Luck really rewards the bold, as collector John Shaughnessy never expected to come face to face with such a find: a rare Ford GT40.
If, like many collectors, you are also eager to come face to face with authentic finds, whether in shacks, scrap heaps or even garages, you can join our group of dreamers. However, there are people with more nose for these things than others.
This was the case with John Shaughnessy, an avid collector of classic and historic racing cars, who stumbled upon a magnificent Ford GT40 in a California garage. It was littered with garbage on all sides and only the rear section, the gray color of primary, exposed to the eyes of the most attentive.
And when we talk about the Ford GT40, great care is needed, as it is known that there are more replicas of this iconic model, four-time champion of the LeMans 24H between 1966 and 1969, than the few surviving units. The American model involved in one of the biggest disputes between 2 car manufacturers, has a caricature history from its birth to its assertion in motor competition, where it made life black for Ferrari cars.
But after all, what kind of GT40 are we facing?
The possibility of a replica is already discarded, as we are talking about a Ford GT40 with chassis nº1067 and despite apparently lacking that competition pedigree, this unit is one of the rarest. According to the World Registry of Cobra & GT40s, this is one of only three Ford GT40 MkI 66's, with the rear panel of the '67 MkII version and of those same 3 units being the only survivor.
This Ford GT40 was one of the last units produced in the year 1966 and the last to use Ford serial numbers, all subsequent models would use J.W. Automotive Engineering serial numbers.
It is known that this Ford GT40 participated in competitions until 1977, but that it had mechanical problems. Modifications to the original Ford mechanics, with the short 289ci blocks (ie 4.7l from the Windsor family) which received a Gurney-Weslake-prepared cylinder head, which increased the block's displacement to 302ci (ie 4 .9l) and later replaced by the 7l 427FE, with proven reliability in NASCAR since 1963, are some of the present history.
John Shaughnessy went through a long bidding process, more precisely a year until he got his new Ford GT40 CSX1067 back. The previous owner was a retired firefighter who had owned the car since 1975 and planned to restore it, but misfortune with a health problem put an end to the project.
When asked how much money was paid for such a large nugget of gold, literally found in the American El Dorado, John Shaughnessy says only that it was quite expensive. To capitalize on this find, it's up to you to restore the Ford GT40 to factory specs or to late 1960s racing specs.
In a place (California), where so many despaired in search of gold, John Shaughnessy, finds a "jackpot" where it was still necessary to invest heavily, but at the end of the day luck rewards him with an iconic model full of history and with an increasingly desirable value in the world of classics.
