There are, perhaps, very few cars that match up to the legend that is the Ford GT40. Built specifically to compete against –and, of course, beat mercilessly –the finest cars Ferrari has to offer, the GT40 did what it was built for, with its stand-out moment arguably being its 1-2-3 finish at the 1966 Le Mans.
With only 145 of these machines being produced, the Ford GT40 is one of the rarest cars a collector can, well, collect. But outside of car collecting, is the Ford GT40, and the subsequent Ford GT line of cars, worth the investment?
Ford GT40: A Constantly Appreciating Value
Cars are not the greatest investments; a barely-used car that is three years old will see a substantial drop in value during a sale, unless they’re special in some way (for sure the first BMW in the DTM will resale for millions as well a few decades from now). But this doesn’t seem to apply to any car that bears the Ford GT name: in 2020, three 2017 Ford GT supercars were sold at auction for a whopping $1.2 million per car, a more-than-double increase from its SRP of $450,000.
In 2015, a Ford GT bearing a VIN of 003 was sold at $605,000, with the original owner purchasing the car at a measly $160,000, a profit of almost half a million.
But what about the original, 1966 Le Mans-winning GT40? Car #5, one of the three GT40’s to compete in Le Mans and the third-overall finisher of that race, was sold at an auction back in 2018 for a whopping $12 million. Of course, that’s because it’s a piece of racing history, but consider purchasing it and re-selling it during the centennial celebration of Ford’s Le Mans win? Imagine the profit, especially with the continued aggrandization and myth-making of the GT40.
Ford’s GT40 Legend is Perpetuating a Hot Market
For the newer line of Ford GT’s, the American company wasted no time connecting the modern GT with the legendary GT40, allowing them to up the sticker price and constantly mention the 1966 Le Mans at every auction.
With demand at an all-time high, Ford then went on to create only 1,350 Ford GT’s, with less than half of them being purchased as of 2020. That’s because buying a Ford GT isn’t as simple as going to your nearest Ford dealership: prospective buyers will be investigated, their love for Ford cars evaluated, and while the exact qualifications are kept from the public, let’s just say that buying a Ford GT isn’t just expensive, but difficult.
Once Ford approves a buyer, the buyer must sign an agreement with the company promising that they will not re-sell their car for at least 2 years, a smart way to keep second-hand GT’s off the market long enough for people to want it.The Ford GT’s expensive sticker price and even more expensive resale price is all thanks to it’s champion father, the GT40 and the legend that surrounds its iconic win almost 60 years ago. As far as investments go, a modern Ford GT –or, if you have the cash, a 1966-68 Ford GT40 –is surprisingly good.
