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Garage Find: Did This Rare Ford GT40 Belong to Salt Walther?
Cars as legendary as the Ford GT40 usually aren’t neglected and left collecting dust in a suburban garage. That was the fate of this priceless 1967 Ford GT40. It has been parked in a small Thousand Oaks garage buried under boxes and junk since 1977. The car was raced competitively until 1977 when engine failure rendered it useless and it was sold to a private owner. The private owner, like many others, had plans to restore his priceless race car to track worthy condition. Sadly life got in the way – the owner was injured and the car became neglected for over three decades.
Fast forward to 2014, car collector Thomas Shaughnessy was meeting with a group of friends at the Steve McQueen Car Show. One of them tipped Shaughnessy off about the car and he knew he had to own it. Shaughnessy made a deal with the owner and took home this American made exotic. He is currently in the process of restoring the car to drive it, or possibly to race it.
The chassis of this GT40 is a P/1067 MK I, and was the last one produced in 1966. The shell is a MK II making this car one of only three GT40′s with a MK I chassis and MK II body. An interesting note about the car is the name Salt Walther on the doors. The late Salt Walther was a CART and USAC driver who raced in the 1970′s. Perhaps he dabbled a bit in road racing during his career and drove this beautiful machine.
While Walther’s racing career wasn’t exactly successful, he is well known for a fiery crash at the 1973 Indianapolis 500, which left him with burns covering 40% of his body, leading to pain killers addiction. It’s possible that his father gave him this car, as he sometimes did. And now it’s in the hands of someone who can bring it back to life – some guys have all the luck, don’t they? What car do you dream of finding in a barn?
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