The Ford GT40 that famously led a 1-2-3 victory for the model at the 1966 Daytona 24 Hours will star at the event’s 50th anniversary celebrations on 28-29 January.
Car no 98 – the Shelby American entry that was driven by Lloyd Ruby and Ken Miles to a spectacular finish by an eight-lap margin – is the latest addition to the planned festivities for America’s first 24-hour endurance race at the Daytona International Speedway in Florida.
The Mark II GT40 will join other period racers, including the Lotus-Climax 19B that Dan Gurney took the chequer with at the inaugural Rolex 24 (then known as the Daytona Continental) in 1962 and the Porsche 907 that won in 1968 – along with the Lola T70 Chevrolet that Roger Penske’s team drove to victory on the 3.56-mile circuit a year later.
More recent Daytona racers set to take part include a group of Porsches, including the 911 Carrera RSR that Hurley Haywood, John Graves and Dave Helmick took across the finish line to lead a 1-2-3 marque finish in 1977, and the 935s that won in 1981 and ’82.
See: Rolex 24 Daytona for more
