A seriously rare 1969 Ford GT40 MkIII with a backstory so wild you’d think it was fiction is set to blow the roof off the Kissimmee 2026 auction. Hitting the block January 17, this beast, chassis P/1085, ain’t just any old relic: it’s the last untouched GT40 chassis from the original production run. That’s history you can’t fake.
Back in ’66, Ford pumped out 20 late-production GT40 chassis for the MkIII program. Only seven ever saw the road, leaving the rest to gather dust. P/1085? It sat around for decades, fresh out of the factory as a rolling chassis, stashed away like some forgotten treasure.
Gil Jackson, the original owner, held onto it from ’69 until 2006. The guy hoarded parts like a squirrel with acorns but never got around to finishing the build. Then came Jonathan Turner in 2007, who shipped the whole lot to Racing Fabrications in the U.K. By March 2009, they’d whipped it into shape—period-correct, ready to tear up historic tracks.
Its debut? A test day at Donnington Park with Turner behind the wheel. Since then, pros like Maxted-Page Limited have kept it in tip-top shape. No mods, no messing around; just pure, untouched GT40 glory, still rocking its original chassis.
Dressed in Blue with a Black interior, this MkIII packs a 5.0-liter V-8 cranking out 479 hp and a five-speed manual that purists will drool over. The paperwork’s killer, too: factory docs, resto pics, verification from GT40 guru Ronnie Spain, and even an MSA Historic Technical Passport. Vintage race-ready? You bet.
Late completion, no skeletons in the closet, and still as fresh as the day it was born—P/1085 is one of those GT40s that doesn’t just turn heads, it snaps necks. For collectors? This is the holy grail: raw originality meets track-ready firepower.
This amazing collection is being sold at Mecum’s largest sale of the year in Kissimmee, Florida. Visit the Mecum website to see other collections and vehicles on offer. Better yet, consign your car or collection today!
Shawn Henry