By Mecum Auctions
Photography: Mecum Auctions
Supermodel Photos by: Tim Riggins
This 1965 Ford GT Competition Prototype Roadster GT/109 was driven in the 24 Hours of Le Mans by legendary French racers Maurice Trintignant and Guy Ligier in 1965. The only Ford GT Roadster to ever compete at Le Mans, GT/109 is a forerunner to all of the glory that Ford garnered in its historic run to four consecutive overall victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 1966 through 1969.
DBS note: This is currently Dana Mecum's car. The Ford GT roadster prototype will be auctioned at a Indy 2025 Mecum Auction in May.
Completed in March 1965 by Ford Advanced Vehicles (FAV) in Slough, England, GT/109 is one of 12 prototypes built by Ford between January 1964 and April 1965. Only five of the GT Competition Prototypes were Roadsters, with just GT/109 and sister car GT/108 surviving today. A mere seven Ford GTs actually raced at Le Mans in 1964 and 1965, with four prototypes—including the lone Roadster GT/109—known to exist today.
The Ford GT prototype debuted in April 1964 at the Le Mans time trials as one of the most technically advanced race cars ever. It was also beautiful and provably capable of incredible speeds. Highly respected former Aston Martin team leader John Wyer was hired to manage the effort, but the cars debuted with inadequate testing and development. With the GT Prototype program not producing the expected results—the first two cars (GT/101 and GT/102) had been destroyed in crashes at Le Mans and then Monza, not to mention the team had failed to finish a race during the season—Ford Vice President and General Manager Lee Iacocca decided to make some changes.
In December 1964, two GT Competition Prototype Coupes, GT/103 and GT/104, were sent to Shelby American in Los Angeles, where they were placed in the care of Shelby Chief Engineer Phil Remington and his very capable crew to be readied for the February 1965 season opener at the Daytona Continental. An intense period of testing and development produced the GT’s first race victory—and its first finish—when Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby co-drove GT/103 to the overall win.
If the Miles and Ruby win at Daytona proved the GT’s vast potential, it also reaffirmed Shelby American’s already renowned reputation for thorough development and preparation, both of which came into play when Ford ordered the first two GT Prototype Competition Roadsters for testing and evaluation, numbered GT/108 and GT/109. The latter arrived at FAV in bare-chassis form in October 1964; documentation indicates GT/109 was a special-order chassis, as stated by the following notation in the FAV status report of October 1, 1964: “Dearborn Experimental Car with 3” longer chassis-Not Now Required.” In addition, while GT/108 and GT/109 appeared virtually identical, closer study revealed GT/109’s removable rollover section.
The Ford Total Performance Program’s dual purpose was fully realized when GT/108 was utilized for road use and GT/109 was supplied to Shelby in March 1965 to prepare for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A Shelby American work order was opened on May 19 to “perform necessary repairs and mods to GT/109.” Completed on June 9, GT/109 shared many of the modifications performed to the Daytona-winning Miles and Ruby car, including Halibrand magnesium wheels in place of the factory-installed Borrani wire wheels, front corner air dams and a Cobra-spec 289 CI engine connected to a ZF 5-speed gearbox.
Additional race modifications to GT/109 included the first use of side-mounted engine oil radiators, the addition of rear-body exit vents to relieve pressure that tended to build up under the rear-wheel arches, a higher rear-end spoiler to balance out the front splitters, center-section electric fuel pumps, a water radiator expansion tank and four quick-release removable Dzus fasteners on the center-section rollover cover that gave easy access to ancillary engine systems. The removable rollover section and other changes meant that GT/109 was race ready without the need for further modifications.
Preparations for the 1965 Le Mans race were pressing for the Ford team, which was directly supervised by Carroll Shelby. Upon arrival in France, the car’s number was changed from 9 to 15, and testing was performed by Andre Simon and Jo Schlesser. GT/109 was finished in Ford of France’s racing livery of white paint with a dark blue center stripe bordered in red. Weighing in at 2,350 pounds, the Roadster was the lightest of all six Ford GTs entered at Le Mans in 1965.
GT/109 was driven in the 24 Hours of Le Mans by French racing stars Maurice Trintignant, who drove a Daytona Coupe for Shelby in the 1964 Tour de France, and Guy Ligier, who went on to race in Formula 1 for two years before becoming a long-time F1 constructor in 1968. GT/109 started the race with Trintignant behind the wheel, however, it dropped out on the 11th lap with a failed gearbox. Interestingly, when another Ford GT (P/1005) lost a door during the Le Mans race, GT/109’s driver door was borrowed for a couple hours until the car retired from the race as well. Although Ford doubled its number of entries at Le Mans from three in 1964 to six in 1965, the results were the same; none of the Ford GTs finished the 24-hour race.
Following Le Mans, GT/109 was returned for service with Shelby American, and a work order dated June 28 was opened to “rebuild after Le Mans GT/109.” GT/109 was then sent to Kar Kraft to be used as a development vehicle for the J-Car project, Kar Kraft’s automatic transmission, Ford’s Weber-carbureted 4-cam Indianapolis engine, brake systems and various other experimental parts and components.
GT/109 was later returned to Shelby American, where it was rebuilt and then stored for approximately two years before being transferred to a Ford warehouse in Detroit. The car was discovered there in 1968 by Hollywood stuntman and California automotive customizer Dean Jeffries while visiting Detroit with A.J. Foyt to meet with Ford Racing Director Jacque Passino. Seeing the car in the warehouse, Jeffries asked to purchase it, to which Passino replied, “No problem, you can have it. We’re done with the GT Roadster program.”
By the 1960s, Jeffries had built a great reputation in the young “go-fast” scene in Southern California. Jeffries was the man who painted “Little Bastard” on James Dean’s 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder, and he had built a strong relationship with Carroll Shelby working on the Cobra project. When Carroll Shelby built his first Cobra prototype, it was Jeffries who painted the car the night before it was presented to Ford executives for approval. After receiving a thumbs up from Ford, Carroll Shelby created the illusion that production was underway by asking Jeffries to repaint CSX2000 multiple times for the different magazine road tests so the media would think Carroll Shelby had built more than one Cobra.
The ownership history of GT/109 includes a mere three owners since new. After racing at Le Mans, the car was owned by Ford/Carroll Shelby. In 1968, it was purchased by Dean Jefferies, with whom it remained until his passing. In a November 1997 “Autoweek” interview, Jeffries recounted his Ford GT discovery, describing GT/109 when he found it. Jeffries set about a prolonged restoration, briefly installing a 4-cam Indy engine before changing course and using a Shelby-built 289 CI racing engine given to him by Carroll Shelby, who stated, “We used this engine at Le Mans in #109.” Later, Jeffries displayed GT/109 during Ford's “100 Years of Racing History Celebration” at Laguna Seca for the Monterey Historics in August 2003.
When Dana Mecum purchased GT/109 from Jeffries’ son in 2013, he commissioned Harley Cluxton III of GTC Mirage Racing to complete a concours-quality restoration to its original Le Mans configuration as it was during its finest hour.
The original Shelby-supplied HiPo 289 CI racing engine was rebuilt, dyno tested and installed by Brian Duffee. The engine sports a Ford/Shelby experimental intake manifold and 4x48 IDA “Made in Italy” Weber carburetors, and it’s fitted with the Shelby-supplied “Bundle of Snakes” exhaust utilized on GT/109 during testing. Other period-correct components on this GT Competition Prototype Roadster include a rebuilt 1965 ZF 5DS-25/0 transaxle, SEV Marchal Headlights over Cobra Daytona Coupe Cessna landing/driving lights and Halibrand magnesium wheels mounted with 1965 NOS stickered 550/15 and 700/15 Goodyear Sport Car Special Blue Streak tires. Interestingly, this car features an extremely rare NOS Ford GT Trico wiper blade and also features Carroll Shelby’s signature ”On/Off” brake-light switch that is original to GT/109.
In 2016, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance hosted a special class celebrating the 50th anniversary of Ford’s Le Mans victory. GT/109 won Second in Class, runner-up to the 1966 Le Mans winner that was driven by Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon. One week later, GT/109 won Best of Show at the Milwaukee Concours d’Elegance. In 2023, GT/109 was invited to the American Speed Festival at M1 Concourse to serve as Honorary Marshal for the Ford GT parade laps. Most recently, at The Amelia Concours d’Elegance in 2024, GT/109 won its class and took second in Concours de Sport, runner-up to the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO that won the 1964 Tour de France.
One of two surviving Ford GT Competition Prototype Roadsters and the only example to race at Le Mans, GT/109's key accomplishments were the blueprint for Ford's domination of Ferrari on the world's stage, which established Ford as the first international racing dynasty of any American manufacturer. The Ford GT (pre-GT40) was not only Ford’s first international sports car, it is considered by most to be the world’s first supercar: the 1965 Ford GT Competition Prototype Roadster.
DBS note: This 1965 Ford GT 109 roadster prototype is sublime. How cool would it be to own this baby and have as your double-duty vintage racing weapon and cars and coffee cruiser?
