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FORD GT MK II WITH 1966 LE MANS RACING LIVERY SLAMS GAVEL AT $1.8 MILLION

The Livery Resembles The Racing Car Driven By Ken Miles

Front View of Ford GT Mk II
Front View of Ford's GT MK2

Last month’s Mecum Indy 2021 auction featured a rare beauty: a barely-driven 2020 Ford GT Mk II track car rolled off with an eye-popping winning bid of $1,870,000 – nearly $200,000 above the estimate. The track-only beast shows 15 miles on the odometer and is one of just 45 ever to be produced, and its paint scheme is a one-of-one designed in homage to Ford’s prolific racing history.

Ford GT Mk II Details

The Ford GT Mk II debuted in 2019 as an unhinged version of the successful Ford GT race car, which has since retired. Ford and Canada-based builder Multimatic ditched the FIA restrictions and jacked up the horsepower to 700, swapping in a Getrag 8-speed transmission and adding suspension and downforce upgrades. The bodies of these track-only supercars start out in white, but this particular example took a throwback approach. This GT Mk II left the factory dolled up in the same livery as the original GT40 Mk II driven by racing legend Ken Miles at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans. The race was famous for breaking Ferrari’s winning streak at Le Mans, and was immortalized in the 2019 film Ford V. Ferrari.

rear angle view
Credit: Mecum Auctions

The Ken Miles Legacy

This car is not Ford’s only recent throwback to that legendary racing season, with the GT Heritage Edition commemorating Miles’ earlier victory at the 24 Hours of Daytona. But this may be the first tribute to the dramatic end at ’66 Le Mans, where Miles lost his chance at racing’s Triple Crown in controversial fashion. That was also Ken Miles’ last race; he was killed in an accident two months later while testing the Ford J-car prototype, which was intended to be the replacement to the Ford GT at the time. Miles’s tragic death was one of the reasons that Ford ended up with the decision to keep focusing on the successful platform that was the Ford GT Mark II.

As for his race car’s third generation, no doubt Ken would be proud of its awesome power and performance on the track. The Mk II packs a twin-turbocharged 3.5 Liter EcoBoost V6 with 700 horsepower, and sticks to the pavement with 400% more downforce than the FIA-regulated Ford GT race car, and is capable of pull 2G around corners. The passenger seat is optional.

Ford GT Mk II Ken Miles 1966 Le Mans Mecum
Image credit: Mecum

Written by Brenton Johns

Brenton is a US military veteran with a journalism degree from West Virginia University. He loves powerful machines.

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