fans, that would be the 427-cubic-inch monster originally used to rip apart NASCAR tracks while stuffed between the fenders of the Ford Galaxie. The output of one of these is somewhere in the neighborhood of 485 hp, which was an impressive number for the time and isn’t far off many race cars today.
RM Sotheby’s will sell the GT40 at its auction in Miami running from Feb. 27-28. The current estimate is between $8 million and $11 million.