Ford GT Celebrates At the Ault Park Concours

Fifty years ago Ford recorded an unprecedented 1-2-3 finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This capped a sort of revenge between the Detroit auto maker and Ferrari. The short version of the story is that Enzo Ferrari backed out of a deal at the last minute that would have seen Ford take over the venerable Italian firm. When the deal fell through, Ford vowed to beat Ferrari at their own game, racing.

Enter the Ford GT 40. The car was built with one purpose in mind, to win races in Europe. And win they did. For the 39th Annual Ault Park Concours d'Elegance the historic feat of 50 years ago was celebrated with a collection of these cars. Included in the group was the car seen at the top, a 1966 SAFIR Series V which was one of only 40 ever built.

Ford rebranded the name plate and released new GT 40s beginning in 2005. Shown above is a 2006 model. Also being shown was a 1966 Mark II-B, another 2006 which was one of five raced by the Doran Race Team, and a 1966 SU Performance Mark II-A.