From April 10 to 12, 2014, Mecum held its usual Houston auction. Around 1000 vehicles went under the hammer, but one stood out, the 1964 Ford GT 40 with chassis number GT/104. This is the fourth GT40 prototype, equipped with a particularly lightweight chassis.
The car was entered in Le Mans in 1964 and brought its team onto the podium, albeit not in first place (the big successes did not come until 1966 to 1969).
At the wheel of GT/104 were Phil Hill, Bruce McLaren, Bob Bondurant, Ken Miles, Jo Schlesser, Richie Ginther and Richard Attwood, among others.
The car was in active use until the end of the 1965 season and is said to be one of only two remaining prototypes.
Ford remained the owner of the car until 1971. The engine was a Shelby 289 V8 and the four-speed gearbox was from Colotti (T37).
The bidding battle lasted several minutes, which is a long time by Mecum standards. Five million was reached relatively quickly, but from 6.5 million onwards, the bidding was rather tough.
The reserve price was reached at seven million USD ... and the car was sold.
A wonderful video shows the car in its active time (see above).
A somewhat special Corvette
A Chevrolet Corvette C2 from 1967 with just 2996 miles on the clock, which no more than twelve people had even seen for decades, changed hands for USD 725,000. The plastic flunter, named "McNamara Corvette" after its owner, was offered for sale for the first time.
Not all cars were expensive! For example, the hammer fell on a Delage D8-120 Aerosport Coupé with bodywork by LeTourneur et Marchand from 1938 for as little as USD 12,000. There are probably collectors who would have paid more for the Cotal gearbox alone ...
Further information and results can be found on the Mecum.
