2017 FORD GT COMPETITION SERIES

• Engine

  3.5L/647 HP
 

• Trans

  Automatic
 

• Color

  Liquid Gray
 

• Interior

  Black

Sold for $1,100,000

HIGHLIGHTS

• 270 miles
• Serial no. 67
• Owned by famed driver Sebastien Bourdais, GTE class winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016
• One of three remaining Ford GT Competition Series
• Plaque made by Chip Ganassi Racing in commemoration of the GTE class win at Le Mans on dash featuring engraved signatures of winning drivers Sebastien Bourdais, Dirk Muller and Joey Hand
• Mid-Mounted Twin-Turbo 3.5L DOHC 24-valve Ecoboost V-6 engine
• Rated at 647 HP and 550 ft/lbs of torque with a top speed of 216 MPH
• Titanium exhaust
• 7-speed dual clutch transmission with paddle shifters
• Front and rear independent suspension with electronic adjustable damping and pushbutton front lift system
• 5 drive modes with 2 variable ride height settings
• Brembo vented disc brake system
• Finished in Liquid Gray with carbon fiber racing stripe
• Carbon fiber a-pillars and side mirrors
• Exposed carbon fiber lower sill trim with gloss finish
• Unique Perspex acrylic engine hatch cover with manual latch and carbon fiber prop rod
• Lightweight bulkhead Gorilla Glass
• Carbon fiber console and door sills
• FIA-certified steel roll cage
• Alcantara upholstery with Red accents
• F1 styled steering wheel with functional controls
• Air conditioning, stereo and speakers, storage bins and cup holders removed for weight reduction
• Carbon fiber 10-spoke wheels with titanium nuts
• Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires

Ford’s historic assault on the 24 Hours of Le Mans commenced in 1964, the first salvo in a war declared by Henry Ford II on Enzo Ferrari after the imperious Italian rejected Ford’s offer to purchase his company. The battle raged on for two years until Ford Motor Company finally prevailed at Le Mans on June 18-19, 1966, its monstrous 427-powered GT40 MkII racers finishing 1-2-3 and putting a seemingly permanent end to Ferrari’s domination of the 24 Hours.

As the 50th anniversary of that legendary victory approached, in January 2015, Ford shocked the motoring world by introducing the new, third-generation Ford GT at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit and announcing another run at the Le Mans classic. Just 17 months later and exactly 50 years to the day after the Ford armada steamrolled the competition there, on Sunday, June 19, 2016, French ace Sebastien Bourdais and teammates Joey Hand (U.S.) and Dirk Müller (Germany) took the No. 68 Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA Ford GT to the GTE-Pro class win at the 24 Hours. It was an especially rewarding win for Bourdais, who was born and raised in Le Mans and, inspired by his father Patrick (who started at Le Mans nine times), grew up dreaming of winning the 24 Hours. He had started in the race 10 times previously, beginning in 1999 and scoring three overall runner-up results in 2007, 2009 and 2011, the last time finishing a heartbreaking 13 seconds behind the overall winner. Resuming his commitment to the Verizon IndyCar Series precluded a return to the Sarthe until 2016, when an opening in the schedule and an invitation from Ford Chip Ganassi Racing provided the opportunity he sought to score his first win there.

For Sebastien Bourdais, among the many accolades and perks that came with the achievement of that career milestone was this strikingly beautiful 2017 Ford GT Competition Series, one of just six built and one of only three that remain in pure Competition Series specification. When asked how he came to own GT No. 67, Bourdais explained that it was “a bit of a late call.”

“I joined the (Ford GT racing) program in late 2015,” he said. “In one of the meetings in Detroit, when Raj (Raj Nair, Ford executive VP, global product development, chief technical officer and the man most responsible for the Ford GT) and all the others were with us, and we kind of all inquired whether we were eligible to get a GT or not by being in the race program, and they said yes. So that was settled pretty quickly and most of the drivers got one. It so happened that a few months later we ended up winning the (2016 Le Mans) race with Dirk and Joey, and we all own one.”

As if to put an exclamation point on the whole affair, Ford delivered the freshly completed—and very exclusive—GT Competition Series to Bourdais just in time for Christmas of 2017. It arrived exactly as Sebastien had specified it, although he points out that the factory had already determined most of the car’s features and specifications. “The guidelines were pretty specific, so you really couldn’t separate each car too much. There were a few different colors, then the Competition Series added more specifics, so you didn’t have much room to decide exactly what you wanted—ultimately, colors and specs within the spec sheet. For me the deciding factor was the interior. The interior in the Competition Series is the only one that is full Alcantara; that’s the one I really wanted, and that’s ultimately why I chose the Competition Series.