Whilst the Ford GT40 is today remembered as one of the greatest racing cars ever built, its greatest achievement being four consecutive Le Mans victories, the same cannot be said for the MK I’s reputation in the US in 1966. Having built 31 road going GT40 MK I’s to homologate the racing variant, Ford suffered immense difficulty in selling the road cars, mostly due to the US market not appreciating the road cars evolution, the MK II, winning Le Mans in 66’. This led to Ford dropping prices in order to sell the cars from the original asking price of around $16,000 to $8,000; one GT40 MK I Road Car reportedly sold for $3,000.
These road legal GT40’s were near identical to the racing counterpart, the biggest difference being the interior which was slightly tarted up with leather upholstery and sound proofing. Besides these changes, the road and track GT40’s were essentially the same, both featuring Ford’s huge 4.9 litre V8, cut-out doors, and around 500 horsepower. essentially, Ford placed a Le Mans spec racer in the hands of the general public. What more could you want?
Ford GT40 Gallery
Main image credit:
roadandtrack.com/
