This 1965 Ford GT40 Roadster is one of just five ever built, and it looks set to fetch millions when it goes up for auction in July. With actual racing experience at Le Mans, this GT40 can be yours for the princely sum of around $10 million.

Racing at Le Mans

One of the most exciting things about this car’s history is the fact that it actually hit the track at Le Mans in 1965. The GT40 was built in England and entered into Le Mans by Ford France. Although this car did enter the famous race in 1965, it only managed 11 laps before retiring due to gearbox issues. Still, that’s a rich history, and it’s sure to be the reason people are going to be bidding millions to add the car to their collection.

The Car’s History

After leaving the 1965 Le Mans race early, this GT40 was sent to Shelby American to refresh its V8 Shelby Cobra engine. It then became a development car for Ford as the manufacturer created automatic transmissions for its high-performance vehicles. Stuntman Dean Jeffires later acquired the car in 1968, and the legendary screen star kept it until his passing in 2013. Dana Mecum, the founder of Mecum Auctions, then bought the GT40 and restored it to its original condition, including the original V8 engine.

Future Plans

After restoring the Ford GT40 Roadster, Mecum has decided to enter it into his own company’s auction in Indianapolis in July 2020. Mecum believes it will be sold for anywhere between $7.5 and $10 million, matching the only other surviving GT40 Roadster that sold for $7.65 million in 2019.

After restoring this car to its former glory, Dana Mecum looks to be selling one of the most sought after GT40s in the world. It might not become the most expensive car ever sold at auction, but $10 million certainly isn’t cheap.

Simona de Silvestro, a Swiss pro racing Indy 500 driver, completed her first laps at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during a test session in early April, just before the start of the IndyCar season.

The 2010 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year hadn’t been on the track since finishing 19th in 2015, but she made a strong comeback with a 223.458 mph lap that placed her 21st out of 31 drivers. De Silvestro shared that during the first few laps she did at the speedway, she didn’t realize how quick it was.

Female-Operated Team at Indy 500

De Silvestro will not compete at Barber Motorsports Park for the season opener. This year, she’ll just compete in the 500, but that one race will be much more important than normal. She’ll be competing for Paretta Autosport, a new team promising to be the first to participate in The Greatest Spectacle in Racing with a female driver and mainly female crew.

Beth Paretta is a seasoned motorsports executive who served as the director of Fiat-SRT Chrysler’s Motorsports division during Dodge’s last NASCAR Cup Series championship season in 2012. She’s been trying to put together a program like this for many years to help encourage women in racing and S.T.E.M. education for girls, and she’s partnered with Team Penske to make it happen, with support from Rocket Pro TPO and MoneyLion.

Great Team Efforts at the Tournament.

In five starts at the speedway, the 32-year-old has three top-20 finishes but says the Penske partnership is crucial. Last year’s race was the first without a female driver in the field since 1999, and de Silvestro is the only entry so far this year, putting even more emphasis on her team’s efforts. She says that the ultimate goal is to develop this team and expand the available opportunities. As fans, we will see how the tournament goes.