Ford GT40 Replica from Ford v Ferrari to be Auctioned
By Grant Cox
One of the replica GT40’s raced by Christian Bale in Ford v Ferrari will go across the auction block at a Mecum auction in January.
If you watched Ford v Ferrari and came out of the theater wanting to race your daily driver like the Le Mans race cars shown in the movie then there’s good news for you. This coming January you’ll have the chance to purchase one of the GT40’s used in filming, perfect for reenacting your favorite scenes Ford v Ferrari scenes on public roads (don’t actually do that). In their Kissimmee 2020 auction, Mecum will be selling the gulf livery GT40 that was driven by Christian Bale during filming.
Careful work was done to replicate every last detail of the original GT40 that Ken Miles raced at Le Mans. This replica, built by Superperformance of Irvine, CA, is one of two finished in the iconic Gulf livery. Signatures from Ken Miles’ crew chief as well as his on, Peter, also adorn the replica. This specific replica was the one that got all the press too as it made appearances on all the red carpet events.
Under the hood is where the replica shows its few differences from the original. Instead of the Nascar derived 7 liter V8 the replica houses a Roush-developed V8 that has been bored to 511 cubic inches, or roughly 8.4 liters.That’s connected to a 5-speed transaxle, differing from the 4-speed in the original. The original GT40 made around 350 horsepower, but this replica gets a substantial increase and pumps out 600 horses.
As mentioned before, this replica was one of few that were driven by Christian Bale during filming. Bale is no stranger to driving automotive beasts after driving the Tumbler in the Dark Knight films, but he still went to driving school to prepare for his role.
In a film with Hollywood superstars like Matt Damon and Christian Bale, it’s an impressive thing when a car steals the spotlight for most of the movie. And it’s even more special when the opportunity arises to purchase said car. As Mecum states, “1966 is likely impossible, the opportunity of catching this lightning bolt in a bottle is here and now.”