Show-Star
Carroll Shelby knew exactly what was going on and where he was going. And when it came to marketing, he was arguably even better than he was as a racing driver; after all, he was the winner of Le Mans in 1959. When he was finally allowed to take on the Le Mans victory project for Ford (you can read the full story here), it was clear to him that he not only had to keep the plush floor in Dearborn happy, but also the American press. That’s why he had a GT40 built in 1965 in a hardcore racing trim, which he didn’t even want to use in races, but used as a ‘demonstrator’. When P/1018 arrived at Shelby American in Los Angeles on 9 November 1965, Shelby himself took the car for a few laps around the airfield, and photos of this appearance went around the world. Another famous moment: when the Santa Monica Freeway was opened on 6 January 1966, Shelby was the first to drive P/1018 over the new motorway, with the very hard-working Miss Santa Monica smiling in the passenger seat. Further appearances followed, for example in the film ‘Grand Prix’.
The first owner of P/1018 was Ervin Conciatu from November 1968, followed by famous names such as David Piper and Laurie O’Neil. For many years, the GT40 was also in Japanese collections – and in 2001 it came to Ray Bellm. Then its peaceful existence as a show star came to an end: Lanzante turned P/1018 into a very nasty piece of kit for ‘historic racing’, and Bellm won 11 of 13 starts at the Le Mans Classic. The Ford GT40 – P/1018 is for sale at Fiskens (March 2025).
We have a collection of these Ford GT40s here. And we also have an archive.
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