The failed merger in 1963 between Ford and Ferrari and the subsequent return to competition motorsport at the highest level by the American company is motoring lore. After their rejection by Ferrari, Lee Iacocca and Leo Bebee formed Ford Advanced Vehicles and went shopping for a Le Mans winner. Following their visit to Eric Broadley’s business in England, they knew they had the basis for a winning car for international long-distance road racing. The resultant car was unveiled in April 1964 and the inaugural race for a GT40 was at the Nürburgring 1000 Km in May of that year.
Variants of the GT40 continued to race through the end of 1969 with wins at Le Mans, Sebring, Daytona, Monza and Spa, making the GT40 one of the most successful road/competition cars ever built. Homologation rules prompted a number of road-going GT40s to be built, and S/N 1065 is such a version. Built to near the specifications of a racing model but detuned, it is fitted with a fully trimmed interior and is completely street-legal.
This GT40 was dispatched in December 1966 to the Ford Merchandising Department in Dearborn, Michigan. Starting in 1967 it was used as part of a promotional program to sell new Mk Is. The first owner was Charles Hill from Dallas, who we believe acquired the car in late 1967. The next owner was Andy Harmon from Mississippi, who reputedly only kept the car for a few months in 1969, during which time he repainted the car dark blue with yellow markings. In 1970 the car was sold to Nick Shrigley-Feigl, an English collector who elected to paint the car purple with a white stripe.
In the early 1980s Shrigley-Feigl decided to have the car restored, and this time he painted the car red with black and red trim. At the completion of this work in 1982, the car still had covered only 2,035 miles. By 1984 the car passed to specialist car dealer, William Loughran. In the mid-1980s the car went to Richard Allen and in January 1989 the new owner was Alan Baker. In 2000 this GT40 was sold back to the US with 2,707 miles. Recent work in the past year included returning the car to its original color scheme of Azure Blue with black upholstery.