When was the last time you had the pleasure of watching a 1967 Ford GT40 Mark III take on a 2005 Ford GT at the drag strip? I’ll wait.
If your answer was ‘never,’ as it probably was, then you’re about to be in for a sweet surprise this Saturday afternoon.
The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California put together a long day of competition at the Santa Margarita Ranch airstrip—where, it seemed, just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong. But that doesn’t mean the museum didn’t manage to put on a spectacular show with the cars that did make it out. Oh, no.
As the museum notes, only seven Ford GT40 Mark IIIs were built overall, and the model in the video is one of only four that were built with left-hand drive. And making it even rarer is the fact that it’s street legal. But it also inspired the 2005 Ford GT40 that makes its appearance in this video courtesy of Doug DeMuro. It’s not every day you get to see the original model go head-to-head with the car it inspire decades later.
Now, let’s talk about some of the different specs.
Engine
- 1967: 289-cubic-inches
- 2005: 5.4-liter V8
Transmission
- 1967: ZF 5-speed manual transmission
- 2005: 6-speed manual transmission
Power
- 1967: 306 horsepower
- 2005: 550 horsepower
Top speed
- 1967: 165 mph
- 2005: 205 mph
0-60 mph time
- 1967: 5.3 seconds
- 2005: 3.3 seconds
Now with that all in mind, let’s check out the video. They go through some history, so if you want to get right to the goods, the drag racing starts at 4:30.
I won’t spoil the results for you, but I can guarantee it’ll be at least a little surprising. And that you’ll have fun. The exhaust note of the GT40 is absolutely beautiful; I honestly can’t get enough.
