The Ford GT40 is the American car that beat Ferrari at its own game. Between 1966 and 1969 it won the Le Mans 24 Hours four years in a row, ending Ferrari's reign and settling a grudge that began when a business deal fell apart. Today an original GT40 is a multi-million-dollar blue chip, and the story behind it carried a Hollywood film.
Why did Ford build the GT40?
Ford built the GT40 to beat Ferrari after Enzo Ferrari walked away from selling his company. In 1963 Henry Ford II had agreed terms to buy Ferrari, only for Enzo to pull out late in the talks, and the insulted Ford responded by deciding to defeat Ferrari where it mattered most, at Le Mans.
Ford could not do it alone. The company drew on the British firm Lola for the mid-engined design and handed the racing programme to Carroll Shelby, the Texan who had already won Le Mans as a driver. That mix of American money, British chassis knowledge and Shelby's team turned a raw idea into a winner within three years.
Why is it called the GT40?
The name comes from its height: the GT40 stands just 40 inches tall at the roof. It was a grand touring racer built low to the ground for speed and stability, and the number simply recorded how little of it there was above the road.
How many times did the Ford GT40 win Le Mans?
The GT40 won Le Mans four straight times, from 1966 to 1969, a run no other car matched for decades. The 1966 victory was the most theatrical: Ford arranged a 1-2-3 finish, and Ken Miles was denied outright victory on a technicality that still divides enthusiasts.
| Year | Model | Winning drivers | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Mk II | Bruce McLaren / Chris Amon | Famous 1-2-3 photo finish |
| 1967 | Mk IV | Dan Gurney / A.J. Foyt | All-American car and crew |
| 1968 | Mk I (Gulf) | Pedro Rodriguez / Lucien Bianchi | Chassis 1075's first win |
| 1969 | Mk I (Gulf) | Jacky Ickx / Jackie Oliver | Closest finish in Le Mans history |
The last two wins are the most remarkable. The same car, the Gulf-liveried chassis 1075 run by John Wyer's team, won in both 1968 and 1969, and the 1969 race finished with barely a car's length between first and second after 24 hours.
What made the GT40 beat Ferrari?
Power and preparation did it. The 1966 and 1967 winners used a huge 7.0-litre V8, giving the Fords a straight-line advantage that Ferrari's smaller, more delicate cars could not answer over 24 hours, and Shelby's team drilled the reliability that raw speed alone never guarantees.
The rivalry gives the GT40 its meaning. It was built to humble the Ferrari 250 GTO era of Maranello dominance, and it did, which is why the story reached cinemas as the 2019 film Ford v Ferrari, with Matt Damon as Shelby and Christian Bale as Ken Miles.
How much is a Ford GT40 worth today?
Original GT40s sell for several million dollars, and cars with Le Mans history reach well into eight figures. Ford built only around 105 of all types, including a handful of road-going Mk III cars, so genuine examples are rare and tightly held.
Provenance sets the ceiling, as it does across the top of the market. A GT40 with a documented race record, and above all a Le Mans win, carries the kind of history that puts it among the most expensive cars ever sold at auction, for the same reasons set out in our guide to what makes a classic car worth millions.
Where does the GT40 fit in the quiet-luxury canon?
The GT40 is the loudest car in this company, and it earns the exception. It is not a restrained grand tourer but a purpose-built racer, collected for what it achieved rather than how it whispers, and that honesty of purpose is its own kind of taste.
It also represents something the European icons cannot: an American engineering triumph on European soil. Owning a GT40 is owning the moment Detroit out-thought and out-lasted Maranello, which is why serious collectors place it beside a McLaren F1 rather than below it.
Frequently asked questions
How many Ford GT40s were made? Ford built around 105 of all types between 1964 and 1969, including race cars and a small number of road-going Mk III versions.
Is Ford v Ferrari a true story? Yes, broadly. The 2019 film dramatises Ford's real Le Mans campaign, Carroll Shelby, Ken Miles and the disputed 1966 finish, though it compresses events for the screen.
Why did Ford want to beat Ferrari at Le Mans? Henry Ford II had tried to buy Ferrari in 1963, and when Enzo Ferrari pulled out of the deal, Ford set out to defeat him on the track instead.
