1966 Ford GT40 MKII Coupe

By 1966 Carroll Shelby and Holman & Moody were deeply involved in the 'Ferrari-beater' project and it was all coming together rather nicely. The 7-liter Fords dominated the 24 Hours of LeMans, finishing 1-2-3 in what is likely the pinnacle of Ford's storied racing history. Henry Ford II's wrath for not being able to purchase the Ferrari marque was assuaged. In fact, GT40's went on to win LeMans four times in a row. Such is the enduring legacy of the GT40, that in 2005 Ford built the Ford GT - a modern-day interpretation of the original racer.

This car, chassis number 1032, is one of eight MK IIs. It was completed on November 5th of 1965 along with P/1031 by Ford Advanced Vehicles in Slough, England. It was then shipped to Shelby American in California where it was finished to MK II configuration; this includes the 427 'side oiler' engine with dual 4-barrel carburetors and a 4-speed transaxle. It was painted white with a black nose, and then raced by Walt Hansgen and Mark Donohue as the second of two Shelby American entries in the 12 Hours of Sebring 1966, finishing 2nd overall.

After returning to California, and following further testing and development, it was then painted bronze and entered in the 1966 24-Hours of LeMans as a Holman-Moody entry as car #4 driven by Paul Hawkins and Mark Donohue. During this race, Dan Gurney set a new LeMans lap record of 142.98 mph in another MK II.

Ford MKII entries would go on to perform a three-car clean sweep finish, leading almost 175 miles ahead of the nearest competitor. This was the first of four successive LeMans 24 Hour victories by Ford. This would include the first two with MK II cars of 7-liter power and the second two with 5-liter power in the same car.

Upon returning to the United States, this MK II was painted to look like the Le Mans winner and then displayed around the country by Ford Motor Company. Eventually put into storage, in 1970 Holman & Moody loaned it to the Indianapolis Speedway Museum. More recently, it has been restored by a dedicated group of volunteers from Michigan.