Replica of GT40 Used in ‘Ford v Ferrari’ Going to Auction
Have you seen the movie ‘Ford v Ferrari’ yet? The reviews are in, and as of writing, the movie currently holds a 92 percent rating on aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes. It even has people praising it as ‘oscar-worthy’ and well worth the price of admission.
Those who have seen the movie will likely be impressed watching the GT40 Mk II car that finally won the Le Mans for the Blue Oval. As the movie’s centerpiece, the car is sure to send a lot of deep-pocket individuals itching for one. If you are one of these individuals, then you’re in luck, because a car exactly like it is heading off to auction.
Mecum, considered as the world’s largest collector car auction, will be dropping the gavel on a GT40 Mk II replica used in the recently released racing movie starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon. The car will be auctioned at Mecum’s Florida venue some time in January 2020.
As one of the two replica cars built by Superformance, a California-based luxury racing replica maker, the copy car is an actual racecar driven by Christian Bale’s character during filming. It was also used in many of the movie’s promotional appearances and events.
Because of the amount of time that the replica spends in front of the camera, Superformance made sure that every detail of the original car was faithfully reproduced, including the right-hand drive setup and period-accurate accessories.
As an added incentive, the car has been signed by Charlie Agapiou, Ken Miles’ crew chief in the 1966 race, and the British driver’s real-life son Peter Miles, who is also portrayed in the film.
For those who are wondering why Ken Miles couldn’t sign the car himself, he died in car crash the same year, shortly after he won the 24-Hour Le Mans race for Ford.
Despite the vintage aesthetics, the Ford GT40 MKII copy actually packs a lot of modern components beneath the hood and undercarriage. For starters, it is powered by a custom Roush V8 engine that makes 600 hp and imbued with a performance fuel injection system plus the original’s intricate “bundle of snakes” exhaust. This engine is paired with a five-speed manual transmission and boasts an independent front suspension with Bilstein shock absorbers and H&R springs.
The car also comes with an anti-roll bar, something that’s missing in the original car, and an important safety feature that could have saved Miles’ life.
The car is expected to net somewhere between USD275,000 and USD325,000 (approx. PHP13.9 million and PHP 16.4 million).
