1964 Ford GT40 Prototype

Whoever won the battle to own this car spent an absolutely scandalous amount of money to do so, presumably because the car is so historically important

by Thor Thorson

In April of 1964 the Ford GT40 was unveiled to the automotive press, and the journalists and industry executives alike were awestruck by the innovative monocoque design and dashing good looks. Sadly for Ford, the GT cars would quickly fall out of favor as the beautiful cars were racking up DNFs at a blistering pace throughout 1964. With Shelby already on the payroll and his abilities in the spotlight, it was only natural that Ford would send him the third and fourth prototypes, S/N GT/103 and S/N GT/104, at the end of the 1964 season to prepare to race in 1965. Shelby and his mechanics’ approach to the Ford GT40 was genius. Instead of being wildly innovative when they needed reliability, they simplified things and went with components they knew would perform and last on the race track. First, they installed one of their reliable and potent Ford 289 race engines. Further improvements included scrapping the wire wheels for larger yet lighter ones made of...