When the last gavel fell on the last car at this year’s Monterey auctions, we crunched the numbers. In short, it appears that the market for high-dollar cars has turned a corner after a long hot streak. Even with some high-dollar sales for exceptional cars, including the first Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider, which sold for £13,260,955, and a 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider that brought £10,908,900, the top of the market does not look particularly bright. Sell-through rates were down dramatically on top cars – even Enzo-era Ferraris – and many final prices were conspicuously below their presale estimates.
One sale, however, stood out to us as exceptional despite being a few spots down the price ladder. Mecum Auctions’ 1969 Ford GT40 Mk I Lightweight, which brought a £6,115,350 final price, secured its spot as third-most expensive GT40 ever sold at auction. This sale defied some of the broader trends we saw this year at Monterey and is one more step that suggests the GT40’s star may be on the rise.
Built with the sole purpose of embarrassing Ferrari in endurance racing after a deal gone bad between the two manufacturers, Ford effectively ended Ferrari’s grip on Le Mans in 1966 with a 1-2-3 finish, with subsequent victories at the 24-hour French classic in 1967, 1968, and 1969. With that rich history in mind, GT40s defy logic a bit when it comes to values. Against the Ferraris they battled and often beat, their values pale in comparison. Perhaps it’s the allure of the prancing horse, the relative rarity, or the sheer beauty of the Ferraris, but while a few of the Fords have broken into eight-figure territory, even the least desirable example of something like a 250 LM will command prices well over £8M. There are some practical answers to this price differential, but Ford’s thoroughbred still appears very much a value among legendary ’60s race cars.
The all-time record for a Ford GT40 at auction goes to the Gulf Mirage car used to film the movie Le Mans, which sold for £7 million all the way back in 2012, and it’s taken a car with prototype status or laps turned at Le Mans to make bidders shell out anything close to that. Until this week, that is. While the car at Mecum was an important one, it never saw glory at the French circuit.
Built in 1969, chassis number P1080 was among the last GT40s completed by Ford Advanced Vehicles before Ford pulled the plug on the programme. Built to Mk I spec (powered by a 4.7-litre V8), it left the factory as one of 10 lightweights. This improved version of the Mk I would include aluminium panels, Stage II ventilated brakes, and anti-surge foam in the fuel tanks. The big upgrade would come from a powerful Gurney-Weslake small-block engine sitting under the clamshell. Perhaps just as notable, the famous Gulf Oil team cars, including chassis 1075 that won Le Mans in 1968 and 1969 back to back, were also late-production lightweight cars.
P1080 sold to privateer team A.F. Pires in Angola (then under Portuguese control), where it quickly sold on again to Emilio Marta in 1970 after Pires retired from racing. Marta raced P1080 in the Angolan international sports car racing series, winning it outright in 1972. Following the outbreak of civil war in Angola in 1975, Marta returned from Africa to his home country of Portugal, taking P1080 with him. After campaigning the car in Portugal, Marta eventually sold it to a Swiss friend in 1979, with whom the car would undergo a 20-year restoration. Throughout, P1080 retained its original body, engine, and gearbox.
As mentioned, valuing GT40s can be as much art as it is science given all the factors at play. While we usually lean on condition to tell us what a car could be worth, this is perhaps the least important factor in GT40-land. Remember that these are race cars: They saw abuse, crashes, rebodies, constant tweaks, and blown engines in pursuit of the chequered flag, making cars that retain their original body and running gear exceptionally rare. Competition history is also a major factor. Notable drivers piloting them at famous races makes a world of difference.
Which brings us back to P1080. It has a lot going for it, but it doesn’t necessarily tick every single box, making its £6,115,350 all the more meaningful and surprising in the GT40 world. While it retains the original body and driveline, and was raced successfully, it never competed in period at major races like Le Mans, Sebring, Daytona or the Nürburgring. It also never had big names take victory in period behind the wheel. And yet, it’s now the third-most expensive GT40 ever sold publicly, only exceeded by the Mk II GT40 that took third at Le Mans in 1966 and the Gulf/Mirage used in the filming of Le Mans.
This healthy result comes on the heels of another strong sale for a road-going GT40 in Kissimmee, Floridan, at the beginning of this year. That, and in light of the fact that several Enzo-era Ferraris fell short of their marks at this year’s Monterey auctions, it appears as though buyers are beginning to value and contextualise Ford’s GT40 more in line with its importance in automotive history.
