Replica 1966 Ford GT40 MKII used in ‘Ford v Ferrari’ heads to auction

"Ford v Ferrari" opens to wide theatrical release on Friday, and your chance to buy one of the replica Ford GT40 race cars driven by Christian Bale, and several stunt drivers, in the film is fast approaching.

Mecum is offering a "Ken Miles Hero Car," one of a pair of replicas of the Superperformance Ford GT40 MKII that Ken Miles drove at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, helping Ford vanquish Ferrari from the victory podium after years of dominating the race. It goes on auction at Kissimmee in January.

Both replicas were built at Rich MacDonald's Superperformance Facility in Irvine, California, with the other, which is not on auction, being a replica of Bruce McLaren's black GT40 that technically crossed the finish line in first place that year. This one comes painted in Gulf Blue, with the dual white racing stripes running the length down the middle, red patches surrounding the headlights, a black interior and right-hand drive, and is said to have served for most of the close-up shots, given its scrupulous attention to detail well before 20th Century Fox agreed to use it in the film.

It's powered by a custom Roush V8 stroked to 511 cubic inches that makes 600 horsepower, with a performance fuel injection system and a rear "bundle of snakes" exhaust. It's mated to a five-speed manual transaxle and features an independent front suspension with trailing arms, unequal-length lateral arms, Bilstein shocks with H&R springs and an anti-roll bar, plus rack-and-pinion steering, vented disc brakes with Wilwood calipers and Shelby American Halibrand-style wheels with knock-off hubs. The roof is pressed steel, and the car has a unibody structure made of electro-galvanized steel. Seats are replicas of the originals but covered in Alcantara with silver rivets.

The car comes signed by Charlie Agapoo, who was Miles' crew chief, and Miles' son Peter Miles. Mecum expects the car to fetch $275k to $325k.