Original Ford GT40 press car listed for sale

The Ford GT40 famously beat Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (eventually), but it was also intended as a road car. One of those rare roadgoing examples is now up for sale in the U.K. through PistonHeads.

Built in 1967, chassis P/1069 is one of 31 Mk 1 road cars. It’s also an original press car loaned to journalists for test drives. According to the ad, it was initially given to a Swiss-based firm associated with the Scuderia Filipinetti race team for display at the 1967 Geneva auto show. Originally painted Opalescent Silver Blue, it was repainted Metallic Borneo Green for the show.

After its appearance in Geneva, P/1069 began its career as a press car with Ford’s U.K. division. It appeared in car magazines, went back to the Geneva show in 1969, and was even tested by two-time Formula 1 champion Graham Hill, according to the ad.

Chassis P/1069 was sold to a collector in 1971 and repainted yellow. A subsequent owner took it vintage racing in 2007, including at that year’s Goodwood Revival, but the car was later returned to roadgoing spec and repainted in its original Opalescent Silver Blue color.

As PistonHeads notes, any original GT40 is rare, with approximately 105 cars built across Mk 1 to Mk IV generations. Chassis P/1069 is one of the first-generation Mk 1 cars. The improved Mk II is the version that netted Ford its first Le Mans win in 1966, while the redesigned Mk IV repeated the feat the following year. The Mk III was a very-limited-production road version, and only seven were built.

Factor in P/1069’s unusual story, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see this car sell for millions of dollars. The GT40 that placed third at Le Mans in 1966 sold for $9.7 million when it last came up for auction, while a GT40 roadster prototype sold for nearly $7 million in 2014. For those who can’t shell out that much cash, there are plenty of more affordable GT40 replicas, including an electric conversion.