Of the seven Ford GT40 Mark IIIs built, only four were delivered with left hand drive like this car. This rare street-legal example (serial MK3 1105) was originally owned by well-known Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan, who drove it sparingly—and never in the rain. The Mark III differed from earlier versions in that it had round rather than oblong headlights, an extended rear deck with room for luggage, a less rigid suspension and a more comfortable interior. Powered by a 289-cubic-inch 306-horsepower Ford V8 engine coupled to a ZF 5-speed manual transmission, the low-slung car can accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in just 5.3 seconds. Top speed is approximately 165 miles per hour. The GT40 model designation was derived, in part, from its low height, which was a mere 40 inches from ground to roof.

In a war fought by titans of industry – one from Michigan, the other from Maranello – on the roads of rural France, the battle for sports car supremacy came to a head in 1966 when three of Ford Motor Company’s GT40s beat Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the closest endurance racing finish of all time.

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