Ford GT40 featuring a body raced at Le Mans in 1966

1966 Ford GT40 by Colin Wood
Nov 14, 2024

In “One Piece at a Time,” Johnny Cash sings about assembling a Cadillac–one piece at a time–from parts taken off the assembly line over several years. The end product, however, ends up being a Frankenstein’s monster of a car, comprised of parts from multiple different models.



Well, this Ford GT40 is a bit like that Caddy, except all the parts came from roughly the same source and time period.

Starting with the body of the Essex Wire GT40 (GT40P1001) that competed at Le Mans in 1966–the oldest known surviving GT40 body–New Zealand-based restorer David Brown built a whole new car over nine years using as many authenticated original parts as possible.



These genuine original parts include the 289 Cleveland V8 from Scuderia Filipinetti’s 1967 Le Mans entry (GT40P1042), suspension from a GT40 first owned by driver Peter Sutcliffe (GT40P1009), original parachute material seats from Holman Moody’s 1966 Le Mans entry (GT40P1032) and even a period-correct fire extinguisher refilled with new propellent.

The GT40 is accompanied by an FIA Historic Technical Passport as well as extensive documentation of the build process that covers the souring and authentication of parts used. The listing also notes the Ford is street-legal and is titled as a 1966 model.



Find this 1966 Ford GT40 for sale from Classic Motorcars for $775,500.