The 1965 Ford GT40 with the number P/1027 was purchased by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer soon after it was displayed at the 1966 Brussels Motor Show to be used as a high-speed camera car. But what happened to it afterwards?
Finding the right camera car is no easy task, but John Frankenheimer's Grand Prix team had to do it quickly because after spinning out, leading star Yves Montand apparently refused to drive fast again, even if their "F1" cars were only Formula 3 machines in disguise that needed a splash of gasoline on their tires in order to do a proper burnout.
To come around the problem, the crew modified Montand's car so that it could be towed by the GT40. While not as radical as the McLaren used at the same time for Spinout, the GT40 could still do 130 mph with Montand's dummy car attached as a fixed trailer.
After accidentally finding $kaycog's post on the subject on Oppo and realizing Steve McQueen did almost the same for Le Mans, I started to wonder what happened to P/1027 after MGM was done with it.
I didn't have to do much since Classic Driver pretty much has the whole story thanks to Porsche (and GT40) specialists Maxted-Page, who've seen their fair share of classic race cars throughout their years in the business.
Basically, the GT40 stayed in California before ending up in the UK, changing color a few times and winning at the Goodwood Revival in 2005, not to mention participating at the Le Mans Classic in '08.
Now back in its original Belgian Yellow livery, it remains race-ready with its FIA HTP (Period F) papers jammed in its sun visor pocket, because race car.
Photo credit: Maxted-Page Limited