If you’re an expert on the history of auto racing — or you paid careful attention during Ford v Ferrari — you might be familiar with some of this story already. The process by which Ford embarked on a string of wins at Le Mans in the 1960s wasn’t instantaneous, and the work of Carroll Shelby and numerous other designers went through several iterations before arriving at the iconic GT40.
One of the GT40’s predecessors is the GT/109 Competition Prototype Roadster — and a new article by Jonathon Ramsey at AutoBlog notes that one that raced at Le Mans in 1964 and 1965 will soon be available at auction. As the only convertible GT/109 to race at Le Mans during those years, it’s a car that can truly be said to be a part of racing history:
After its race career, Shelby American rebuilt the racer, then shipped it to Kar Kraft to be used as a development mule for a GT40 evolution called the J-Car, as well as Ford’s four-cam Indianapolis engine and Kar Kraft’s automatic transmission. When that testing concluded, GT/109 went back to Shelby for another rebuild before being parked in a Ford warehouse.
The GT/109 is being sold as part of Mecum’s Indy 2020 auction. The current bid is $400,000, and the bidding is predicted to reach somewhere between $7.5 and $10 million. There are few cars still in existence that have this one’s pedigree and history; that it’s a beautifully-designed vehicle doesn’t hurt, either.
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