The latest addition to the growing collection of Heritage Edition Ford GTs is almost here and this time Ford is celebrating the GT40 MkII that came in third at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans. The new special edition model features the gold, white, and red paint scheme and the number five that graced the car that rounded out Ford’s podium at the legendary 1966 endurance race. In a tweet, Ford Performance says that the car will be available this spring.
Ford has already celebrated the
development and success of the GT40, which inspired the Ford GT, with a black
and white ’66 Heritage Edition, a red and white ’67 Heritage Edition, a model
that bears the blue and orange Gulf racing livery, another black and white car
that paid tribute to the GT40 prototype, and one that paid tribute to the
efforts of the Alan Mann Racing team. The latest pays tribute to the legendary
Ford racing shop from North Carolina, Holman Moody. Founded in 1957 by John
Holman and Ralph Moody. The team spent its early years producing stock cars for
NASCAR teams that wanted to field Ford vehicles.
Naturally, when Ford decided that it
wanted to take on the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it turned to Holman Moody as well as
Shelby American to help prepare the GT40. At the 1966 race, Ford fielded two
cars with Alan Mann Racing, three with Shelby American, and the final three
with Holman Moody, reports Hemmings.
The number five car would come to
determine the race’s winner, in many ways, although it was largely overlooked
by the film Ford v Ferrari. The Shelby American GT40 being driven by Ken Miles
had a healthy lead over second place, it was Ford’s decision to allow the
Holman Moody car (driven by Ronnie Bucknum and Dick Hutcherson) to catch up in
order to cross the finish line flying in 1-2-3 formation that wound up giving
the win to the car driven by Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon.
Ford isn’t ready to provide more details
about the modern Heritage Edition GT but keep an eye out for more information
about this car in the coming weeks.
