If you’re a true car lover like us, then surely you recall at least some of the story behind the original Ford GT40 race car from the mid-sixties: Henry Ford II, upon being squeezed out of a racing deal with Ferrari by Enzo, wanted revenge against the Italian racing manager. The car that was produced as a result of this push for vengeance, the Ford GT40, won The 24 Hours of Le Mans 4 consecutive years: from 1966, through 1969.
Both the Ford GT from 2005-06, and the future GT planned for production sometime in 2016, pay homage to these unprecedented Ford victories at Le Mans, and to the car that made it possible. Among these limited-run Ford GT models, perhaps none are quite so outwardly prideful as the Gulf Oil-liveried 2006 Ford GT.
The example pictured above is headed to Mecum Auctions in Houston, Texas later in April, with (shockingly) just 13 miles on the odometer. Like the rest of its generation, this Ford GT has a 5.4-liter supercharged aluminum V8, putting out a heart-stopping 550 horsepower (that was a lot a decade ago). That’s sent through a 6-speed Ricardo manual gearbox, together capable of a 3.5-second sprint to 60.
Only 343 examples of these Heritage Edition Ford GTs were produced, each wearing the classic, iconic Gulf Oil livery seen here. Apart from actually owning one of the GT40 race cars which seized a spot on the winners’ podium at Le Mans in the 1960s, buying this Ford GT might just be the most reverent way to pay your respects to the automaker’s triumphant victory over Enzo Ferrari.
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