You’d figure an automaker like Ford has a massive heritage collection—especially because it’s never sold any vehicles from it. Until now, anyway, as the Blue Oval is set to auction a 2006 Ford GT in a rare Gulf-inspired livery direct from its fleet this weekend at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale, Arizona Fall Auction. According to Ford, proceeds from the sale will be reinvested into the restoration and maintenance of other cars in the collection.
Only 343 of these “Heritage Package” GTs were ever built, all for the 2006 model year. The particular car due to cross the block—the third of the series—was the earliest ever sold to the public, though Ford also says it “was solely owned and used” by the automaker itself. (Note that the car seen in the pictures in this blog is a different Heritage example from when Ford first publicized the special edition, as all Barrett-Jackson’s photography is heavily watermarked.)
These liveries were hand-painted, including their white roundels, intended to encircle a racing number that was not applied from the factory. Instead, Ford actually shipped a box of vinyl numbers with every car, allowing owners to decorate theirs as they desired.
Otherwise, the Heritage model was a standard Ford GT; same 5.4-liter supercharged V8 making 550-horsepower and 500 lb-ft of torque, same six-speed manual, and same black interior with all its retro trimmings.
It’s a bit surprising that Ford would sell one of its prized fleet cars to fund the upkeep of the rest of the lot. However, as Ted Ryan, the automaker’s Heritage and Brand Manager, said in a release, the collection currently includes “some amazing vehicles that are duplicates and outside our collecting scope,” like this particular supercar. In other words, it probably isn’t the only mid-aughts GT in the company’s care, nor the most special, and that’s why it’s getting sold off to benefit other cars designated for “permanent retention” in the fleet, as Ryan puts it.
Despite belonging to Ford all this time, this GT has surprisingly seen its share of mishaps. The listing mentions two accidents reported via Carfax: one in November 2005, involving “very minor damage with another motor vehicle,” and another almost a year later, when the “vehicle ran off road [and] hit a ditch,” causing “damage to [its] undercarriage.” It’s now being sold with no reserve and an apparently rather eventful 8,435 miles on the clock.
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Backed by a decade of covering cars and consumer tech, Adam Ismail is a Senior Editor at The Drive, focused on curating and producing the site’s slate of daily stories.
