To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION at RM Sothebys' Amelia Island event, 6 - 7
March 2020.
Estimate:
$475,000 - $550,000
- Only 2.4 miles registered from new; one fastidious owner
- Retains original shipping labels and material; never received a
pre-delivery inspection
- One of only 343 Gulf-liveried Heritage Editions for 2006
- Includes full dossier of documentation and accessories,
including window stickers and certificate of authenticity
For its 100th birthday, Ford Motor Company could have simply thrown
a little celebration and slapped some commemorative special-edition
badges on its cars. To be sure, Ford did do all that. But it also
reimagined what was arguably its most legendary car. The original
GT40 was its Ferrari killer, a mid-engined endurance car the likes
of which Detroit had never seen before. The GT40's story is
legendary and especially relevant today, given the silver-screen
success of Ford v. Ferrari. Its peak moment would occur on 19 June
1967, when the three Ford GT40s rolled across the finish line in
formation at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Not only did the GT40 secure
the first Le Mans victory for an American automaker, it also paved
the way forward for Ford's motorsports division.
Thirty-five years later, Ford surprised the world at the 2002 North
American International Auto Show in Detroit with a modern take on
the GT shown in concept form. The bigger surprise came when Ford
announced that the GT would go into limited production beginning
with the 2005 model year. The GT was unlike any Ford before; even
though its Camilo Pardo-penned styling sampled the groundbreaking
GT40, it brought the car into the 21st century.
Power came from a version of Ford's 5.4-liter Modular V-8, which
featured a special aluminum block as well as dry-sump lubrication
and was force-fed by an Eaton 2300 Lysholm screw-type supercharger.
The engine itself was closely related to that used in the Mustang
SVT Cobra R, though its mid-mounted location in the GT was integral
to the supercar's impressive handling. Power output was 550
horsepower and 500 foot-pounds of torque shifted to the rear wheels
through a Ricardo six-speed manual transmission and a limited-slip
differential.
Contemporary reviewers hustled the car to 60 mph in just over three
seconds and noted a 205 mph top speed. The GT was roundly praised
for its tenacious handling, and it was also praised for its
relatively docile in-town demeanor. Clearly, the GT was no mere
badge job, though it had grown into a modern supercar with classic
proportions. Ford built just over 4,000 examples for only two
years, 2005 and 2006, all of which were crafted at a dedicated
section of the automaker's Wixom, Michigan, assembly plant. Toward
the end of production, Ford used the annual Concorso Italiano show
during Monterey Car Week to take the wraps off one last hurrah, a
version of the GT that honored the automaker's high-performance
past like no model before.
Certainly the most iconic livery on a Ford GT40 was that of chassis
number 1075, the Gulf Oil-sponsored Ford GT that won Le Mans in
1968 with Pedro Rodriquez and Lucien Bianchi behind the wheel. The
same scheme would be driven to victory a year later by Jacky Ickx,
who famously protested the traditional Le Mans start. Naturally, it
would serve as inspiration for the 2006 GT Heritage Edition. Just
343 were built for one year only, representing less than a tenth of
overall production.
The example offered here is undoubtedly the finest extant, as it
has been uniquely preserved by its fastidious original owner. As
such, he made a special request to leave the car entirely "as
delivered" from the factory. It was shipped via enclosed transport
to his climate-controlled facility, where the truck was backed up
to the door and the car was winched off the truck directly into the
building and pushed into position. Over the years, the car has been
serviced, including the oil changed, as well as started on a
regular basis. Open its distinctive race-style doors, and the
interior appears as though it just left the Wixom plant. The
original plastic still covers its seats, sills, and steering wheel,
and the original warning labels remain intact. Behind the
retro-style steering wheel sits a digital odometer which reads
merely 2.4 miles. Outside, production and transport stickers, as
well as the protective plastic, remain affixed to the windshield.
Even the factory shipping Styrofoam blocks are affixed to the
driver's door, and the front and rear hatch seals are still in
place.
This example was well optioned with lightweight forged BBS alloy
wheels, gray-painted Brembo brake calipers, and, of course, the
Heritage livery. This exceptional GT is offered with its original
books and two window stickers, as well as a certificate of
authenticity from Ford Motor Company, a set of uninstalled decals,
hardcover Ford GT book (unopened), original Bill of Sale, two keys
with fobs still in plastic, factory air compressor, car cover,
trickle charger, and tow hook.
With interest in the Ford GT story continuing to grow, the
opportunity to acquire what is quite possibly the lowest-mileage
Heritage Ford GT extant, in factory-delivered condition, is
unlikely to present itself again.To view this car and others
currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM website at
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/am20.
